Funding Policy

We are registered to provide the free and Universal Extended hours entitlement to Early Learning and Childcare and will meet our statutory obligations in this respect.

For parents who receive government funding, either the 2-year-old Working Entitlement funding or when the child receives 3-year-old funding, we will require documents to prove your child’s date of birth.

It is mandatory to complete a Parent Authorisation Form for each setting your child attends for their EEE (Funding), and therefore complete a new form where there are changes to any details previously submitted. The Parent Authorisation Form must be completed, signed and returned to Lavender Lane Pre-school to confirm your entitlement access.

All 3 and 4-year-olds currently receive 15 hours a week government-funded early education. If their parents are living and working in England, 3 and 4-year-olds may be entitled to 30 hours funded childcare.

If eligible you will be entitled to access the 30 hours from the beginning of the term following your child’s 3rd birthday.

All 2 year olds, who are eligible for 2-Year-Old- Working Entitlements, currently receive 30 hours a week government-funded early education.

Parent declaration and agreement for the universal 15 hour and the extended 30-hour

Entitlement

1. Universal 15 Hours Entitlement

Regulation for the universal 15 Hours entitlement funding requires us to validate your child’s age to confirm eligibility. If your child was born on or between the:

• 1st April and the 31st August he/she will become eligible from 1st September following his/her third birthday

• 1st September and 31st December, he/she will become eligible from 1st January following his/her third birthday

• 1st January and 31st March, he/she will become eligible from 1st April following his/her third birthday

You will be asked to provide personal documentation to verify this information. The setting will require to see:

• A copy of birth certificate or passport of the child.

• Parents’ National insurance numbers & dates of birth

• Proof of address dated within the last 3 months before claim

2. Extended 30 Hours Entitlement

The government only entitles parents/legal guardians who meet the eligibility requirements (e.g. income requirements) to the extended 30 Hours Free Entitlement. If you are eligible, you will need to apply for and obtain a 30 hour code via your childcare service account.

Regulation requires us to validate your 30 hours code with the local authority using your child’s date of birth, 30 hours code and the parents/ guardians (Parent applying for funding)

National Insurance number and date of birth. We will ask for your 30 hours validation code and national insurance number when you register. By providing this information, you are giving us consent to validate your 30 hours code.

Funding at the nursery

Your receipt of Early Years 30 hours funding entitlement is subject to our receipt of the government funding from the local authority. We reserve the right to make changes with immediate effect to this agreement and/or our offer of funding entitlement to you if the local authority does not pay the government funding to us for any reason or there are changes to the amount of government funding.

Setting and Attendance details

Regulation allows your child to attend a maximum of two sites in a single day and if your child attends more than one setting the funding will be split between the settings. You will be asked to provide the following information for the nursery your child attends, nursery name, entitlement hours attended per day, total number of hours per week and total number of weeks per year (38/51). By signing a parental authorisation, you are confirming where you use your funded hours. It is your responsibility to only use the hours you are entitled to. If the local authority advise the setting you are over claiming your hours, you will receive an immediate charge for the hours used at our hourly rate. If this is not paid immediately, your place will be withdrawn.

If you wish to transfer your entitlement to a different childcare provider you must give four weeks’ written notice to Lavender Lane Pre-school. Your child will not be able to access their early education entitlement at a new provider until the week following the end of the four week notice period.

Disability Access Fund Declaration

Three-and four-year old children who receive a child Disability Living Allowance and Free Entitlement may be eligible for the Disability Access Fund (DAF). Please see https://www.gov.uk/disability-living-allowance-children/overview . The local authority pays DAF directly to the nursery setting as a fixed annual rate per eligible child. If applicable, please contact the manager for more information.

Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)

The EYPP funding is intended to help close the gap in development and school readiness between children from low-income families and their more affluent or advantaged peers.

Early years providers will use the EYPP funding to provide additional support and resources that enhance the learning and development of those specific, disadvantaged, children under their care. It may be used solely for an individual child or pooled to support a group of eligible children with similar support needs.

To be eligible for the EYPP funding, a child must meet certain criteria;

• Eligible children should be aged 2, 3 or 4

• The provider that receives the funding on behalf of the child must be an Ofsted registered early years provider

• The family should be in receipt of at least one of a list of specific benefits, or tax credits or have a low income or;

• Alternatively, the child may be under the care of a local authority in England or Wales, or have left that care via an Adoption Order, Special Guardianship Order or Child Arrangement Order.

After checking eligibility, interested families or guardians can either contact their local authority or speak to the nursery manager, Julie Taylor, about the process of applying for EYPP via the AFC Portal using the Parent Authorisation Funding form.

Eligibility will need to be rechecked each year to ensure that criteria are still being met.

Privacy notice

To provide Early Years 30 hours funded entitlement to you, regulation requires us to share information related to your child and his/her care with the relevant local authority and/or the Department for Education. The information shared may include information in relation to your child’s gender, age, attendance/absences, disabilities, or any other information required under regulation.

The funding will entitle your child to funded hours over 38 weeks at Lavender Lane Preschool.

This is funded through the local authority, and you are entitled to share these hours with other settings.

Once the local authority have confirmed you are eligible for the 30 hours, we will offer you a place.

Parents will be informed of a successful application for a free place no later than four weeks prior to the start of a new term.

Parents can request preferred days/sessions and we will do our best to accommodate.

If a parent wishes their child to swap days, please speak to the nursery manager and we will do our best to accommodate you.