1. Intention

This policy aims to provide parents/carers with a clear understanding of how Early Years Funding works at our nursery, outlining eligibility criteria, the number of funded hours available, when funded hours can be used, what is included in the funding, potential additional fees, and details on the nursery’s cost-free alternative. Our overall goal is to ensure transparency regarding the funding options we offer and how they are implemented.

2. Legislative context

Legal guidelines and framework

• Childcare Act, 2006
• Childcare Act, 2016
• Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022
• Early education and childcare, 21 February 2025
• Early Years Statutory Framework, 2024 (EYFS)

Legal duties

Nursery providers have a legal duty to ensure eligible children can access their early years funding entitlements in line with statutory requirements.

3. Definitions

Curriculum and Consumable fees (C&Cs)

The funding provided by the Department for Education supports the delivery of basic education and childcare in line with the minimum standards of the EYFS. However, this funding does not cover the cost of consumables such as meals, snacks, or the delivery of a curriculum that goes above and beyond the EYFS requirements. At our nursery we provide a high-quality experience that goes beyond the basic expectations of the EYFS. We enrich our provision with thoughtfully planned activities, stimulating learning opportunities, and a nurturing environment that supports every aspect of a child’s development. As part of this, we offer nutritious, well-balanced meals and snacks that are freshly prepared and tailored to meet the specific dietary needs of young children. These enhancements form what we refer to as Curriculum and Consumables. The nursery charges Curriculum and Consumable fees (C&Cs) when funded hours are used to help cover the cost of these enhancements. It is important to note that this is not the same as charging the difference between the Local Authority’s funding rate and our standard hourly fee. Instead, C&Cs reflect the added value and enriched experiences we provide beyond the core funded entitlement.

Details	Calculation	Example 1	Example 2
Number of funded hours you are entitled to per week over 38 weeks:	A	15	30
Number of weeks funding is provided for:	B	38	38
Number of funded hours you are entitled to over a year:	A x B	570	1140
Number of weeks the nursery is open:	C	52	52
Number of funded hours you are entitled to per week over the year:	(A x B) / C	10.96	21.92

Early years funding

There are various terms used by local authorities and government bodies when referring to early years funding, such as ‘Free Entitlement,’ ‘Universal Funding,’ ‘Two for You,’ and ’30 hours childcare.’ To avoid confusion, throughout this policy we use the term ‘Early Years Funding’ to refer collectively to all forms of government-provided funding aimed at providing eligible children with access to funded early education and childcare provision.

Enhanced extracurriculars

This policy refers to the delivery of enhanced extracurriculars. This refers to the provision of specialist learning opportunities over and beyond the requirements of the EYFS. The specific extracurricular offerings may change over time based on factors such as the availability of specialist instructors and the needs and interests of the current cohort of children. Past examples include:

• Drama classes
• Dance classes
• Music sessions
• Foreign language classes
• Sports sessions
• Forest school
• Yoga sessions
• Sensory play experiences
• Cooking workshops

Outings and trips

Within this policy, outings and trips means additional enrichment visits beyond the everyday outings and learning experiences delivered in line with the minimum requirements of the EYFS. The specific outings and trips may change over time reflecting children’s ages, interests and needs, as well as local opportunities and availability. Past examples include:

• Supermarket and local shop visits: choosing items from a simple shopping list, finding them on the shelves and helping to pay at the checkout
• Bus, train and tram journeys: experiencing public transport, looking out for familiar landmarks and exploring nearby places
• Post office visits: buying a stamp and posting a letter or card that the children have helped to prepare
• Garden centre visits: exploring plants and flowers and choosing seeds or plants to grow back at nursery
• Local café visits: practising choosing, ordering and enjoying refreshments together
• Local zoos, petting farms and animal parks: seeing animals up close and discovering how they live and are cared for

Standard Funded Offering

Our standard funded offering includes meals and snacks, extracurricular activities, outings, celebration events, learning journals via the Famly app, and all essential and emergency consumables. Curriculum & Consumable fees (C&C) are charged when funded hours are used.

