Funded nursery hours

Hi there 😊, I just wondered if anyone else has had the following from your 3 year olds nursery? My son turned 3 in December so now he's eligible for the funded 15 free hours. I received an invoice from his nursery this week for a voluntary contribution? Basically they were saying because the government is funding the 15 hours now, the nursery doesn't get anything towards consumables? They have asked for every session my son is there that we pay £4, it's voluntary but I was surprised as it's helping a lot getting 15 hours free but the invoice came to a total of £120 which is £4 per session he's there and that covers a whole term. Is this the same with other nurseries? Thanks just didn't expect an invoice still! I know it's voluntary but I'm going to feel bad now if we don't pay it?! 🤷‍♀️

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Yes we had the same surprise but ours isn’t voluntary! We got an invoice for £198 which was for a month and she only goes two days a week! So we had to change her preschool as we hadn’t budgeted for that, we now pay £69 a month. Not quite what we were expecting but at least that’s more affordable 🙂

my son gets the 15 hours free funding and i only have to pay £1 for weekly snacks & i pay £30 for two afternoons a week! so u pay £31 a week and he does 9-12 monday-wednesday and 9-3 thursday & friday!

Sone preschools do do that! Luckily ours doesn't but I've heard a lot do as the government payment to them doesn't even cover staff wages

Yep we pay a top up fee. Ours isn't optional but they clearly explain it and to be honest I'm happy to pay it he gets 2 meals and 2 snacks a day and loves it. I pay £119 a month and I really cannot complain. The funding is a really harsh system and thr nurseries often lose money by accepting it

Yes most nurseries charge a top up fee, as the subsidy from the government often isn’t enough to cover their basic outgoings

I pay consumables but it’s just under £6 pm. I pay for the meals on top of the fees.

Thanks everyone 😊 xx

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