Stretched childcare funding

[juleypooly]

Probably done to death but I'm so confused!

My kids go to nursery 2 days a week for 9 hours a day. The eldest gets 30 hours free and they appear to claim for 18 of these. The youngest will get 15 hours and they claim 11.

I want to put them into another childcare provider for 4 hours a week. I believe the youngest will have used all of the allowance but I feel like the eldest should still have a few hours to use even though it is stretched.

Childminder has said they have used all their free hours. Is that correct?

Do they attend year round or term time only?

The youngest will get 15 hours and they claim 11.

My youngest gets 15 hours but as it's stretched all year round it comes out at about 11 hours a week so it does sound right that it's all being used already

when my eldest got 30 hours it came to about 22 hours a week stretched (obviously double the 11). But if there’s just a few hours left the childminder might have a policy of them covering a whole session or something? And that’s why she’s saying you can’t use them?

Ahh thanks, I had read something about 22 hours but it might actually be more a case of the childminders restrictions. Which I totally understand with it only being 4 hours

Honestly, I’m amazed a childminder will take children on for only 4 hours a week as it would be hard to fill the rest of the day. Funding can be a real headache, along with the additional paperwork involved. There’s also the risk that one setting claims too much and then the funding payment gets stopped until it can be sorted out which seems to happen more when one setting claims such little hours. I don’t think I’d want to go through the headache for 4 hours a week to be honest

In any dispute about hours with the nursery vs the childminder, the nursery would always win in the eyes of the LA, and the childminder could have worked for nothing. Maybe she's had her fingers burnt before.