Stretch funding

Stretch funding is only applicable if your child attends the nursery for more than 38 weeks in a year. The government provides funding for 38 weeks of the year (school term time). This means if you’re eligible for 15 funded hours a week, you will receive 15 hours × 38 weeks = 570 hours per year. With stretch funding, those 570 hours are spread across all the weeks your child attends the nursery (not just term time). This means you’ll get fewer funded hours each week, but they will last for more weeks of the year. The table below is for illustrative purposes only, showing how the 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements could be spread over 52 weeks to help explain the calculation. It does not necessarily reflect the nursery’s actual allocation. Please refer to the current price list for the nursery’s exact stretched funding arrangements and weekly funded hours. These may change from year to year depending on the number of nursery closure days and, therefore, the period over which funding is spread.

Special events

Special events and experiences are visits, performances and workshops designed to create memorable “wow moments” that spark curiosity, inspire children and bring learning to life. These experiences involve additional costs to organise and are designed to enrich, rather than replace, our basic provision. The underlying learning goals are still covered through our everyday curriculum for all children, whether or not they take part in these additional experiences. The specific special events may change over time based on factors such as the availability and the needs and interests of the current cohort of children. Past examples include:

• Doctor or nurse visits
• Dentist visits
• Firefighter visits
• Burns Day bagpiper
• Diwali performers
• World Book Day storyteller
• Baker or chef workshops
• Animal encounters

4. Updates to this policy

This policy may be unilaterally updated at any time with immediate effect to ensure clarity and compliance with the latest government legislation and guidance. Please refer to the ‘More Information’ section on the website for the latest copy of this policy.

5. How do I apply for funding?

To claim funded hours for a term you must apply for and obtain a valid funding code before that term starts. You must provide the nursery with the valid funding code and a completed, signed Parental Declaration Form by the required deadline. Term dates are set by the Local Authority and can be found on their website. If you do not provide the required information by the deadline, funding may not be applied for that term and full session fees will be charged.

6. Restrictions on when funding can be used

The number of funded hours a child is entitled to depends on the child’s age and the family’s circumstances. While nurseries have some flexibility in when they offer Early Years Funding, they must follow these rules:

• A child cannot receive more than 10 funded hours of childcare in one day.
• Funded childcare must take place between 6:00am and 8:00pm.

7. How much funding am I entitled to each year?

The government provides childcare funding for 38 weeks of the year, covering school term time only. No funding is available for the remaining weeks of the year. During these 38 weeks, families may be entitled to either 15 or 30 hours of funded childcare per week, depending on their individual circumstances. If a child attends more than one childcare provider (such as another nursery or a childminder), their total funded hours may be shared between the two settings. How this funding is split is decided by the parent or carer.

8. How much funding am I entitled to each week?

Please see the nursery Price List for the exact number of weeks your funding is stretched over and how many funded hours you will receive each week. If term-time only spaces (38 weeks a year) are not available, stretch funding will be the only option.

9. What do I do if I am splitting my funding between this nursery and another setting?

If you are planning to share or are already sharing your funded hours with another childcare provider, you must inform us as soon as reasonably practicable. This is essential to ensure your funding application is completed correctly. If we are not made aware, we may allocate too many or too few funded hours to your child’s place with us, which could affect your invoice and any charges you may be required to pay.

10. How are funded hours applied?

Funding is applied in order of session price, where funding is applied to the lowest price sessions first. If sessions are priced equally, funding is applied in chronological order.

11. Additional funding support available

There is additional funding available to providers including the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) and Disability Access Funding (DAF). Both EYPP and DAF are available to all children who meet the relevant eligibility criteria and are taking up a funded Early Years place.

• The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) provides extra funding to improve the quality of early education for eligible children accessing their funded entitlements.
• The Disability Access Fund (DAF) supports eligible disabled children in accessing their early education entitlements.

Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) must be treated fairly and equally, with appropriate reasonable adjustments made in line with Sections 20 and 21 of the Equality Act 2010.

12. Which sessions can funding be applied to?

Funded hours can be used on any session on any day of the week.

13. What happens if my child changes nursery?

It is possible to change nursery mid-way through a funding period without impacting your funding entitlement. The funding will follow your child to their new provider. The nursery will inform the council that your child has left the setting and we will stop claiming funding for the child on the day they leave the setting.

