3 year old funding

We encourage our parents to come in and speak to us regarding the 15 hour universal funding offer for 3 to 4 year old's and the additional 15 hours funding.  We will always try to be as flexible as we can to suit our families needs, please see below additional information provided below:

 

Free early learning for 3 and 4 year olds

All 3 to 4-year-olds can get 570 hours of free early education or childcare per year. It’s usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year, equivalent to the school term time.

The free hours can be claimed from the term following your child's third birthday until they are of school age.

This means:

You can use this funding at most Ofsted registered private day nurseries, pre-schools, children's centres or with some childminders - please check to make sure they accept the funding before you enrol.

Some children may also be eligible for the early years premimum. This is funding childcare providers can claim to improve your child's learning.

How can I use use the free hours?

If your child attends more than the free hours per week, you will be expected to pay the difference to the provider.

You are entitled to just take up the free hours at the provider of your choice if the provider has vacancies and can accommodate your child.

The provider must notify you when you register, if your requirements exceed the funding limit.

There will be a minimum and maximum number of free hours that a provider can offer on one day but this may vary between different providers.

Depending on your provider you may be able to stretch the hours over the year.

You should discuss with the provider how you want to take the hours to best meet your needs.

 

30 hours free early education for 3 and 4 year olds

Working families who meet the eligibility criteria, may be able to get 30 hours a week of free early education and childcare for their 3 or 4 year old.

The extra 15 hours will be available from the start of the next term and your eligibility for the extra hours will be checked every three months.

Can my child get 30 hours free childcare?

Parents will need to meet the following criteria to be eligible for 30 hours free childcare. If you don't meet the criteria you will still be entitled to 15 hours of free childcare and you can use the childcare calculator to check what help you can get with childcare costs.

• Parents earn or expect to earn the equivalent to 16 hours at National Minimum or Living Wage over the coming three months. This equates to £115 a week (or £6,000 a year) for each parent over 25 years old or £111.20 a week (or £5,700 a year) for each parent between 21 and 24 years old. This applies whether you are in paid employment, self-employed or on zero hours contract.
• If out of work, the parents should be seeking the free childcare to enable them to work.
• If one or both parents are on maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption leave, or if they are on statutory sick leave.
• Where one parent meets the income criteria and the other is unable to work because they are disabled, have caring responsibilities or have been assessed as having limited capability to work.
• Where a parent is in a ‘start-up period’ (for example they are newly self-employed) they do not need to demonstrate that they meet the income criteria for 12 months.
• If a non-EEA national, the parent must have recourse to public funds.

Parents will not meet the criteria when either one:

• has an income of more than £100,000
• is a non-EEA national and subject to immigration control (and has no recourse to public funds).

If you meet the criteria and your child will be 3 on 31 August 2018 you can apply now. If you encounter any problems with the application process or accessing the childcare account, you should direct your queries to the childcare service Customer Interaction Centre on 0300 123 4097.