Nursery optional/voluntary fees

[djddmdm]

I'm looking at nurseries and have seen this optional/voluntary charge (one setting says it is for nappies, resources, ratios , the other setting says it is for meals and snacks). Has anyone opted out of paying for this? Did you feel the nursery made you feel bad for doing so? One setting quoted over £100 pcm. I get the government help for working parents (30 hours) doesn't cover everything just seems a lot and I wonder how 'optional or voluntary' it actually is.

Our nursery had a genuinely optional charge for meals. You could send your own in no problem.

The first one you mention does not really sound optional - do they really say it’s for “ratios”? The legally required number of adults for children?

For our nursery there is an optional charge for meals/food, genuinely optional but obviously if you choose to opt out then you have to send in all of the snacks/meals for the days they are there and it must adhere to their guidance on what meals/snacks are so balanced, fruit/veg etc you can’t just send in whatever.