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?

I don't think this will be compulsory. Another poster mentioned by law they have to give you the option of sending food and sundries in instead.

I'd certainly be querying if this is compulsory or voluntary with the LA.

I used the 15 free hours for my eldest at a private nursery setting and was never charged for anything. I sent her in with a packed lunch. She wasn't in nappies, but if she had, she wore cloth, so she'd have had her own.

There's no way I'd be paying £80/mth for this, it's a hill I'd die on - regardless of our finances.

I'd be making it clear that your child doesn't use nappies or wipes, that you'll send in a snack with him, and that you have no desire to use their "app".

Fucking chancers.

Nursery's can add charges but they must be optional. Ask for a break down and explain you will provide wipes, snack etc so ask the charges to be removed. (You may have to pay for any already provided. )

If they refuse speak to children's information service on your local authority. They are not allowed to do that.

Mine did school nursery, 3 days a week 9am to 3pm and I would pay just under £200 per full term which covered the additional hourly rate past the 15 hours and then the sundries. We still had to provide a lunch box though.

So what OP hasn't been asked to pay seems about right for around here if she doing similar hours.

Top ups are normal
These institutions are underfunded and make the shortfall up this way

My child is at a school nursery for 15 hours a week and we pay £2 a week for snacks. Occasionally there are other events we need to pay for like trips or visitors coming in but some of these are optional. They also get free fruit or veg daily.
£80 is extortionate. And they don't need a snack as they can just eat their free fruit provided by the government. So if you don't have meals there, don't need a snack or use wipes and nappies then I really don't understand what they can be charging for.

Presumably when you enrolled your DC for nursery you were required to sign a contract with the nursery? What do the terms and conditions of this contract say about fees?

When you put it like fhat

£4 per day for childcare when parent is working so earning money - is very good

I will double check but I am certain it didn’t mention these additional costs so it just took me by surprise when I received the invoice.

It does feel excessive and the snack is a bread stick, slice of cucumber and a grape. I would happily send him in with his own snack. Some days he doesn’t even want a snack

@Lilacbluewaters you should be able to access 15 hours completely free of charge. The nursery should offer you options to allow this to happen eg bringing your own snack or lunch, not using the app etc.

If in doubt, phone your local authority and ask to speak to the Early Years Funding team. They should speak to the setting and remind them of the conditions attached to offering funded sessions.

@Lilacbluewaters
Well, if they're included in the Ts&Cs and you signed the contract you have no option but to pay them or you'll be in breach of contract.

I don't see how this makes a mockery of free childcare. Do parents expect taxpayers to cover ALL the expenses? If one cannot afford to supply wipes and nappies, perhaps one can't afford a child???

Parents get vast benefits that non-parents don't. (and they don't have to repay those benefits even if their offspring turn out to be antisocial/criminal/burden to society, etc.) Complaining now that disposables aren't provided as well is very entitled.

The voluntary statement was removed 1//4/2024

“The free childcare entitlements are not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables (such as nappies or sun cream), additional hours or additional activities (such as trips). Providers may charge a fee for these additions.

also just to mention on the invoice he definitely has received the 15 funded hours because the amount is £0 before adding the additional costs

I'm afraid your comments are wrong in many cases. You are presenting them as facts when they are simply not true.

I’ve never heard of a school nursery charging! Very strange.
Id say well he doesn’t use nappies or wipes and I’m happy to send in a snack.

Our preschool used to ask parent to donate snacks so they didn’t need to charge any money. It worked really well.

Ones on private grounds often have high over heads but not ones on a school site. I wouldn’t be paying. They have to offer for you to provide things like nappies so you don’t have to pay. They can’t make it compulsory.

The nursery only recently joined with the school, previously it was its own nursery but now it’s in conjunction with the primary school.

I would definitely challenge the school if you didn't get information about the additional fees before enrolling.

You'll be entitled to get up to 80% of these costs back if you get UC

I’m a bit unclear on what your set up is, but assuming you are doing 3 hours per day, it works out as £4 extra each day. That’s £1.33 per hour you have to pay.

if that is genuinely too much for you, go back and say so, and suggest what you can pay that is manageable (e.g., £40 pcm).

where I am, all state nursery places are charged on a sliding scale according to income so contributions are pre-determined. They might have something similar where you are.

It seems a lot. Does your child use nappies? If so surely you send them in with that plus wipes. And snacks? That can't be more than about three quid a week. I'd say others may be similar but they should've made it plain that was the case before enrollment.
I think the funding isn't really enough and they need to recoup some of it somehow. But it should be transparent. Presumably if you knew this you wouldn't have had your child join?

Can you send your own nappies and snacks?

Read the op posts

her child isn’t in nappies

You absolutely can fight this.

Quote the Early Education and Childcare guidance for local authorities. Here is the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2/early-education-and-childcare-applies-from-1-april-2024

This section
A1.31 Ensure that providers are aware that they 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. Local authorities should ensure that providers are mindful of the impact of additional charges on parents, especially the most disadvantaged. Providers, who choose to offer the free entitlements, are responsible for setting their own policy on providing parents with options for alternatives to additional charges, including allowing parents to supply their own meals or nappies, or waiving or reducing the cost of meals and snacks.

And
A1.35 Ensure that providers are completely transparent about any additional charges when a parent first takes up their child’s free place, for example, for those parents opting to purchase additional hours or additional services.

A1.36 Work with providers and parents to ensure that all parents, including disadvantaged families, have fair access to a free place, which must be delivered completely free of charge. Ensure that providers do not:

• charge parents “top-up” fees (any difference between a provider’s normal charge to parents and the funding they receive from the local authority to deliver free places).
• require parents to pay a registration fee as a condition of taking up their child’s free place

A1.38 Ensure that providers publish their admissions criteria and any fees for consumables, additional hours and services and make these easily available to parents to enable parents to make an informed choice of provider.

They have fallen foul of each of these sections. Your child does not wear nappies, you’re not paying extra for nappies not used. You will provide a snack. No where have they advertised the app as an extra charge, in any event it’s a business decision to purchase in the app and not necessary. They cannot pass this cost on any more than if they said “we have a music teacher coming in for an hour on Wednesdays so you have to pay an extra £5”.

Your child’s education is supposed to be free.

i agree with all your posts on this thread. It works exactly as you have described in my local area.
my son was at daycare 1-3 years old. Then he moved to a school nursery with uniform, classroom teacher, all children must be toilet trained. Follows school day and school term.
It IS different. They are different things