Discrimination of children who receive funding?

[Anon778833]

On some Facebook groups that I am in, people are complaining that some nurseries put children who receive funding in a separate group from the children who don’t receive any funding and the children with funded places don’t get to do activities such as Forrest school or ballet.

I don’t think it’s very fair that parents are enrolling their children in provisions which do this without knowing the full facts or that their child might receive 2nd class provision.

Does anyone know if this is a widespread thing? I don’t even fully understand how government funding works but certainly want to avoid a situation where my daughter gets left out of activities.

Virtually all children are funded. Some parents just opt to pay a top up and for more hours.

I think this sort of thing should be explained. Most of us would understand - I certainly do. Some nurseries have limited places for 2 year old funded placements which is fair enough and is preferable I think to taking a load of kids and sticking them in a small building with vastly inferior stimulation.

@Itsnotover sorry that should be virtually all 3 & 4 year olds are funded, and some 2 year olds.

I had asked and was told that's the set up, it made me feel like my daughter was missing out to be honest but she was only there a short while before starting reception and it was the nursery attached to ds school so we made do but I always felt it was very unfair

[quote OnceuponaRainbow18]@Rosesareyellow

You can’t compare schools and nurseries those as schools gets more money for PP kids whereas nurseries get less than what they usually charge full paying parents[/quote]
That isnt true
The funding formula is the same for all funded provision

@pittameinhummus

I had asked and was told that's the set up, it made me feel like my daughter was missing out to be honest but she was only there a short while before starting reception and it was the nursery attached to ds school so we made do but I always felt it was very unfair

How many funded hours did your daughter have and how did her provision and others differ if you don't mind my asking? If this even happens in schools it just seems like a minefield.

I don’t think this happened at our nursery op but I wouldn’t have liked it if it had. Whatever the nursery’s issues with funding are, I feel strongly if they are offering extra activities, they should be open to all the children or none at all. If they’re chargeable, which preferably it wouldn’t be, it should be at a realistic rate for the area the nursery is in and all parents should be given the option if they want to pay it regardless of how many free hours the kids get or what benefits the parents are on, it’s unfair just to assume kids can’t have it for whatever reason. The principle should be not to differentiate like in school and like with the governments holiday hunger programme (not the vouchers, the holiday activities with healthy food programme) which is aimed at kids on free school meals but all kids are able to participate and should be asked only to give their name and address when they sign up for activities, never whether they get their school lunches for free so as not to stigmatise.

The whole nursery fee paying system is a total joke and needs an overhaul. It didn’t work for me as a working parent and if there’s any grounding in what you’re saying OP, it doesn’t sound like it’s working for anyone including the nurseries. Absolutely ridiculous that they should be segregating these kids at such a young age, that’s really wound me up!

I found a news article about this from around 2018. The Tories keep cutting the funding available to councils so the funding that the councils give to nurseries per hour has gone down and down since they got into government.

If you’re a working parent who qualifies for 30 free hours, your child is therefore more likely to be bashed by this inequality, because they receive more funded hours than a parent not eligible.

This government is shameful and people keep voting for them. I will be writing to my MP as someone upthread suggested.

OP all the children who pay subsidiarise those who get funded hours.

It clearly isn't viable for your nursery to only take children who can pay a top up, hence the segregation.

@RedWingBoots

OP all the children who pay subsidiarise those who get funded hours.

It clearly isn't viable for your nursery to only take children who can pay a top up, hence the segregation.

I haven’t chosen a nursery yet. This isn’t specifically about me.

Seen as though all children at 3 are entitled to some hours (15 or 30), guessing they're referring to 2 year olds who are eligible which feels like a bigger deal to me as it has a flavour of discrimination around it- ie we won't give them the option to top up as they must be poor and should be thankful for what they get (not my thoughts, but that's what it seems like if that is the case). The funded hours are confusing and I think nurseries can choose to apply them how they want to a degree, ours works them out over the full year (so it's less than 30 hours a week but more consistent), others just do them during term time- the guidance is confusing imo.

That isnt true
The funding formula is the same for all funded provision

It can be true @TheHoptimist. It is up to each LA how they distribute their funds.

I think this is firmly about you op. Your come across as furious that you’re getting free child care but that it might not cover all the extras available.

Just like state school doesn’t often cover all the extras private school provides. Or the extra clubs and tutors parents pay for when their kid is at state. Or the school trip available that some kids parents can’t afford.

Throughout your child growing up, you will see this injustice. Parents who can afford to will pay for their child to have more. Parents who can’t , then their kid goes without.

You can write to your mp ever single day till your kid is 21 but it’s not going to change. Simoly pick a nursery where you can pay for the extras or find clubs you can pay for, or accept she won’t have more than the state provides, which is a basic nursery provision.

@Orchidsonthetable

I think this is firmly about you op. Your come across as furious that you’re getting free child care but that it might not cover all the extras available.

Just like state school doesn’t often cover all the extras private school provides. Or the extra clubs and tutors parents pay for when their kid is at state. Or the school trip available that some kids parents can’t afford.

Throughout your child growing up, you will see this injustice. Parents who can afford to will pay for their child to have more. Parents who can’t , then their kid goes without.

You can write to your mp ever single day till your kid is 21 but it’s not going to change. Simoly pick a nursery where you can pay for the extras or find clubs you can pay for, or accept she won’t have more than the state provides, which is a basic nursery provision.

That is such a load of rubbish. You are either being deliberately goady or you didn’t read my posts properly.

My child is not currently in a nursery FYI. Her father and I are currently in the process of choosing one. I’ve also made it clear that parents should be given the opportunity to pay extra if the nursery is left short by the greedy government but they often don’t know what is happening.

Nobody is getting free childcare if the government won’t pay provisions more than £3/ hour per child are they?

Its hard to tell what they fully mean from a post. Just make sure to ask the right questions to nurseries as I believe they can apply it at nursery level how they want within certain parameters rather than at local authority level but might be wrong.

We have year round so it works out to actually be around 22 hours a week and we pay for food as that's a way for them to charge a top up of sorts whilst within guidelines. Good value though- breakfast, 3 course lunch and snacks for £2 a day. A nursery my friend uses is open all year but only offers funded hours for term times; neither charge any additional charges for other activities even for 2 year olds (as all 3 year olds get funded hours guessing there's not a difference?).

I’m sure it used to be much more straight forward when my older children were little.

This isn’t even about my daughter, per se. As her dad will pay whatever is needed for her. But I don’t want her attending a provision where some of the children are treated differently. It’s horrible. If most children get 30 hours because their parents work, this will affect them.

Not content with closing the Sure Start centres, this government seem hell bent on stopping children from starting school on a level playing field with their peers.

I don't know if it's reassuring or not OP, but I know of perhaps 10 or 12 different nurseries that close friends use and I'm pretty confident this isn't a problem at any of them. I really don't think it's a widespread issue.