Nursery fees

[Itssosunnyout]

To consider it unreasonable that a nursery place for 1 year old charge £7.50 for meals on top?
Is this normal? I thought meals etc were added when it was a free space when you get to 2 or 3 year old funding.

When my DD was in nursery the total price included meals but the breakdown was itemised on the bill. When she got 3 yr old funding it came off the care part but not the meals/snacks part.

Mine wasn't itemised like that. Just £50 a day if memory serves, 8-6, inclusive of 3 meals. I would say it's excessive if the day is costing £50+ anyway, but great value if it's only £20 eg.

Building on what others have said as long as the total is normal for your area then no.
I would love to have known how much of the fees our nursery attributes to meals and snacks as we just got our 30 hours and it’s made bugger all difference! I was expecting around a 30-40% reduction in fees but it’s closer to 20% 😭

What is the overall cost of the day?

Its 44 per day whether there is a baby or 4 year old. Or 25 for half day.
The norm in the area is 42 inclusive of meals for other nurseries.

How many meals do you get for your £7.50, are they freshly cooked hot meals? I suppose the alternative would be that you provide your own but every day, numerous meals might be a faff and they might not allow it. Seems strange if this is the case is not included in cost?

We paid £78 a day and that included meals, nappies.

So it's all adding up to £51.50? So is it the cost you take issue with or the additional for meals which you feel should be inclusive regardless?

AFAIK, until the free hours kick in then it's a free-for-all depending on the kind of set up they have. To be fair that doesn't sound completely unreasonable in light of the prices I've seen some of my friends quoted for their under 3s. You happen to have an itemised bill. They could have just quoted £52 and been done with. Not saying yabu but some things to take into consideration.

Maybe that particular nursery has some extras compared to other local ones that means it can charge a bit more - better garden, home cooked food etc.

A baby place where I am is about £70 with food and nappies.

The baby would 'lose out' compared to the four year old with regards to the meals, as I think that's what you're getting at, BUT, if the 4 yr old is also paying 44 per day for care, then they 'lose out' there as their ratios of staff to childcare less.

It's all up to you isn't it. Yours is £51 a day, others are £42, it's your choice.

OP our nursery charge for meals on funded places as they don't cover their overheads; however this is only £2.80 per day which I think is more than reasonable given they provide breakfast, lunch, snacks and a light tea eg cheese and crackers in the afternoon.
We paid £48.50 a day which is on the higher side here.

@Itssosunnyout 2&3 year old funding (NEG) only cover educational times, meaning when the children are with the teachers doing their learning and playing (and it also only covers term time only but that's another topic). So, anything other than that (ex meals) is not covered by the funding. Offering the extra funding is not mandatory and each nursery can opt in or opt out at any moment and can chose which criteria they're gonna have to be able offer it. However, the NEG is extremely underfunded so what the government funds doesn't actually cover the daily cost so some nurseries make the decision of charging more for those items that are not covered by the funding, such as meals, nappies, extra activities etc to be able to level the costs and minimise the gap (if you're interested, please read so many examples on the news of nurseries which had to close due to the underfunding of the NEG). I understand it can be frustrating as parents might end up paying the same or very little less but try to speak with the nursery and understand why they have put the fees for those item higher.

I think i could understand if It was meals on top during 2 or 3 year plus funding but my baby has only just turned 1. They do have a bit of land and are a forest school along with making fresh meals. The only difference to other forest school nurseries in the area is that they have that extra bit of land.

A lot of places charge more for under 2s because of ratio requirements (understandably) so I would say it all balances out in the long run.

Is there an option to send your own meals?