Fees and Government Funding
Pre-School Fees
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For each two-year-old child attending the pre-school, you are asked to pay a one-off registration fee of £50.00 which contributes to our administration, insurance costs, t-shirt and art bag. After this payment is made, you will receive our new starter’s pack which includes your art bag and a Buttsbury Pre-school t-shirt.
PLEASE NOTE: Should your child not take up their place with us, this deposit is non-refundable.
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From September 2023, our fee per 3-hour session is £26.25 for non-grant-funded children, although this is subject to change at the trustee’s discretion.
For our 3-4 year old grant-funded children, to enable us to sustain ourselves and provide an enriching environment for the children in our care, we ask you for a 'consumables' contribution to cover items such as snacks/extra curricula activities/themed resources/cooking ingredients/online learning journey/sun cream/visual aids/labels for your child’s shoe bag and snack card (a list is available – please ask our Finance Officer for a copy, should you wish). Please note this list is not exhaustive. Without your help with these costs, we would not be able to provide these additional activities and resources for your children.
This charge is currently £4.95 per 3-hour session and is subject to change at the trustee’s discretion. This charge is broken down into a cost per session but is used to cover all resources used by your child throughout the year. (Note: Committee fundraising activities generate the funds needed to enable us to purchase larger resources e.g. garden toys, tables, chairs etc.)
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From September 2023, our 'all day' between 8:40 am and 3:10 pm - for non-grant funded children, you will be charged £26.25 for the morning session, £26.25 for the afternoon session and £5.50 for lunch club (you will provide a healthy lunch which is nut-free).
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For grant-funded children, you will be charged £4.95 for the morning session, £4.95 for the afternoon session and £5.50 for lunch club (you will provide a healthy lunch which is nut-free). Any hours above your allocated Government FEEE-funded 15 hours, will be charged at £26.25 per 3-hour session.
In the year before your child starts Primary School, they will be offered a place in one of our Risers sessions. During these sessions, your child will experience learning activities suitable for older children such as Debutots interactive storytelling, phonics/music sessions, football coaching and dancing lessons. We also hold Christmas and ‘End of Year’ parties for the children which include traditional party games and gifts.
The Riser children also have the opportunity to make gifts for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, festivals i.e. Diwali, Christmas, a leaving present for parents and a USB memory stick for your child's learning journey. Therefore, a separate Risers fee of £45.00 (for 38 weeks of activities) will be charged for these additional activities to take place. This will be charged at the start of the school year in September and you will be invoiced separately (if you are unable to pay for the Risers additional activity charge, please speak to our finance officer).
Invoices for the term’s fees will be emailed to you electronically during the last few weeks of the previous term for the following term i.e. given out in November (Autumn term) for Spring term attendance. This invoice should be paid by the last working day of the preceding term, preferably, by bank transfer.
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The fees can also be paid using childcare vouchers/tax-free childcare (TFC) and if this is your preferred option, please speak to our Finance Officer for further details.
Fees must still be paid when your child is sick or on holiday, except in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the trustees.
If at any time other than your child leaving to start Infant School, you no longer require a place at pre-school, we would expect a four-week term time written notice. If no notice is given, we would expect four weeks term time fees to be paid as per our fees policy.
Funded Early Education Entitlement (FEEE)
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From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2 year olds will be able to access 15 hours funded childcare support.
NOTE: Buttsbury Pre-school currently only offers funded places for up to 15 hours per week, but you can share your entitlement with other childcare providers, should you wish. This decision will be reviewed again next year.
From September 2024, 15 hours funded childcare support will be extended to eligible working parents of children from the age of 9 months to 3 year olds.
From September 2025, eligible working parents of children under the age of 5 will be entitled to 30 hours of funded childcare a week.
As a setting, we offer funded places in all of our sessions, Monday to Friday - morning and afternoon, for 38 weeks per year.
Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of funded, high quality, flexible childcare to two, three and four year old children. It is not intended to cover the costs of snacks/meals, other consumables, additional hours or additional services.
Sadly, in some cases, the hourly funding rate received by childcare providers is lower than they would usually charge and does not meet their running costs. This affects the sustainability of our pre-school, so you may find that we ask you for a ‘consumables’ contribution to cover things such as snacks / extra curricula activities / themed resources / cooking ingredients / online learning journey / sun cream / visual aids / labels for your child’s shoe bag and snack card (a list is available – please ask our Finance Officer for a copy, should you wish). Please note this list is not exhaustive. Without your help with these costs, we would not be able to provide these additional activities and resources for your children.
Where parents are unable or unwilling to pay for this contribution, please speak with our Finance Officer, as there may be options where we ask you to supply your own snacks, consumables and resources per session for your child instead.
With effect from April, eligible working families of 2 year old children will receive their child’s funding entitlement but will be asked for a 'consumables' contribution of £1.25 per hour (£3.75 per session) over the number of weeks in the term. Any hours outside of your funded hours will be charged at full rate, currently £8.75 per hour (£26.25 per session).
Families of 3-4 year old children will receive their child’s funding entitlement but will be asked for a 'consumables' contribution of £1.65 per hour (£4.95 per session) over the number of weeks in the term.
Lunch club is not included in the funded hours so, you will still be invoiced at £5.50.
Families not eligible for funded hours will continue to be charged at our full rate of £26.25 per session currently, subject to change for September.
Eligibility for 2 year old working parents entitlements
A child is entitled to funded early years provision if the child has attained the relevant age, is under compulsory school age and the child’s parent(s) meets the eligibility criteria set out at the following website https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
Parents can apply for the entitlements via the following link https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-childcare-if-youre-working
It can take 20 minutes to apply. You may find out if you’re eligible straight away, but it can take up to 7 days. Once your application has been approved, you’ll get a code for funded childcare to give to your childcare provider. You have to reconfirm your eligibility every 3 months. If you apply more than 3 months before the term starts, you’ll have to reconfirm your eligibility in your account in order to keep your code valid.
If you already have a tax-free funding account, you may have to wait until you reconfirm your information to apply for your code.
If you are eligible, apply for your code and advise us of the number that starts with a 5. We will add your code to our submission for your child’s funding and your child’s invoice will confirm a zero charge for funded hours but detail a ‘consumables contribution’.
Some 2-year-old children can get funded childcare if you get certain benefits. The funding for these two year olds is universal and eligible children may access this funding via an application process. The funding is available in the term following their second birthday and further guidance can be obtained by speaking with our Finance Officer, an employee at a children’s centre or by online application via
https://www.essex.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs
The 15 hours funding for three and four year olds is universal and each term Essex Early Years advises us of the criteria required to be eligible for funding, this is usually in the term following their third birthday. Our Finance Officer will contact all parents/carers the term before grant funding is offered and ask for a parent/carer declaration form to be completed. Forms will be emailed to parents and should be returned to the Pre-school office by the date given.
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