Help! Confused! My daughter is 3 in December, trying to work out nursery funded sessions!

[PrincessHalle]

My daughter currently attends a private nursery 2 full days a week (10 hours per day). I understand when she reaches 3 in December she will be entitled to free sessions from the Government, but does anyone know if I would be entitled to claim 5 free sessions on 1 day?? IE, Could I consolidate them and ask them to fund/pay for 1 of her days at nursery?? We are being crucified by our nursery costs at the moment and I am trying to work out how much better off we will be when this government funding kicks in! And if she is 3 in December, what month would she be entitled to funding? Thanks!

At 3 they are entitled to 12.5 free hours of nursery ie paid by the gov't. it doesn't matter how it is broken down over the day. it kicks in on her third birthday. at least that's how i understood it second hand from dh.

I work in a nursery and for one day you can claim 2 funded sessions. If you put your daughter in for an extra morning you could claim another 2 sessions. There will still be an amount to pay but it should be reduced quite a lot because of the funding
HTH x

It also starts the term after they turn 3

As far as I know (DS is 3 in November), the funding starts the term after they are 3, so in January.

And if your child is at private nursery, the vouchers are automatically set off against your total fees. Some nurseries work it out and spread it out over the whole year (funding only for 38 weeks I think), so your monthly payment reduces.

Best thing to do is check with your nursery they will know for definate. The funding will go straight to your chosen care provider you don't get it yourself. As far as I know you can use the funded time as blocks as you describe and usually funding kicks in the term after the 3rd birthday so January in your case.
If you decided to put her in a local nursery such as one attached to the school the funding would go to them instead of the private nursery.

sorry to butt in, but how do you claim it?
my perschool doesn't do it at source...

Wow! First time I've used this site - so thanks for the quick responses! I will talk to my nursery next week. On another note, when would she start school - she would be 5 in December, would it be in January?

She will start next september the term before shes 5

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I think that generally speaking most only allow two sessions per day (ie, 9-11.30 and 1-3.30) and you have to pay for the rest, therefore having to do a minimum of 25 hours a week to claim the full funding iyswim.