Free Nursery education from 3rd birthday - how does it work?

[lottymadbird]

Ive read that children are entitled to up to 5 2.5hr sessions a week for term time but not sure how this works. The sessions at nursery are from 8.15 to 12.30 in the morning so that is obviously more than 2.5hrs.

Does the 2.5hrs entitlement mean my DS has to go to nursery 5 days a week or can I use the 12.5hrs for the week (spread over the year I worked it out to be about 9hrs) over two days and so pay nothing.

Am I making any sense???!!!

Our LEA pays a flat rate to all settings.

Do you think it is different in Scotland np? Or are they just more accomodating than us?

ah, are you in scotland? well ignore everything I have been saying then!

LOL
yes i am in scotland

gosh i cant believe its different here

lol - well I was positive you couldn't do that with the hours in England, but have nothing to say on Scotland. Scotland does have a completely separate web-site on this so I am guessing that, like lots of other things, it is different.
Glad we have resolved that one .

oh no does that mean i have to move to scotland ??!!!

I also wonder if funded places may be a slightly different scheme to the LEA Nursery vouchers which apply to all , in England at least.

aren't they one and the same lizs?

yes move to scotland

the entire education system is far easier to understand and deal with, from birth to age 21. honestly!

but it's so much colder!

oooh i couldnt face packing up all DS's toys !

DS's nursery is brilliant, hopefully they'll be accommodating!

we dont have those silly SATS either

but yes its like, minus 4 today

and a long long way away. im on the south coast. and dont they speak funny up there?!!!

but np talks about there beign a limtied number of funded places. That isn't usually the case with the LEA vouchers so wonder if that was part of Surestart or another system.

just thought id give you an update. spoke to DS's nursery today and they basically said you can use 2 sessions a day but that i will have to pay for the extra hours that their session comprises over the 2.5hrs. She said that roughly over the year it works out that the government pay 40% of the cost if you use up to 5 sessions. She said if they were a state nursery then DS could attend five sessions of just 2.5hrs and so i'd pay nothing but they are private and so you have to pay for a whole session. ho hum.

as a follow up - do you only want him to do the 2.5hrs? If so it is worth looking around for somewhere else.
I did read your OP as if he was in day (ok morning) care while you worked and that this would cover some of the cost.
But if you only want it so he can start attending sessions then maybe worth looking around and seeing what else there is.

no he does go twice a week in the mornings.

I am a single parent with no help from exP and felt it was important despite how broke i am for him to mix with other children and he's been going for a year now.

im starting college next sept so thats another added complication as hopefully i can get some help with childcare whilst im studying.

i really dont want to move him from this nursery, they are fantastic and he absolutely loves it.

i'll find a way, we mums do dont we?!