for those of you looking into nurseries for your 3 year olds

[Xena]

Thought I'd put this in here so more people can see it.

Most of you are aware, I'm sure, that 3 and 4 year olds get free nursery education grants, for approximately 15 hours a week (think it depends on the nursery, and your location, but anyway...)

Lydia has had her place booked at a nursery for a few months now, and she's due to start in January. She was enrolled for doing 3 afternoons a week - a total of 15 hours. I had been told by the nursery that she was entitled to 15 hours a week free, because of the grant.
I never had any sheets to fill in though in regards to the grant, and I didn't have the exact term date, and I thought that was a bit odd so I rang the nursery last week to enquire about this.

The lady there said that she had sent me that stuff a while ago, so I said I hadn't received it, so she said ok she would sent me it again.

It arrived a couple of days later. To my dismay I saw that the nursery had calculated that the nursery education grant would be deducted from the final cost of the bill, but that would still leave us with £106.20 a month to pay!

I was a bit like this

I rang the nursery to ask WHY this should be the case, as I had been told that 15 hours a week would be covered by the grant, so I hadn't expected to pay anything apart from the cost of Lydia's meals.

They told me that it's because this particular nursery runs for 52 weeks in the year, whereas the grant only covers term time, which is something like 38 weeks in the year, so the extra cost makes up the difference.


WHYYYY had nobody told me this in the first place?

So now I'm looking into trying to get Lydia into a different nursery that only runs during term time, because I just can't afford the £106.20 a month.

I'm really ticked off because it looked like a nice nursery, and Lydia liked it, and now we have to go through the whole rigmarole of going to a new nursery. We're going to look at one on Monday - I hope it's as nice as the first one.

So, just a warning to any of you looking into nurseries. If you're relying on the grant, make sure to enquire with the nursery whether they run 52 weeks of the year, or just term time, because you might end up facing a hefty bill if you're not careful!

 

[Sarah&Braydon]

i found out the other day it was only term time
but dont make any diffo for B as im paying it now anyway just means i get a few month cheaper

 

[mary70]

yes hun it does, my daughter is in private nursery but it only runs term time

 

[Xena]

See I've never had the kids go to nurseries or anything. I have no need to, because I'm only at uni 6 hours a week, and DH is leaving work (it's his last day today) to start working at home - so he's going to be self employed from now on, so really, Lydia going to nursery is purely for HER benefit, because she gets bored at home and she really is looking forward to socialising with other kids. She's very social, but doesn't see many kids at all, and despite Alex she feels a bit lonely I think.

So she's been looking forward to going, and DH and I have really been looking forward to it too for her sake, I think she'll really enjoy it.

But I can't afford £106 a month for something that really isn't NECESSARY if you see what I mean. If it was a question of looking for childcare due to us working or something like that, then it would be different.

 

[Bloom]

Thats a bit naughty how do they expect you to know these things

Could she not go less hours a week to spread it out say 10 hours a week im sure you have thought of that but im sure she will like the other nursery just as much once she sees the toys.

 

[Xena]

Thats a bit naughty how do they expect you to know these things

Could she not go less hours a week to spread it out say 10 hours a week im sure you have thought of that but im sure she will like the other nursery just as much once she sees the toys.

I asked that - I asked the woman on the phone if Lydia could maybe just do 1 or 2 sessions a week then, instead of 3, and she said that no, unless Lydia goes for the full 15 hours a week she wouldn't be covered by any grant at all.

I thought that sounded really stupid, but there we go.

I do hope you're right about the other nursery. The thing is it's a really new one, it's only been open since September, so apparently they don't have that many children going there, which is kind of a bummer because one of the main reasons she would be going in the first place would be for the social element.

I guess I'll just have to see on Monday.

 

[mary70]

thats rubbish hun you my daughter only does 7 hours and gets her place paid for and they dont have to do all the 15 hours at one nursery you can split the hours as you want they could go to 2 different nurseries if you want them too

 

[Strangeness]

I send ds to pre school which is run through our local church and is only term time. I pay £14 for two morning sessions a week until jan when he gets his funding.

 

[Xena]

thats rubbish hun you my daughter only does 7 hours and gets her place paid for and they dont have to do all the 15 hours at one nursery you can split the hours as you want they could go to 2 different nurseries if you want them too

gah then the silly woman didn't know what she was talking about

 

[valentine]

Can Lydia not go to a school nursery hon? This would be the same principle of socialisation, but free and obviously only term time.

My OH used to be a nursery teacher (now P1) and I am passionate about the benefits of having a trained teacher from 3+, which rarely happens in private nurseries, so that alone sways me towards my local school nursery when DD hits 3. Its also in the village and attached to the school where she will go at 5 so gets her into a good routine of 'going to school' and lets her socialise with her contemporaries who will actually go through school with her and live locally.

Valentine Xxx

 

[lisa282]

They told me that it's because this particular nursery runs for 52 weeks in the year, whereas the grant only covers term time, which is something like 38 weeks in the year, so the extra cost makes up the difference.

Hun, can you not choose to just send her during term time? My son goes to a private nursery and gets his place grant funded now. Whilst I am on maternity leave I have requested that he might as well stay at home with me during the holidays so Im not paying out needless costs, and the nursery were fine with this, as long as they are given ample notice you should be able to choose which days/weeks even hours your child attends. Just because the nursery runs for 52 weeks doesnt mean you should be obliged to pay for all 52 weeks. What happens if you go on holiday for 2 weeks, do they still expect you to pay for your non-attending child? At the end of the day, the out of term care is a bonus and not a necessity so you should be able to choose whether you want this added care or not. I would ask them if you can opt out of the non term-time care so your child is just attending during term. They should be attending to your requirements and not the other way around The only reason we have stuck with the private nursery is that we have the option of out of term care when we need it, so when I go back to work we dont have to worry about alternative childcare as well.

Hope Ive made sense there, it sounds a bit jumbled up now Ive read it back!

 

[Xena]

They told me that it's because this particular nursery runs for 52 weeks in the year, whereas the grant only covers term time, which is something like 38 weeks in the year, so the extra cost makes up the difference.

Hun, can you not choose to just send her during term time? My son goes to a private nursery and gets his place grant funded now. Whilst I am on maternity leave I have requested that he might as well stay at home with me during the holidays so Im not paying out needless costs, and the nursery were fine with this, as long as they are given ample notice you should be able to choose which days/weeks even hours your child attends. Just because the nursery runs for 52 weeks doesnt mean you should be obliged to pay for all 52 weeks. What happens if you go on holiday for 2 weeks, do they still expect you to pay for your non-attending child? At the end of the day, the out of term care is a bonus and not a necessity so you should be able to choose whether you want this added care or not. I would ask them if you can opt out of the non term-time care so your child is just attending during term. They should be attending to your requirements and not the other way around The only reason we have stuck with the private nursery is that we have the option of out of term care when we need it, so when I go back to work we dont have to worry about alternative childcare as well.

Hope Ive made sense there, it sounds a bit jumbled up now Ive read it back!

yeh you are making sense. I actually asked them that too, and the woman said that it would not be possible for Lydia to only attend during term time, and that it had to be the 52 weeks.

Although I'm now beginning to think that this woman just didnt know what she was talking about