Is it true that the free Early Years Education provision of 12.5hrs can only be spread across 5 days a week?

[MrsMerryHenry]

Or is this changing? There's nothing on the Surestart or direct.gov websites that clarifies the position, and all I've heard is rather muddied hearsay.

No.. I think you can do 2 1/2 days...

Hurrah!

Well, I think... pretty sure... err... someone Who Knows will be along soon!

In our preschool you can use it however you want to

eg.
Monday 2 sessions (pay for lunch)

Tuesday 2 sessions (pay for lunch)

Wednesday just one session

That's it for the week (for free sessions).

Only two sessions can be used each day (lunches, breakfasts etc. don't count)

Some people do every morning or afternoon, others use a free session each morning and pay for lunch and afternoons, for example.

HTH!

no that's not true otherwise DS2's nursery (which is excellent rated - both by parents and Ofsted) would not now (and have been since DS2 went there last school year) Mon-Thu all through the year (so never open on Fridays except to those that were paying for their care.

No, thats not true at all.

At the moment, two sessions maximum can be accessed per day and there needs to be a 'care' break (ie lunch) between the 'educational' sessions. So theoretically the free early years entitlement can be taken over 3 days (well, 2.5 but ykwim).

The govt is actually moving away from the standard 2.5 hrs sessions towards more flexible entitlement (2010)
Parents will have more flexibility as to when they can use their hours (hrs rather than sessions), but it will still be over a minimum of 3 days.

hth

Maximum of 2 sessions a day plus none of your EYE can be used for mealtimes

NP Katy

Fabulous, plonker. 2010 is when we qualify.

Thanks loads for your info, peeps.

The changes will come in September 2010. When is your dc 3?

Poo. He's three this November.

Ahh, ok, so he will be funded from Jan 2010.

You could be in a pilot area though - They are rolling out the flexible changes (and 15 hrs rather than 12) from September 2009 and there are already Pathfinder areas that have been rolling the flexibile entitlement for a while now.

If not, it's only two terms to wait

It's up to them cat.

They have to offer the hours (even school nurseries) and the advice from govt is to offer the hours as flexibily as possible - how they do it (with regards to hours/staffing etc) is entirely up to them.

Sorry, should have added that the entitlement won't be run in 'sessions' anymore, it will be accessed as hours. Also, there will be no need to break up the day - lunchtime will also be included in the hours.

Cat - DS2's pre-school has always offered 3 hour sessions, morning and afternoon. They don't clear up/set up between sessions - the afternoon children just joined in, usually with lunch after the mornings only children had left. It was not a problem.

Only difference will be that instead of having to pay a top-up fee for the extra half an hour parents will be able to have a whole session for free.

Some LEA 's are more flexible . A mnetter posted re Manchester once and you could choose to have it as 12 1/2 hours per week term time over 5 sessions or spread fewer hours per week/sessions all year round.

Think it at least opens up the option of all year round nurseries.

Check with your local CIS or FIS for a definitive answer. How the entitlement is to be allocated (i.e. 5 x 2.5 hour sessions or simply 12.5 hours in any number of sessions) depends on the county's own rules about the NEG (nursery education grant).

From personal experience, I would say that lots of pre-schools/nurseries themselves are unclear about how the funding should be used. Or they deliberataly keep parents "in the dark" to access the funding in the way that works best for the provider.

CAT - I work in a Pre-school which uses part of the local school - is within the building but separate. We are in a trial area for 25 hours, yet are not doing it as we cannot extend the sessions to fit within the school day and ensure staff get a break. We need to review this, but not sure how we are going to do it.

TBH although i have registered for this I am unlikely to advertise it much

It costs me money to provide the sessions rather than earn me any money

I think it's only use (for childminders) is to offer to an existing child to reduce costs

My school is in one of the "pathfinder" areas and we have been offering 15hours flexible care since September.

We offer 3 hour sessions am/pm (8.45 - 11.45 & 12.30 - 3.30) with the option of parents accessing full days if they choose. If they want full days and the children stay for lunch this is provided in the Children's Centre by their staff for a small charge for the additional time (45 mins). At the moment schools aren't required to offer the additional weeks.