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Original poster

Are these nursery holiday changes ok?

7 replies

JJ97 · 28/02/2026 15:34

I live in Wales and the funded childcare works differently to England and am having trouble finding the right answer.

For context my child's nursery used to be a "normal" private one, they cared for 6 week old to 4 year olds 5 days a week. Minus Christmas to New year and bank holidays. We could book 4 week of holiday a year at 1/2 rate and funded childcare covered most of our hours.

Middle of last year they changed the nursery to only accept 3-4 year olds 4 days a week to make the most of the funded childcare offers (in Wales it starts at 3 not 9 months). They also advised they'd be closing 2 weeks in August and 2 weeks around Christmas as funded care only covers 48 weeks of the year.

They have sent an update today advising
"As a reminder, there is no longer a holiday entitlement due to our 4 weeks of the year closure. Due to some confusion regarding this in the Autumn term we honoured the removal of meals and snacks for time off, but in line with our holiday policy this will now be stopped from 1st April. "

We also have an increase to the "consumables charge" to £9 a day for meals and snacks. We send in our own nappies and wipes so this is only for food.

I pay money for unfunded hours weekly too as the childcare offer isnt enough to cover my working days.

I can see no holiday policy from them and cant find the post from last year when they announced the changes but want to know if they are allowed to dictate holiday?
Force parents to pay as normal if their child isnt in nursery with a pre-booked holiday they are aware of when they are already paying for hours on top of funded ones?
Force parents to pay for food on days they have advance notice of the child's absence?

Please provide some guidance if you have been through the same thing or have any idea what I can do here. Wages are tight as it is and the holiday is a free one to stay with family down on the South Coast, I cant afford to pay for all of this when I do get the chance to treat my child to a small holiday.

Thank you x

OP posts:
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ellesbellesxxx · 28/02/2026 15:38

We always had to pay for nursery even if we were away.
We didn’t have to pay for a week at Christmas when they closed which worked well as we were off.

ImFineItsAllFine · 28/02/2026 15:46

We always had to pay full price for nursery days, including consumables charges, even if we were on holiday. Nursery was open 50 weeks a year

Nickyknackered · 28/02/2026 16:14

Perfectly normal. They can't fill your spot when you choose not to send the child. In the same way you still have to pay rent or council tax when you're on holiday or a dance class if you are away.

stichguru · 28/02/2026 16:22

JJ97 · 28/02/2026 15:34

I live in Wales and the funded childcare works differently to England and am having trouble finding the right answer.

For context my child's nursery used to be a "normal" private one, they cared for 6 week old to 4 year olds 5 days a week. Minus Christmas to New year and bank holidays. We could book 4 week of holiday a year at 1/2 rate and funded childcare covered most of our hours.

Middle of last year they changed the nursery to only accept 3-4 year olds 4 days a week to make the most of the funded childcare offers (in Wales it starts at 3 not 9 months). They also advised they'd be closing 2 weeks in August and 2 weeks around Christmas as funded care only covers 48 weeks of the year.

They have sent an update today advising
"As a reminder, there is no longer a holiday entitlement due to our 4 weeks of the year closure. Due to some confusion regarding this in the Autumn term we honoured the removal of meals and snacks for time off, but in line with our holiday policy this will now be stopped from 1st April. "

We also have an increase to the "consumables charge" to £9 a day for meals and snacks. We send in our own nappies and wipes so this is only for food.

I pay money for unfunded hours weekly too as the childcare offer isnt enough to cover my working days.

I can see no holiday policy from them and cant find the post from last year when they announced the changes but want to know if they are allowed to dictate holiday?
Force parents to pay as normal if their child isnt in nursery with a pre-booked holiday they are aware of when they are already paying for hours on top of funded ones?
Force parents to pay for food on days they have advance notice of the child's absence?

Please provide some guidance if you have been through the same thing or have any idea what I can do here. Wages are tight as it is and the holiday is a free one to stay with family down on the South Coast, I cant afford to pay for all of this when I do get the chance to treat my child to a small holiday.

Thank you x

You were lucky to have a flexible childcare provider originally. They are now doing what's more normal, in my experience anyway. A provider normally needs to be near full, nearly all the time to be able to afford to run. They drop off being full (or having any kids) for the weeks they are closed, the rest of the time they need to be full. They are highly unlikely to be able to fill a blank space (getting paid for the fill-in child) just for the weeks a child is away. That means either the parents of the absent child continue to pay for the place, or the nursery find another child to fill the space long-term, meaning when the child no-longer has a space to return to when they come back. Given how little nurseries actually get for funded spaces, the top up fees are to help with that shortfall, not to make up for random unpaid hours when the family chose to go away.

We used a childminder and we paid whether our child was their or not, unless she was sick or away. I would expect nursery to be the same. The only time the nursery would have to not charge for this is if they decide to close and have factored no fees for this period into their overall charges.

They aren't "dictating holiday" they are simply saying they won't provide you with a space you aren't paying for, which is very reasonable!

HiCandles · 28/02/2026 16:51

At my children's nursery, and everyone's I know, there is definitely no reduction in fees for people choosing to take holidays. They can't temporarily unemploy staff or make the building smaller or make the electric cost less when a child is absent so the costs to them are the same. Equally their catering provider contract will be for a fixed price and doesn't allow for one week to be for 29 kids not 30.
If it doesn't suit you (and being forced to have a holiday in expensive August when we otherwise could go in term time for preschoolers is ridiculous IMO) you'll have to find new childcare.

FluentTealGuide · 02/03/2026 18:44

It’s actually more common to pay in full for the whole year (when the nursery is open) regardless of the child’s attendance in order to keep the child’s place. You were experiencing good fortune in being at a nursery charging only half for advance notice days off, and that good luck has unfortunately run out.

If you don’t wish to go away while also paying for nursery, I’m afraid you’ll need to book holidays during the nursery’s annual closures.

toddlertoenail · 02/03/2026 20:49

We pay full cost regardless if DD is in nursery or not for her set sessions. Thankfully we get funded from 2 so bill has dropped a little. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 if that’s any indication

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