Free government 15 hours- confused!

[outoffuel]

Hi, my son is currently at a daycare provider (3.5yo).

However, in September he is going to a 'pre-school' at the local village church. They do 4 x 2.5 hour sessions (4 mornings a week).

From this, I can calculate that 10 out of his 15 hours would be used.

Am I able to find a childminder then that would have him for 5 hours on the remaining days, and still not have to cough up any cash?

I'm a bit confused about the whole thing, and could do with the extra 5 hours as it'd help me do a bit more consultancy.

TIA

you may be able to find a childminder in the area who is accredited to take the 'vouchers'. Soem are able to accept them and some are not. In theory you can split your funding between 2 different settings - could your son go to the daycare provider he is currently at for 1 day a week? You may end up paying a bit for this, depends how the setting calculates their fees.

Unfortunately not without paying through the nose... As they will only allow you to use a limited number of hours each day, and even then the saving isn't great as they're open all year! I'm going to do some exploring of the options!

Mnnn... sounds like this won't go well for me then.

Was literally just looking for mornings, on a Friday, just during term time. But, if the reality is that no-one is going to take the vouchers, then it won't be financially worth my while to do it- as my job is really ad-hoc consultancy that is more for keeping my CV up to date whilst being a SAHM, rather than making money!

(by vouchers- I mean the free government hours, not the salary sacrifice vouchers)

My childminder takes them, but she wouldn't have a child for 1 session, once a week. Is there another preschool locally? My son goes to one that offers full days 9-3, so he goes 3 full days and I just pay for one session. Worth asking around as preschool do vary in what they offer.

I thought that if a childminder had a quiet day on a Friday they may welcome having a child fill the gap (nurseries always seem quiet on a Friday). Sad that the government hours aren't seen as being worth it- makes a mockery of the whole system really.

some childminders charge by the hour, its worth calling around. most of us a charge a day rate but depending on your area and you may find someone willing to do the 5 hours and you just pay for that.
I wouldn't worry too much about using all the 15 hours, you are getting most of it so 5 hours with a childminder shouldn't cost you much if that's your only childcare expense.

it might be worth checking with the pre-school that their provision is not spread out over more than 38 weeks
if it is then you will be getting the maximum grant anyway as the 15 hours a week only applies to the 38 weeks

Ah... good point insancerre. I was presuming that it ran for the 38 weeks- but that is just a presumption!