14. Are there any additional charges when funding hours are used at the nursery?

Yes, our nursery charges Curriculum and Consumable fees (C&Cs) when funded hours are used.

15. How are Curriculum and Consumable fees (C&Cs) charged on my invoice?

For every funded hour your child uses at the nursery, 1 hour of Curriculum and Consumable (C&C) fees is also charged. On your invoice, these charges will appear as “CC” (Curriculum & Consumables) or “AS” (Additional Services), depending on how the system labels them.

16. What are Curriculum & Consumable fees (C&Cs) paying for?

Please see the following table for a summary of what the Curriculum & Consumable fees (C&Cs) goes towards:

Description	Category
Breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks	Meals & snacks
Nappies, nappy sacks, wipes, nappy cream and suncream	Consumables
Specialist tuition, sessions and workshops, including additional music, language and other specialist enrichment experiences beyond the requirements of the EYFS	Enhanced extracurriculars
Enrichment outings, visits and trips (including any admission, transport and organised experiences specified as part of the activity) that are provided above and beyond the requirements of the EYFS	Outings & trips
Special events, visiting performances and celebration experiences, provided in addition to the nursery’s everyday activities that are provided above and beyond the requirements of the EYFS	Special events
Famly app	Enhanced digital learning journey

Alongside the extras listed above, we invest in the people, training, services, equipment and carefully chosen learning resources that shape your child’s everyday nursery experience. These foundations help children feel secure, grow in confidence and discover new interests, and are central to the care and education we provide. These wider costs are not included in our Curriculum & Consumables fees because under the Department for Education’s funding guidance, investing more in staffing, equipment and learning resources does not make those costs separately chargeable to parents/carers during funded hours, even where that investment goes beyond minimum requirements to give children a richer nursery experience. Our ambition is to offer more than the minimum required. Not every investment that supports that ambition qualifies as a separately chargeable extra, but it remains an important part of our commitment to your child. We have listed these costs below for transparency, to give families a fuller picture of the investment behind their child’s care and learning.

Description	Category
Staffing above minimum ratio requirements to support smaller-group enrichment, provide additional supervision on outings and offer greater resilience during staff illness and absence, helping maintain consistent care for children and minimise unexpected disruption for families	Additional staffing
Specialist courses, further qualifications and mentoring to support our enrichment programmes, alongside paediatric first aid training for all nursery staff—not only those individually required to hold the qualification under the EYFS. This investment includes the associated course fees and renewal costs	Specialist training
A wide range of resources that lets children take their interests further. Examples include instrument collections for extended music programmes; dual-language books and storytelling props; clay, printmaking and sculpture materials; specialist discovery equipment; costumes and scenery for drama projects; and child-sized utensils and ingredients for additional cookery experiences	Additional materials, equipment and learning resources
Investment in spaces that make a broader range of experiences possible. Examples include upgraded furniture and fittings, purpose-designed creative and discovery areas, bespoke role-play features, growing beds, mud kitchens and additional outdoor play installations. This includes improvements to the quality, layout and versatility of our spaces beyond simply providing the furniture and facilities necessary to operate a nursery	Enhanced indoor and outdoor environments
The less visible work that keeps our enhanced provision ready for children to enjoy. Servicing and repairing specialist equipment, maintaining additional garden and play features, meeting the extra cleaning, laundry and food-waste disposal costs generated by cookery, tasting, creative and other enrichment experiences	Supporting services, upkeep and maintenance

17. How much are the Curriculum & Consumable fees (C&Cs)?

Please refer to the most recent Price List.

18. Are the Curriculum & Consumable fees (C&Cs) voluntary?

If you are unwilling or unable to pay for C&Cs, there is the opportunity to apply for Community Hours.

