Nursery asking for £2hr contribution for funded child which doesn't include food

[Ivybaker123]

Hi,

I'm looking to send my son to nursery in September when he will get funding, the nursery is based in my daughters school so it would be ideal for him to go there as it would make my life easier as I don't drive, I can drop them off and pick them up together instead of travelling else where.

My issue is even though he will get funding their asking for a £2hr contribution and to either take them in a packed lunch or pay more for a hot meal. This seems alot to me seeing as he's suppose to have free funding. My daughter went to a different nursery and they only charged £5 a day including there lunch. Does anyone else get charged this much at their child's nursery?

I'd be surprised if anybody gets totally free nursery provision these days!

It is quite standard. We paid £1.50 an hour and that was over 2 years ago. Also no food included.

They won't stay open if they can't pay staff, rent, bills, educational toys etc.......

You could look for a setting that doesn't charge but you may be looking a long time!

We don't get charged any extra except for food (which we can decline and send in packed lunches and then it is free).

But there was another thread about this recently and I was very much in the minority, even though technically it isn't allowed.

Sounds about right to me. It's not free hours, it's funded, but the funding doesn't cover the usual rate so nursery's have to make the money up some how

My son attends 30 hours a week, across the whole year, I still pay £316 a month, but thats hugely cheaper then the 900 I paid before the 30 hour funding!

Yep sounds normal to me

The 'free' funding is funded at well under what it costs to provide an hour's care. In theory they shouldn't ask for a top up but if parents refuse then the nursery will just stop taking the 'free' funding and you'll be worse off.

Yep sounds normal. We pay for lunch and then a consumables charge each session. Well worth the money and a fraction of what we were paying before having funded hours. Nurseries are chronically underfunded and desperately need more money to keep going.

At our school it's £2 per day to cover the lunch hour, that is not included in the 30hpur funding , take own packed lunch

We paid £2 a day too. It's pretty normal

Our top up is about £6 a day on funded days. I don't begrudge it to the nursery, they wouldn't be able to keep going without those top ups. What I do mind is that the government isn't funding those hours properly in the first place. That's where the issue lies.

Definitely for the funded bit not wrap around hours? Ours charges £2 for 8am-9am breakfast club, and £5 for 3.30-5.30pm.

Our nursery is £25 a day contribution for funded hours and not allowed to take our own food (which I'd prefer).

Our wrap cost was £30 a day so I’d be happy with that if I were you!

This is what most nurseries do as the money the government gives them to cover the fnded kids isn't nearly enough to cover expenditures.

Be annoyed at the government, not the nursery.

The government funding doesn’t cover the actual cost of providing an early years education for a child, so nurseries have no choice but to ask parents to supplement it. It’s the same everywhere.

Yes the government does give nurseries enough to completely fund the places. It would be far better if the government just stated it subsidised the 30 hours. It is more accurate and less misleading. Unfortunately what you describe is normal.

The nursery I work at only charges £1 per week as a consumable charge, but we have to do regular fundraising drives for bigger projects and extra resources. We are a local authority setting, but are in deficit. Private settings can and need to charge more to stay afloat as the funding doesn't touch the sides of what a space costs.

Government funding unfortunately just about covers salaries. Energy and water bills are through the roof. The amount of paper, paint, play dough and glue a 3 year old can get through is eye opening.

The costs of other consumables - toilet paper, hand towels, rubber gloves runs into hundreds a year too.

When you pick a setting you're either being in iced up front for the true cost of the setting, or you will be roped into regular bake sales, sponsored events and fairs and fetes to bring in the shortfall.

Against the grain but I’m surprised at this given it’s a nursery within a school.

When my son was in a private nursery, the usual daily rate was £67, dropping to £35 once the child became eligible for the funded hours. This included meals and other consumables and I thought was absolutely fair enough as the nursery was open from 7:30am to 6pm.

He is now attending nursery at the primary school where he has a reception place for September and it’s free as his funding covers it. He is there from 8:50am until 3:10pm 5 days a week, I have to send in a packed lunch each day but the only money I’ve been asked for is a £15 “creative fund” donation. I do have to pay if he goes to breakfast or after school club, but that’s to be expected.

West Midlands bog standard state primary if it makes a difference.

This seems alot to me seeing as he's suppose to have free funding.

It’s not ‘free’ funding. It’s a partially funded place with an amount of money which the Tories deem adequate but isn’t, meaning that hundreds of nurseries are now unable to cover costs and are being forced to close their doors.

Vote carefully!

The Government doesn't have a bottomless pit of money. They are contributing to the costs - not offering to cover the whole lot.

This is the whole thing with the 'free funding' it totally shouldn't be advertised as free. It should be called 'subsidised.' In this area our local authority pay £4.37 per child. It's absolutely scandalous. In my setting that's at least a loss of £10 a day, per child. It's not sustainable.

I'd report the setting to the LA's Early Years team, they will take a very dim view of it.

and then the nursery will stop accepting the free funding and OP will have to pay the full whack. that'll be productive. Or they will drop the charge and go bankrupt within a year or so.

Well then they should firstly not call it "30 free hours" and secondly not make it against the rules to charge top ups. But they won't, because they want people to blame the nurseries for the charges.