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

[Lilacbluewaters]

Hi,
my son recently started nursery attached to a school, he turns 4 in March. He receives the 15 funded hours. However the nursery have sent an invoice with additional charges for things like nappies. Wipes, extra activities, snacks and their app. I wasn’t aware of this and I can’t afford the extra £80 per month for this.
will I have to withdraw his place?

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?

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 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!

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.

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

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

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?

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

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.

@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).

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.

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.

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?

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.

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’

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.

@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.

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?

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

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.

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.

My child doesn’t require nappies/wipes but this is just what they had wrote on the email. I could definitely supply a snack

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.

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

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