19. What are Community Hours?

Community Hours are sponsored funded hours provided by the nursery, where the nursery covers all additional costs that would normally be charged alongside government-funded hours. This initiative reflects our commitment to creating an inclusive environment and supporting families in our local community. Community Hours offer a cost-free alternative to Curriculum and Consumable (C&C) fees, while still giving children full access to all the same benefits. Children accessing Community Hours will continue to receive meals, snacks, and enhanced extracurricular activities; the only difference is that no additional charges apply. No Registration Fee is charged if a child starts at the nursery with Community Hours. ¹

20. When can Community Hours be used?

Community Hours can only be applied when funded hours are used. Community Hours are not applicable on privately paid sessions.

The nursery may choose to restrict the use of Community Hours to certain attendance plans (for example, full year only), booking patterns (for example, full days) or specific days (for example, Monday and Friday).

21. How many Community Hours are available?

The nursery will offer at least 1% of the total hours attended at the setting as Community Hours. In some cases, and if commercially viable, the nursery may choose to offer more. Any decision to award more than 1% is entirely at the nursery’s discretion and does not set a precedent for future years.

If the full allocation of Community Hours for the academic year is used up during the first term, the nursery will make at least 570 additional hours (annualised) available at the start of each new term. This ensures there is some provision for new families applying later in the year.

22. How many Community Hours can I apply for?

The maximum number of Community Hours you can apply for is the lower of:

• 15 hours per child (term-time equivalent), i.e., 15 x 38 = 570 hours per year
• The total number of funded hours the child attends per week

It is important to note there is very limited availability of Community Hours so we encourage parents/carers to only apply for the exact number of Community Hours that suit their specific need.

23. Who is eligible to apply for Community Hours?

Anyone who attends the nursery or is scheduled to attend the nursery using funded hours is eligible to apply for Community Hours. You must apply to be eligible for Community Hours. Without an application, they will not be allocated.

24. When are Community Hours allocated?

Applications for Community Hours are reviewed on a termly basis and distributed at three “Allocation Dates”: the start of August, the start of December, and the start of March. Any applications received after these dates will not be considered until the next Allocation Date.

25. On what basis are Community Hours allocated?

Community Hours are allocated to families who have applied at the three Allocation Dates each year (start of August, start of December, and start of March). They are distributed according to the following rules:

• Community Hours are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis until the total allowance has been used.
• Each child must receive a minimum of 7 hours per week (term-time equivalent), unless the family applied for fewer hours.
• If there are not enough hours left to give a child the 7-hour minimum, the child will be placed on a waiting list in the order their application was received.

In addition to these rules, the following priorities apply:

• Children already receiving Community Hours will continue with the same allocation.
• Children who fit into one or more of these categories: eligible for EYPP, DAF or two-year-old funding for families receiving additional support; looked-after or previously looked-after; on a Child in Need or Child Protection Plan; receiving Early Help or Family Help; referred by children’s social care; or with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), will receive the maximum Community Hours they are eligible for, in order of application date.
• Children
• Children on the waiting list, in order of application date.
• Children already receiving some Community Hours, but not the full amount they applied for.

26. How long will I keep my Community Hours for?

Once you have been awarded Community Hours these will stay on your account until your child leaves the setting or you inform us that they no longer require them. We encourage families whose circumstances have changed to consider returning any unrequired hours, allowing us to reallocate them to other families in need.

27. How do I apply for Community Hours?

Please contact the management team and they will you the Community Hours Application Form to complete. We only accept applications for Community Hours the term before your funding is due to start.

28. What do I do if there are no Community Hours. Are C&C fees optional?

Payment of the C&Cs fee is not mandatory and is not a condition of accessing a child’s funded entitlement. If you are unable or do not wish to pay the fee, we strongly recommend applying for Community Hours. These are intended to help ensure that your child can continue to benefit from the nursery’s enhanced activities, resources and experiences. If no Community Hours are available, you may choose Basic Entitlement Hours instead. Under this arrangement your child will receive provision that meets the minimum statutory requirements but will not have access to the additional activities, resources and services funded by the C&Cs fee.

