My daughter will be three in autumn. I want to send her to nursery/playgroup for her 15 hours funded. She hasnt been before as im at home. I found a fab nursery with a great reputation but im struggling to understand the fee system. As i will only be sending her term time they have talked about retainer fees/ top up fees but im worried im not going to be able to afford it. They havent said how much as i wont know until later, when and what days she can go. I feel silly not being able to get my around it and i cant ask friends for advice as those with kids all work full time anyway. I feel like an idiot! Anyone else pay a retainer fee for term tiime only and how much is it?
I think it's quite common to pay an amount upfront in case of any unpaid bills if you do go over the free hours. We paid £100 when our first started nursery which was refunded when he left. They billed for anything over the free hours monthly. Unfortunately the funding didn't cover the whole fee (a Montessori nursery) so we still had to pay something each day - something I didn't realise when we signed him up. Ask them to set out exactly what you need to pay upfront as I'm sure every nursery/preschool operates differently xx