School nursery calculations - offering less than 38 funded weeks?

[bluejean202]

My youngest DD attends a nursery that is attached to a school. The nursery is open year round but we have a term time only place.

The local offer website says that we are entitled to 12 weeks of 30 hour funding for the summer term. (And 38 weeks across the whole academic year).

However, the nursery is saying that the funded weeks must align with the term dates of the school. The school is only open for 9.5 weeks in summer and only 34.5 weeks across the whole year. Therefore, if we want DD to attend more than 9.5 weeks in this summer term, we have to pay for additional hours for her.

I don’t think that’s right, but can anyone more knowledgeable than me please advise? Thank you!

Where are the missing weeks being lost?

So what have they said when you queried it?

That makes no sense. If they are open over the summer, there’s no reason they couldn’t use the funding unless they will gain more financially by making you pay for the holiday cover privately.

I think you’re probably confusing two different things here- your child’s annual entitlement & whether the nursery chooses to allow the funding to be stretched over the whole year.

Usually nurseries that are attached to schools allow their funded places to line up with the school terms and they are allowed to do that, even if the nursery is open all year round.

Local authorities do tend to describe the funding as 12 weeks over the summer term but nursery providers have flexibility in how they work that.

This is what I thought.

They’re not stretching the funding as they’re not actually offering all of it. It doesn’t make sense to me. Why not offer the full 38 weeks if you are open 52 weeks anyway?

Is the school nursery open 52 weeks anyway though?5

They do not have to do this, even if open 52 most school nurseries only offer funded places in line with school terms, they are allowed to do this.

Because what locsl authorities pay doesn’t even cover the costs. To stay open, they need funding from the other hours. They are probably offering the maximum they can afford without having to vlose.

I’m assuming, as you only have a term time place then you can only have term time hours, whether they are open 52 weeks of the year is immaterial.
How long is the summer term for that school, as private schools and schools in Scotland and Ireland have different term lengths? Is that school’s term a 9.5 week term for the age of your child.

Settings can choose how they offer funded hours. Eg, term time only and you have to pay for all holidays, or 22 hours per week all year round - if you need more than 22 hours, you will pay for them. They can choose to offer funding for 38 weeks (term time) plus a certain number of weeks in the holiday. It’s entirely up to them.

Settings don’t have to offer funding at all. They can offer whatever pattern they like. And then there are additional rules from the LA, like you can’t change from term time to stretch mid year - which is essentially what you are wanting them to do.

No, I’m not asking to stretch between term time and mid year. We’re entitled to 38 weeks of funding, and that’s what I was hoping to receive. 38 weeks, in line with the local authority’s standard term time. Although the school the nursery is attached to has shorter terms, nonetheless, I thought we would still be eligible for 38 weeks of funding.

I didn’t realise a setting could offer funded hours but then say that you couldn’t use all of them, I didn’t think that was a ‘thing.’

But now I know they are allowed to do that! So thank you all

Call your LA and ask what they are claiming it should be the same as they are offering this term