FAQs

When will my child get funding?

A child is entitled to funding from the start of the school term which falls after they turn 9 months if their parents are working. There are 3 terms in an academic/school year (autumn, spring & summer). See the key dates table below to work out when your child will be entitled to funding. 

How much funding is my child entitled to?

Funding is provided by the Government as follows: 

• 30 hrs funding for working parents:  30 hours per week for 38 weeks per year – both parents should be in work for at least 16 hours, each earning at least National Minimum Wage up to £100k pa.  You may also be eligible if one parent is working and the other is in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, Employment & Support Allowance or is on Maternity/Paternity Leave. 

Funding is provided for 38 weeks of the year, following Local Authority school terms starting in Autumn term (September).  This is a maximum of 1140 hours in a full academic year.  The remaining 13 weeks of the year (ie. school holidays and training days) are NOT funded.   

How does funding work at Westfield House Nursery?

We only offer funded places over the full year (stretched) and do not offer term time only places.  We stretch the 38 weeks of funded hours across 51 weeks (full-year places).  If your child’s funding starts in Spring or Summer term, the amount of funding for the remainder of that academic year will reduce accordingly and will need to stretch over more weeks.   

 By Local Authority rules we are not permitted to offer more than 10 hours of funding in any one day. 

What are the fees for a funded place at Westfield House?

Funded hours Consumable Charge: 

• £5 am session
• £5 pm session
• £8 short day 
• Days with no funding ; our normal daily rate

 Any children in receipt of a 2-year play and learn play place or any 3-year-olds eligible for EYPP will not be charged a consumable fee as we will receive additional funding for these places and can use this to cover the cost all of meals/consumables. 

 

We do not accept packed lunches from home for each child because: 

• We would struggle with storage space for packed lunches and to keep food at the temperature required 
• We would have less control over the food brought into nursery and the allergens they contain. We have a number of children with food allergies/ intolerances at the setting and we carefully monitor and cater for their dietary requirements. 
• Encouraging children to eat well and learn about food in the early years not only protects their health when they are young, but also sets the foundations for their future health and wellbeing. 
• Some children are in nursery for long days, from breakfast to teatime and our cook ensures children are given healthy balanced and nutritious meals at nursery. 
• Packed lunches are usually full of processed unhealthy foods, and we are trying to promote healthy eating to all our children. 
• Packed lunches will not provide opportunities for children to practice independence, using cutlery, serving food, pouring drinks and trying new foods, tastes and textures. 
• During mealtimes children are encouraged to try new foods, to make healthy choices and understand the need for healthy eating. 
• We are inspected and by Ofsted and judged against providing nutritional balanced meals and snacks for all the children at our settings 

Hopefully this helps you to understand the reasons for and the benefits to you and your child, of the current charges for consumables that we have in place. 

What does the funding cover?

Funding covers only the core elements of childcare.  Government guidance states: 

“Providers…can charge for meals and snacks as part of free entitlement places and they can also charge for consumables, Providers who choose to offer the free entitlements are responsible for setting their own policy on providing parents with options for alternatives to additional charges...” 

For our funded places we do need to ask parents to pay a ‘Consumable Charge’ for any funded places. This additional charge is necessary to ensure that we remain sustainable and to maintain the high standards of education and care we provide at Westfield House. 

The Government is requiring us to be open and transparent with parents about these charges. 

The consumable charge is necessary to for us to be able to: 

Provide healthy and nutritious meals and snacks 

To employ a nursery, cook, who has had specific training about food and nutrition in the early years. 

In addition, all our staff who prepare and handle food are competent to do so and receive training in food hygiene which is updated every three years. 

Cover the cost of our famly app and the additional time we put into creating your child’s learning journals to share observations and photos with parents (this is not required as statutory guidance in the EYFS) 

The additional administration and time costs (which is significant) us to process any funded places, updating the LA portal, validating codes etc. 

We have tried to keep any consumable costs for funded places to the very minimal and are mindful of the potential impact of these charges on parents, and this charge will not be applied to the following parents. 

1. Receipt of Support 2-year-old funding 
2. Receipt of EYPP 

Those parents will operate on a ‘funded only’ contract 

What will happen to my tax free childcare account?

Nothing!  You can continue to use your TFC account to pay your fees, so you will continue to benefit from your usual tax savings on top of the saving provided by funding. 

Can I increase my child's days when we get funding?

Yes. Many of our parents take advantage of the lower fees to increase their child’s sessions.  If you wish to increase your child’s days, please give us as much notice as possible as demand is currently very high.  We’ll then send you a breakdown of your new fees if we can accommodate your request.

How do I apply for my child's funding?

Apply online via this link:  https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-childcare-if-youre-working 

The deadline is stated on the website but please see the key dates table below.     
Once your application is approved you will receive an 11-digit code.   

If you have a Tax-Free Childcare account, you might receive your code automatically. 

What happens next?

We will give you a Parental Declaration form in due course to complete and return to us.  You must put your funding code on the form.  This form constitutes your permission for us as your childcare provider to claim your child’s funding from the Local Authority.  We cannot confirm your funded place or claim your child’s funding until we have this form.  And that’s it, we will do all the admin after that! 

Please note: The Local Authority always refuses to pay funding for late applications so please be aware of this. If you miss the deadline and are refused funding this is out of our hands, and we will be unable to offer your child a funded place. 

Key Dates and Deadlines for the Funding Year

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