30 free hours and holiday club

[LillyL122]

Another 30 hours question...

From next April, my daughter will be eligible for the 30 'free' hours. Her childcare hours will be:

• Preschool 10 hours per week, term time only
• Childminder 16 hours per week, all year round over 48 weeks
• Holiday club 10 hours per week when Preschool is shut during school holidays

What is the best way to split the hours across the three settings? Is this even possible or should I just use the hours for the Preschool and Childminder? Should I just stretch the hours across 48 weeks so that equates to 23.75 hours a week and then split?

Can I claim the hours that I would normally use for the Preschool for the holiday club instead during the holidays? I don't understand if I can split the hours across three settings without 'wasting' any hours. I think I've read that I'm not allowed to change my hours claimed during each funding period. I know the hours won't cover all my childcare costs and that I will have to pay for the additional hours.

I hope I've explained myself ok. I am so confused, is anyone able to explain this to me what to do in simple terms please. I would greatly appreciate any help.

Thank you in advance.

No you won't be able to do that. There's two options. Term time only, or stretched funding equally over the year. You can't mix and match.

Would the cm not pick up the extra hours in the holidays instead then you can claim 10 per week with the nursery and 20 per week with the cm

She won't have the space so I will need to use a holiday club

30 free hours is only terms time, so you won't be able to use on holiday club. For that you will need to pay.

Also- in private childcare setting (nursery or childminder) it rarely is the full 30hours. They will ask for extra money for snacks, lunch etc, as the funding they receive per hour is not enough. We have always had to top up. I don't think this is case for school nursery, but you may want to check

From what I can understand you can split 15 (regular) hours and 15 (extended) hours. So you can't do 20 at one and 10 at another. And you can either spread both over the year or have both as term time only, again it's not a mix and match type situation.

You need to check really if CM/preschool are putting any limitations on the hours. My DD was at a private nursery and they had a minimum attendance of 3 days a week in order to get the 30 hours funding. Once you know what they're doing you can decide who to put the hours with.

This is also a good point. At my child's nursery/preschool the 15 hours had to split 3 hours a day over 5 days a week. So if they were only there 2 days a week you'd only claim 6 hours.

Thank you all for the replies.

I'm aware of the top up fees, my childminder has confirmed this. The preschool won't be charging anything extra.

I'm just trying to plan my budget and trying to get my head around all this.

I don't think either have limitations with the hours. The preschool even suggested that I use the hours on the more expensive setting e.g. them.

If I do only use it during term time, I will only need 26 hours. Could I bank the other 4 hours to use for the holidays?

No you can’t bank the hours like that.

Are you also taking advantage of the tax free childcare system- The 20% top up the government pay you when you put money onto your childcare account.

Hi, you won’t be able to use for holiday club for hours unused as you need to be at a setting during a particular terms headcount week which is normally at the start of a school term.

maybe use 10hr term time for the preschool and then talk to the child minder to see if they would be ok to stretch the remaining 20hrs over the year. As long as both settings know what they can claim it’ll be fine

Thanks for the replies.

Yes I am using the tax-free childcare account to get the 20% top up from the government.

Ok, so looks like I will use the 10 hours with the Preschool during term time and then 16 hours with the Childminder over 48 weeks, is that right?? Then pay for the holiday clubs. Sorry for all the questions 🙈

As far as I'm aware if you want to stretch one over more than term time (39 weeks??) you have to stretch both. If one is term time only both have to be.

Yes in our Borough its term time only OR stretched funding. Not mix and match.

I would try to use your annual leave (and dad's AL) during school hols as much as possible to minimise the use of holiday club.

You won’t be able to stretch fund and have term time. So you will only be able to claim 16hrs childminder in the weeks she is in pre school. You can’t mix and match.

In my borough it's a max of two settings both must claim in the same way either term time or stretched.
As a childminder I can choose the hours I offer the funding as long as it's all offered in the term it's claimed so our terms are 13, 13 and 12 I stretch them over 16, 17 and 13.... The parents pay the other hours and make up the loss as a voluntary payment.