Can’t afford the additional charges at nursery for my 3 year old

Does your child need nappies and wipes at his age? If so then why don’t you just send your own in along with your own snack?

I would be sending nappies and wipes. Does your son have SN - I notice you said he was 4 in a couple of months so not understanding why he needs nappies.

When mine were at school nursery I only had to pay for the school dinner. Many parents sent a packed lunch in. Nappies and wipes you sent in, in the child’s bag. Snacks were an optional charge and the usual PTA fundraising was also optional.

@Jazzjazzyjulez if it's part of a school it should be funded though.
It's 15 hours of EDUCATION not child care.
It's the first year of Foundation Stage. It's "pre-school" which is part of the school system.
(This is providing this is a state funded English primary - if not then it might be different).

I don't think £20 a week is too much for consumables and snacks etc.

Nurseries have to pay business rates, utilities, wages, NI contributions, waste collection, training, furniture, materials for tasks etc. I know people think oh it is in a school so all of these things must be free/paid for the council but they aren't.

They should have told you upfront though.

Extra activities and their app. Query these and provide your own more thrifty, nappies, wipes, nappy bags, water bottle and snacks. All in a little knapsack.
You are not the first to be caught out by the word 'free', dreadful advertising. Should have been called Funded with costs, or something more clear.

Let us know what the 'extra activities' are. Can your dc opt in or out? Were you given a written explanation first, when you signed up?
You might save another parent the shock of an £80 bill.
Seems like you must pay this as a one off.
Best of luck @Lilacbluewaters

Doesn’t sound right. I would have thought that baring medical issues all school nursery age kids are potty trained so why are they charging for nappies? The rest of it isn’t as strange as the nappies but I still wouldn’t expect extra charges like that in a state school. It’s not a private pre-prep is it?

By law they have to give you the option to provide consumables/lunch etc yourself to avoid these additional costs

It's unusual for school attached nursery/pre school to charge for additional items (which is a con by the way....bet there is about 20 to a class and so the government funding is more than adequate!)

I know for a fact in my area the LA pays £5 per hour for funded hours for 3/4 year olds

There are 24 children in the pre school class
That's £120 per hour or £3,600 for the 30 hours per week or over £136k for term time

They have 2 teachers I doubt earn much above minimum wage ...

The building is on school grounds therefore there is no rent due

The nursery is quids in

That's odd for a school nursery. Is a state school?
Why would they need nappies (except for children with SEN)?
Why do they need snacks if it's a 3 hour session (what most school nursery sessions are)?
I can understand the odd extra like donations for a Christmas party but if this is a state school you shouldn't be paying anything.

My son’s nursery charge £21 a day for ‘resources’ on the days that are meant to be free. It’s £80 a day otherwise. I provide nappies and wipes. I completely understand why they need to do it, because the government rate they pay doesn’t cover it, but it makes a mockery of ‘free’ childcare. With limited spaces available they know they can because of supply and demand!

I asked to cut the hours to 10 and used the 5 hours to cover the shortfall so I don't pay anything after I was hit for a large bill. I supply my wipes, one packet lasts forever, not sure if that's an option for you

My child’s nursery attached to a school charged 2.20 per day to cover staff over lunch time as it wasn’t covered by funding, and the 2.00 for lunch (or you could send your own pack lunch) £80 top up per month for 15 hours seems high. Surely the few children still in nappies will just send suitable sized nappies and wipes in with them?