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Preschool education

Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

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Original poster

Preschool funding

23 replies

Aquariusgirl86 · 23/11/2013 06:59

Just wondering if anyone can tell me if a child is already in preschool when they turn 3 then does the 15 hours funding start immediately? Or do you still have to wait until the term after they are three?

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NickNacks · 23/11/2013 07:00

It's the term after they turn three.

Suddengeekgirl · 23/11/2013 07:00

It's the term after.

Ds missed the April 1st cut off by 4 days. It cost us another 6 months in nursery fees.

meditrina · 23/11/2013 07:03

It's the term after. Or two terms after if you have an early April baby and a late Easter in the year she qualifies.

NickNacks · 23/11/2013 07:04

It won't have cost you 6 months extra in fees, just one term. The holidays aren't funded anyway.

(I sympathise as dd is 2nd September so not funded until January )

NickNacks · 23/11/2013 07:05

meditrina the cut off is always the 31st march for the Easter term. (I provide funding myself).

Suddengeekgirl · 23/11/2013 07:06

nicknacks - I know but it still makes me grumpy. September seems like an extra long wait for my 2 April born dc.

meditrina · 23/11/2013 07:26

Yes, I know the cut off.. and having a non-term date on a term-based system is what introduces the problem.

If your baby can turned 3 during the spring term (not funded, seems reasonable) you would expect it to start one term later - ie summer term. But that doesn't happen if your DC has a birthday at the very end of the spring term. They have to wait a second term and are funded only from September.

Original poster

Aquariusgirl86 · 23/11/2013 07:59

So my May baby starts September and my September baby starts January.......is that right?
My 2.5 year old keeps asking to go to school, I don't know where she has this idea from! I feel bad as we recently relocated and don't have many friends with similarly aged children, but I really don't think I can afford or justify putting her in preschool 2 terms early, will look into it though :-)

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LIZS · 23/11/2013 08:47

It is being extended to include 2yos though so you may be luckier with your younger one. Mums and Tots and playgroups are cheaper and libraries often run free Rhyme time etc.

Original poster

Aquariusgirl86 · 23/11/2013 10:16

Yeah I've been taking them to the local play group but two days a week they are with dh while I'm at work and he won't take them anywhere.
Youngest it 15 months so knowing my luck I'll be too late! Not so worried about him as he has an older sibling so plenty of child interaction.
I don't actually want her to go to preschool early, the hv suggested it and we go to play group on a Monday and every other day of the week she constantly asks if we are going to play group! I think I'm going to just be a bit forward with people at work and try and set up some play dates for her
Thanks

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LIZS · 23/11/2013 11:48

why won't dh take them anywhere ? He may not want to do the general mums and tots thing but maybe a focussed activity group - Tumbletots , Little Kickers, music etc - or a trip to the park might be more his thing.

Suddengeekgirl · 23/11/2013 12:55

Get him to take them somewhere - it's always easier to leave the house than stay at home!

Maybe he'd prefer something more physical with the dc- swimming, jungle gym, soft play etc.

Original poster

Aquariusgirl86 · 23/11/2013 13:00

Don't think he would take them to any groups like that, he will take them to the park and stuff but it's difficult taking them out, they are 15 months and 2.5 and we don't have a car at the moment or know the area well, plus he works long hours and I think he's just tired and the prospect of taking them out is daunting. He plays with them lots tho and the two days he has them aren't consecutive so I'm not too worried that he doesn't take them out. I'm thinking her going to preschool 2 mornings a week might be just affordable and might help us meet other mums and toddlers, going to look into it and also what else there is we can do here to find her some friends :-p

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apple85 · 26/11/2013 08:02

Although the funding for the free 15 hours doesn't kick in until the term after they are 3, its worth checking with school nurseries if they take them earlier. Where I live a few school nurseries will take the child as soon as they turn 3. This is the case with my dd who was 3 at the start of September this year and started school nursery the week after and its all free!

Suddengeekgirl · 26/11/2013 08:22

apple - really?
My dd is 3 on 22nd April. She misses the April 1st cut off point but because Easter is late the school nursery doesn't start back until 28th April (ie after she turns 3)
Would they take her early? (I'm sure she's ready!) or is it down to the individual school?

I thought she would have to wait till September for nursery.

apple85 · 26/11/2013 10:00

It's down to the individual school I think as the school nursery I orginally looked at for dd wouldn't take her till Jan, ie the term after she was 3. But then I got talking to some other mums and they told me about school nurseries that take them as soon as they turn 3. So I contacted the schools and went to view the nurseries and quite a few will take them as soon as they're 3. It might depend on where you live maybe? Its definitley worth asking at the school though or at other school nurseries near by maybe to see what the common practice is.

Littlefish · 27/11/2013 21:12

Some pre-schools take children from their third birthday as long as the parents play for their sessions, but they cannot claim funding for them until the term after they are 3.

apple85 · 27/11/2013 21:34

I don't pay for my dd's school nursery sessions and she was only 3 in sept as i said they started her as soon as she was 3. I know of at least 4 other school nurseries in my local area that will take them from aged 3 without cost as its school nursery. I know funding isn't supposed to kick in till the term after though so maybe the cost is funded out of another budget or something and might just be area based.

Gabby57 · 20/12/2013 09:13

Does anyone know if you can switch schools while being funded (and move the funding)? My son qualifies in April and is already at a day care center, but we are hoping to have him enter a kindergarten/transition/nursery school in sepetmber attached to a primary school.

howmuchworse · 20/12/2013 19:25

So far as I am aware this is fine. The current setting sends in a form declaring that your DS has left the setting and the new setting sends in a new form.

LIZS · 20/12/2013 19:29

definitely easier to switch between terms than mid term. If it is an independent school do check they qualify for EY funding , not all do and even if they currently do they may not necessarily next academic year.

WoodBurnerBabe · 20/12/2013 19:40

Some preschools take earlier. Ours will take from term following 2nd birthday, but you have to pay until funding kicks in.

The funding goes to whichever setting you are in on 'count day' - usually about 10 days after the start of term. Once the funding has been allocated for a term it can't be moved, so if you moved at half term, you can't transfer the funding. However, if the new preschool agree to admit you at half term, they can't charge you if you are eligible for funding - they have to cover it. This is balanced by any leavers they have mid term where they aren't required to refund or hand over the money. It's called 'swings and roundabouts', not sure if all LEA's operate like this though, it's set out in the funding agreement for Oxfordshire County Council.

mygrandchildrenrock · 22/12/2013 20:01

Some local authorities will pay for 'rising threes', that is children who are 3 yrs old during a school term. Not all do though, which is why some nursery classes/schools/pre-schools will take children in that term for free and others won't.
Some nursery classes in schools will take rising threes, even without funding (if they are in a local authority that will not fund until the term after three) because if they have a space it doesn't cost the school any money to give away the space.

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