Using free nursery place grant in private nursery

[hairtwiddler]

Hoping for some advice on how best to use the nursery education grant. DD is eligible from now and I've filled in the forms for the discount on our private day nursery. She currently goes for two long days (8-5) when I'm at work, and DH has her on the other day I work.
However, we've had a change in circumstances with DH now working freelance from home so could be more flexible with childcare.
Am I right in thinking we'll only get 4/5 of the grant as she only attends four sessions? Would we then be eligible for her to attend for one more session at no extra cost? Our local school doesn't have a nursery so I'm happy for her to stay where she is.
Many thanks for any insight on this.

You need to check with your LEA as they can vary, but yes, in my Local Education Authority, you are correct.

You can access a maximum of 2 x 2.5hr sessions per day, with a 'care' break (ie lunch etc) between sessions. So you would pay for your dd's morning and have a free 2.5 hour session in the morning, you would pay for lunch and have a free 2.5 hour session in the afternoon and you would pay for your after-school care. Generally this is done by working out a set amount that your Free Early Years Entitlement place is worth and then deducting this from your daily rate at nursery - hope that makes sense.

Your dd is still eligible for a further session, so in theory could access a free session from the private nursery. It's worth noting though that some nurseries won't make provision for sessional places and will only offer you a further 1/2 day which you would then have to pay a top up.

I would stress to check with your LEA though as the Grant is changing from September 2010 and some areas are already piloting the changes. The Entitlement is changing from 12.5hrs to 15hrs per week and is to be offered more flexibly as hours rather than sessions. LEA's are setting their own max/min hours that can be claimed per day, but the hours must be claimed over a minimum of 3 days - I'm pretty certain that that part is statutory.

hth

Thanks for really helpful reply. Will do some investigating.