DS in nursery - how does the govt funding for age 3-4 work?

[citybranch]

Probably been done before, sorry!
DS will be 3 on 29 Dec so should just about qualify for the new term beginning Jan for govt funded place.
He goes to the nursery 5 afternoons a week, 1-6. Do they deduct it at the nursery or do I pay nursery and claim back somehow? If each afternoon session costs £20 now what will it cost after the funding?

Also is it correct that it goes from 12.5 hrs free to 15 hrs free in April
Sorry for being dim I just realised I have no idea on this! Trying to work out costs for my baby daughters childcare so would be helpful to know what I'll be paying for DS.

It depends on where you live how many funded sessions you get. Some authorities only grant ante-preschool children 3 sessions a week, some do 5. However if your nursery is in partnership with local authority maybe it's discretionary to them. Our nursery offers choice of receiving discount each month off bill or get a lump sum back each term. It works out roughly halve the cost of each session you save assuming you'll be granted 5 sessions but it's only termtime and price goes back to normal in summer. HTH

We get 15 hours (rather than 12.5) per week in Leeds and I believe this is being adopted across the country from April. Your childcare provider (as long as they are Ofsted Approved) can claim the money on your behalf with a birth certificate shown as proof.

You can only claim for term-time. So if you are in a full-time nursery you will either have to pay for school holidays or miss those sessions.

You can share the hours between providers and pay to top-up if you want extra hours.

Don't feel dim asking. I couldn't believe how difficult it was to find up-to-date information about this.

HTH

At mine, you just need to sign a piece of paper and nursery deduct the funding you receive from the next bill. So you never actaully get the money, you just pay reduced bills. Just ask at the nursery, it should be very simple.

Hours vary depending on where you are.

Thankyou! Do I need to remind nursery that he will turn 3 to sort all this out?

All settings across the country will be offering 15hrs of funding from September 2010.

Some areas are already piloting the 15hrs and others have a percentage of the settings within the borough piloting the 15hrs with the other settings offering 12.5hrs.

Yes, your ds will be eligible from January - ask at the nursery to see how much your fees will be reduced by because they vary from setting to setting and will also be dependant on whether they're offering 15hrs or 12.5 as well.

The grant should be free at the point of delivery therefore your fees should be reduced by the grant amount immediately. All monies are paid directly to the nursery for your son's place, you won't actually see any of it.

The nursery (obviously assuming that they are offering grant-funded places) will have all the necessary information and should help you to fill in all the necessary paperwork. In our LA you need to produce a copy of the child's birth certificate and proof of address (utility bill) along with the other paperwork. The nursery shouldn't need prompting with this - they'll know the LA deadlines and they'll know who within their setting is eligible.

hth