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Government Funding for
Early Education Funding (EEF) from the government can be provided by private, independent and voluntary providers as well as schools and some childminders.
Here at the Sandcastle Nursery we offer the EEF as part of your normal childcare requirements and if spaces allow, some fully funded sessions with no additional charges are sometimes available. All 2, 3 and 4 year old children are eligible for their EEF at the start of the school term following their relevant birthday. Similarly, parents can claim 15hrs/week funding for 2 year olds subject to employment status and financial crtieria set by the government. The "Universal" free entitlement is for 15 hours per week over the school terms of 38 weeks per year. However, providers such as our Nursery, which are open for the whole year, are able to stretch the full annual entitlement of 570 hours over 51 weeks, amounting to approximately 11 hours per week available for funding. 3 and 4 year olds who are eligible are entitled to 30 hours per week on the same basis as the 15hrs above. This constitutes the "Extended" entitlement. From September 2024 the Universal entitlement is extended to children aged 9-months to 2 years old at the start of the Autumn Term. From September 2025 Extended funding will become available to all eligible children. Childcare hours taken in excess of the funded hours are payable by parents. Regulations defining EEF hours as "without monetary value" prevent nurseries from simply crediting clients with the funding received and just charging a "top-up" to the nursery's normal fees. Instead nurseries are allowed to charge an additional amount determined by the chargeable hours applicable to the sessions booked with some additional permitted charges (eg meals). In order to calculate charges, the applicable weekly funded hours are distributed over two "Funded Days" for Universal funding and over three "Funded Days" for Extended Funding. Childcare hours in excess of those funded within each such day are chargeable to parents based on the nursery's published hourly rate plus an optional £10 per day allowance for extras. For children under three the charge for "Funded Days" is reduced to account for the higher funding rate paid by the local authority, and for babies the "Funded Day" charged is further reduced to account for another higher funding rate. Regrettably this means that "Funded Days" become more expensive as children progress through the nursery. For additional days, not funded, charges are taken from the daily rate derived from our non-funded pricelist. Our fully inclusive prices are published on this site. Priority for funded places is always given to children already attending the nursery. Please call us if you need any further information. You can also find further information from the Bucks County Council website. |
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Contact us for more information at:
Sands First School Building, Lane End Road, High Wycombe, Bucks HP12 4JF Tel: 01494 474848 email: info@sandcastlenursery.co.uk |