Daughter moved to pre-school room before 3 yrs, fees stay the same?

[MummysGotaJob]

Just wondering if anyone has had similar experience, and what the rules/practice is in this case... My daughter was moved to pre-school room 3 months ahead of her third birthday (key workers assured me she is ready to move on), but the nursery still wants to charge me the toddler rooms price. The difference is significant (£62 per day instead of £52), especially since my daughter goes full time... I have now questioned their policy with their head office. My understanding is that the fees are mainly driven by the staff/children ratio, so policy seems quite unfair. Anyone had similar experience? Does Ofsted actually allow children younger than 3 to be in a room with lower staff/children ratio?

I would hazard a guess that they have the capacity to meet the 2 year old staffing ratio in that room short term , hence you are getting what you paying for.

Staff ratio to my knowledge is still done on basis of the whole nursery, not per room.

You could email the regulator to confirm that is still the case or if they would look on a per room basis now.

2.5 years onwards often integrate with 3-4's. Many pre-schools will take children from 2.5 years, though many will have more staff so the younger children get more attention.

You are right to raise the situation with management. If the outcome of that is not satisfactory, then you can raise the issue of Ratios with the childcare regulator but not the money issue.

Thank you for your replies! Nursery has now contacted me to say that they still have higher staff ratio in the pre-school room to account for the younger children in there, so I guess nothing more to question, or savings to make...

She still has to be in a 1:4 ratio until her 3rd birthday, regardless of which room she's in.