Nursery- Do they need to attend the full 5 days?

[Camcam]

Hi all :)
DS turns 3 at the end of August. I was thinking of putting him into nursery once he has turned 3. How do the term admissions work? I keep hearing they are eligible for the 15 hours the term after they turn 3. Would this mean he could join in September?

Also when I’m looking at nurseries connected to schools, they only have options to either put them in for morning or afternoon sessions 5 days a week. XH lives a few hours away and usually has ds EOW from Thursday-Sunday, with us meeting halfway for drop offs. Do you think it would be possible to only put ds in nursery for 3 days a week (mon-wed, 9 hours total) or do they have to attend the full 5 days. Are the 15 free hours also available for private nurseries (currently on UC)?

Also, ds usually stays with xh for a week or so if he has annual leave. Are nurseries very strict with attendance? Obviously once ds joins reception, he could only visit on weekends/ school holidays but is it the same with nursery?Any advice greatly appreciated :)

Most, if not all, school nurseries will expect you to commit to 5 half days every week, it's not like a private nursery where you pick the hours you want. School nurseries will expect you to treat it like school with the hours they attend. Obviously you can't be fined or taken to court but the agreement is there if you accept a place they are the hours the child attends.

Great thanks :)
Daft question but are you able to use the 15 free hours for a private nursery once they are 3 (I’m on UC) or are they only for under 3 year olds?

My child is an August baby she had been 3 for 3 weeks when she started school attached nursery and i did not want her there 5 days initially , i built it up until she was attending 5 days leading up to starting reception.
I told the head teacher of my plans and he was fine about it ,we never had any problems and it was the right thing for my child.

Yes you can use them in a Private nursery.

Our school nursery let you pick days.
message them and ask.

UC has nothing to do with 15 funded hours for 3 year olds. It's a universal entitlement. You can use it in any early years setting but more expensive ones will change higher additional costs for extra classes/ meals / wrap around etc.

The odd week off here and there is absolutely fine at my school for nursery class. They wouldn't have agreed to regularly missing 2 days a week as they told me they couldn't claim the full funding for my DC that way.

You can use the free hours at a private nursery but in my area it tends to come with conditions eg the hours have to be spread over the week so you still had to pay something for the remainder of the day or if it's not a term time only nursery, you had to pay full rate for the school holiday days.

If you are on UC have you checked if you are eligible for 30 hours of funding?

Generally a school nursery will expect them to attend 5 days a week, but as PP said they don't HAVE to be there everyday so if you explain the situation you could probably get away with him missing every other Friday.

You can use your free hours at a private nursery but you will probably be charged for 'extras' on top so it won't be totally free. Also, private nursery runs year round, but your free hours only cover term-time (38 weeks a year) so you'd end up paying for hours outside of this or some nurseries will let you split hours across the whole year, so you'll get less per week, but year round.

We used our 15 hours at a private nursery, but that was a while ago. I'm not aware it's changed though. Our son did 3 whole days because that's what suited us. Good luck with it.

Some of the school nurseries around here let you pick your days. You have to stick to them but you don't have to do full time. Our school has options for 5 full or half days or 3 or 4 full days. Worth asking around different schools if your first option doesn't do it.

Many (all?) private nurseries will provide the 15 hrs, but may specify when you can take it in sessions- often similar to the session times specified by a preschool. Even if you can do 2 half day sessions on a day, they'll charge you (handsomely) for lunchtime.

Loads of private nurseries do term time only, and actually don't charge anything unreasonable as a top up. It's worth asking a few near you. I've not come across any that specify which sessions you can use it for either.

You might be better off finding a private term time only nursery (like a private preschool)
My 3yo goes to one, it isn't attached to a school and it's completely free. She goes 3 full days a week 9-3.30.

At her previous private nursery (not time term only) they spread the free hours over 52 weeks so there is a discount once they are 3 but it's not completely free. Depends if you need the wraparound/holidays care as wellS

Great thank you all :)
Final question, how far in advance did you start applying for nurseries (both school ones and private?)
I was potentially hoping to move to be closer to family (around 30 mins away) and as the schools in that area have very good ofsted ratings. The move wouldn’t be until June/July. Do you think that would be too short notice to apply for ds to start in September? I was planning to apply for nurseries in my current area for now just incase the move doesn’t go through.

Thanks again and happy new year 😄

In our area that would be too late, I would definitely apply now - it may just be a small registration fee.
We applied for Sep 2023 in Jan 2023 and one we contacted was already full.

My daughter is 3 and in a private nursery all year, they do offer term time but we need all year. She gets 30 free hours and is in 4 10h days a week. We pay full price for one day and the other days a smaller fee for food and admin during term time. Out of term time we pay the full price for all 4 days. If we were term time only she wouldn't be in nursery so no fee unless additional days are prearranged.

If you're on universal credit then you get the 15 hours the term after they turn 2, after 3 is for everyone.

Buy June July most school nurserys would have filled the places and be having setting in sessions and home visits. You really need to have your name on the list at least a year before.

We moved when my daughter was 2. Move was expected July/Aug in 2022
We viewed 2 nurseries in June, one had availability immediately and the other definitely had a space in September when the 4 year olds went to school and they could shuffle the remaining children up a class where appropriate. We went with this nursery and were able to get a place the second week of August in the end, a week after our house move.
Approaching them as early as possible to determine the availability of each suitable nursery. The nursery with immediate availability was a red flag plus we got bad feelings during the tour this turn out to be good instincts as it closed 6 months later following Ofsted involvement.

I will contact the nurseries next week once they have reopened. Thank you all for your help! :)