• Your child will receive provision that meets the minimum statutory requirements but will not have access to the additional activities, trips, resources or services that are funded through C&C Fees. This may mean that, at certain times, other children are taking part in activities or outings that your child is not accessing. We will always seek to manage this in the most inclusive way possible, with the overriding aim that no child feels excluded or disadvantaged. Parents/carers should nevertheless be aware that there can be practical challenges in operating different arrangements alongside one another, and there may be occasions when these differences are noticeable to children.
• We must operate parallel provision for children accessing Basic Entitlement Hours and we will always aim to provide your child’s agreed hours. However, where unexpected staffing constraints mean that we cannot safely maintain the required staffing levels, we may need to ask parents/carers to collect their child at short notice. Any such decision will be based solely on safeguarding, staffing and operational requirements, with the aim of maintaining safe provision for as many children as possible. Children accessing Basic Entitlement Hours will not receive different or less favourable treatment because their parents/carers have chosen not pay C&Cs.
• Parents/carers will not receive the photographic digital learning journey through the Famly app. Instead, you will receive updates at handover and have opportunities to discuss your child’s learning, development and wellbeing with their key person. Your child will continue to receive ongoing assessment and support, and we will discuss their progress, any emerging concerns and ways to support learning at home. You will also receive any written assessments or reports that we are legally required to provide.
• The notice period for children on a Basic Entitlement Place is two weeks.

For these reasons, we strongly recommend applying for Community Hours before choosing Basic Entitlement Hours. If you would still like to pursue this option, please speak to the Nursery Manager for further information.

29. Partially funded sessions

If your session is partially funded, the full Curriculum and Consumables (C&C) fee for that session applies. Any unfunded hours are charged pro rata at the private session price. For example, if your session is 10 hours long and 5 hours are funded, you will pay the full C&C fee for that session plus 50% of the private session price.

30. Bank Holidays

Funding that falls on a Bank Holiday will normally be reapplied automatically to another unfunded session. If your child attends Mondays only, or Monday plus only one other day and it is not possible to reapply the full funding entitlement automatically, please contact the Nursery Manager so an alternative session can be provided.

31. What happens if I start or leave mid-way through the funding year?

Early Years Funding is allocated across separate funding periods during the year. The number of funded weeks within each funding period can vary slightly. As a result, the precise number of funded hours available in each funding period may also vary.

Our stretched funding offer uses a standard weekly allocation of funded hours across the weeks that the nursery is open. This provides families with a clear and predictable funding pattern and ensures that stretched funding is administered consistently and accurately across the nursery.

Where a child starts at the nursery, becomes eligible for funding, or leaves the nursery part-way through the funding year, the precise amount of funding available to them for the period they attend may be higher or lower than the amount produced by our standard stretched calculation. This is because the number of funded weeks is not the same in each term. Our standard stretched calculation averages a child’s full-year entitlement evenly across the year, so some terms generate more funded hours than are used and other terms use more funded hours than they generate. These differences normally balance out over a full funding year, but may not do so where a child starts or leaves part-way through the year.

Our standard policy is to apply the nursery’s published stretched-funding allocation rather than create a separate weekly calculation for each child based on their individual start date or remaining funding balance. This provides a consistent and predictable offer to families and reduces the risk of errors arising from multiple individual funding patterns and subsequent funding reconciliations.

Applying our standard stretched allocation does not change a child’s underlying Early Years Funding entitlement. If a parent/carer would like us to review their child’s remaining funded entitlement because their child has started or become eligible part-way through the funding year, they may ask the Nursery Manager for further information. Where appropriate, we can review the child’s funding balance and the requirements of the relevant Local Authority. This may result in the child’s remaining funded entitlement being reduced or increased compared with the nursery’s standard stretched allocation.

Where a review identifies that a child’s actual funded entitlement differs from the nursery’s standard stretched allocation, the adjustment will be made through the number of funded childcare hours provided. This may result in either additional funded hours being made available or a reduction in the number of funded hours applied, depending on the child’s remaining entitlement. Any adjustment will be subject to Local Authority requirements and availability. Early Years Funding has no cash value and cannot be paid as a cash payment or refund.

32. More information on funding

If you would like to find out more about funding, we encourage you to look at the Childcare Choices website: https://beststartinlife.gov.uk/

33. Complaints about funding

Please follow the procedure outlined in our Complaints and Compliments Policy.

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1. If you have already paid a Registration Fee and you are later awarded Community Hours, the Registration Fee is not refundable. ↩︎