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

@LadySnoresMuchly yes but it won't be free for all 2 year olds unless you qualify - which is either for SEN reasons or the circumstances I shared above.
Not all 2 year olds can get a free nursery place.

But that page is about benefits. If you want a place at a school nursery for a two year old then you can apply. If there is a space you will get a space for your two year old.

@Lilacbluewaters you haven't answered about what type of nursery this is.
Is it a school class that your child attends for 3 hours a day, Monday to Friday, term time only?
Because if so they shouldn't be asking for any money except for the odd voluntary donation to fund something like a class Christmas party.
Or if your child stays for lunch you have to pay for that if he has the school dinner.

@LadySnoresMuchly according to Gov.uk.org not all 2 year olds are entitled to free nursery places (although I know things are changing now).
So apologies that I said it was aimed at children with SEN but it is for children with other special circumstances (ie low income family).

@LadySnoresMuchly ok apologies if some of what I said was wrong.
But as far as I knew the academic year that covers 3-4 years old is Foundation Stage 1 and 4-5 years old is Foundation Stage 2. Most schools call that Reception year but I have seen some schools call it Foundation or "F2" so "F1" will be the nursery class year.
If a child is in "F1" within a school then surely they are at school - not daycare. An environment which at 3 should not include needing nappies.

How much would you spend on snacks or trips out if your DC doesn’t attend the nursery?

The EYFS framework for the development, learning and care of children firm birth to five?

I was an EYFS teacher for fifteen years. In my last year of teaching nursery (in a school) the two and three year olds were together. And any two year old could get a place, they didn't have to have SEN.

If it's a maintained school nursery, there must be a qualified teacher in charge. Starting salary is about £33k outside London. A full time level 2 TA is about £23k I think. Add to this a level 3 qualified TA to cover when the teacher is at lunch, plus the teacher's 10% non contact time (or 20% if they are a new teacher) and you can quickly see how salaries eat up all of the government funding.

The funding is not designed to cover extras such as nappies, food, resources etc.

However, if parents only take 15 hours, any contribution must be voluntary and there must be an entirely free offer, such as enabling parents to provide their own nappies, snacks, lunch etc.

@Threeandahalf that's not a "school" though for the babies. It's daycare.
@LadySnoresMuchly in England the Early Years Foundation Stage is two years.
3-4 year old and 4-5 year olds.
The 4-5 year olds are the school year called Reception although some areas of England call it Foundation. If a school has a class for the 3-4 year olds it's usually called "Nursery Class".
The class is usually 3 hours a day, Monday to Friday (15 hours, term time only). It's part of school.
That's what I have been asking the OP to say what type of nursery her child is in.

Not where I live (England) it isn't.

My son goes to a state school nursery which takes babies from 4 months.

We’re not allowed to supply food. Our top up cost is £3.40 an hour, plus a daily subsidy. It’s to cover all “additional costs”, and it’s not optional. It is tough, I was not prepared for it to go up again at three.

@LadySnoresMuchly nursery for 2 year olds that is part of a school is slightly different as it's usually aimed at children who need an earlier start due to SEN reasons so children in nappies may not be unusual and the staff levels will be arranged for that.
A regular Nursery Class for 3-4 year olds is the first part of Foundation Stage.
If that is what the OPs child is in then it's school not daycare.

Some schools have two year olds in nursery now, many of them in nappies.

@Lilacbluewaters is this a school nursery class though?
It would be very odd to even mention nappies for a school based environment.

Just because the nursery is on school grounds, doesn't mean they don't pay rent - the most local state primary to us has a private company provide the pre-school onsite and charges them rent. To make money the nursery provides additional hours for those with the 15 free hours, which parents pay for if they want. It's very popular.

Is it a formal school nursery, as in for children only in the academic year before they start Reception? Or is it a pre-school/nursery that happens to be in the grounds of the school?

Our local pre-school is based in school grounds and has a name which you'd think meant they were affiliated with the school, but actually they just rent the space and are a private entity. If yours is like that, it would explain why they need to charge extras for miscellaneous costs, which is something most private nurseries do.

There shouldn't be a need for nappies in a school nursery though (except for children with SEN which special arrangements will have been made).
It's school - not daycare.

You could suggest sending in an appropriate number of nappies and wipes,

will you be in receipt of free school meals when he is older?
maybe they will have a discretionary fund.

but of course you should expect to pay for items that are not for education- nappies and snacks etc, you’d need to do this wherever you go with 15hr provision. Same with 30hr provision

Our childminder charges a top up per hour, so even though we have 30 free hours we still get charged 200 a month and we supply all nappies and meals which is still a good deal compared to the 1000 a month we would normally pay.

I thought with school nurseries they had to let you send in your own nappies/meals etc to negate the charges?

@Jazzjazzyjulez the OP said it's part of a school so it's the Nursery Class (sometimes known as Foundation 1). If it's part of a school then it isn't a childcare environment.
At least I assume. The OP hasn't come back to confirm.

Speak to the early years team at your local authority.
You should be offered an alternative if you can't afford to pay for consumables. Such as providing your own nappies and food for the child.

You called it nursery.

Same principle applies:

The Early Education and Childcare Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities April 2023 states providers can ‘charge for meals and snacks as part of a free entitlement place and that they can also charge for consumables such as nappies or sun cream, and for services such as trips and specialist tuition. Parents can therefore be expected to pay for these’

Not really the point of the thread but in the nursery at our school lots of children are in nappies. Parents don't seem to potty train them as early as before, or maybe don't know how to.