Question about government childcare funding

[sophiajanexx]

Hello. We currently live in Wales. My daughter is at a nursery at the moment, and will be turning 3 in July. I haven't yet applied for a school place for her as I was under the impression that most schools for 3 year olds only cater for kids attendance between 9 and 12pm, and we need full day childcare. I was opting to keep her in nursery to avoid the logistical nightmare. Will she still be eligible for the 30 funded hours at nursery from 3 years old? TIA.

The funding is for any nursery, pre school or childminder that accept it.

Every child is eligible for 30 funded hours from the start of the term after they turn 3. The hours can be used in private nurseries and childminders, although not every setting will accept the hours.

My concern is that this funding must be split across a school and childcare.. does that still apply if it is a registered nursery?

A full time place in a nursery school will use all the funding.

I believe that the hours need to be used in a single childcare setting, as you get one code that you pass on to the setting and I've seen many discussions about not being able to use the code if moving setting mid-term.

As you said you were 'under the impression' that preschools only open 9–12, does that mean you're not sure? If so, check your local preschools for their timings to find out if they are open to 3yo all day.

With the funding, it doesn't matter if it's a preschool or a nursery – that's up to you to decide. Funding may be applied differently by each setting though (some apply fixed hours and charge for time outside of these; some charge a fee for consumables), so you'll need to check directly with the setting how it is applied.