Government Funding
Government Funding for Sessions - 2026.
We participate in the Government funded hours scheme. The widely advertised 15 or extended 30 hours per week, is based on attendance in school term time only. We offer funding stretched over the whole year, which equates to a maximum of 11 and 22 hours per week respectively. This means that families get a consistent pattern of charging throughout the year.
Please note that Government rules are that this funding is only available in the term after the child reaches the relevant milestone, ie 9 months old, 2 years old, or 3 years old. For example, a child born on the 15th January, and who would be 9 months on 15th September, will not be eligible for the funding until the following January. Note, eligibility for the 9 month funding, is also linked to the date of return to work after maternity leave. Details can be found on the Government website.
The types of Early Years funding are:
Extended / Working Families Funding for 9 month old, 2 Year Old, and 3 year old children. 22 hours per week of funding is available to many families, depending on family employment factors, please check on the Government website to see if you are eligible.
Universal 3 year old Funding. Universal funding of 11 hours per week, is available to all 3 year old children attending nursery, irrespective of employment factors.
Local Authority 2 year old funding. This is another type of funding available for some families who meet certain criteria, for families with particular needs. More information can be found on the West Sussex County Council website.
Our Offer
We offer two basic patterns of funding:
• Afternoons, either 1-4pm or 1-6pm. These can be combined to add up to a maximum entitlement of 21 Govt funded hours. For example, 3 x 1-6pms (15 hrs) and 2 x 1-4 pms (6 hrs) = 21 hours in total over 5 days. For this pattern of attendance we waive all of the additional charges (see below).
• 2 Full days (8-6pm) using 20 hours of Govt funding. Additional charges for this pattern are shown below.
Additional Charges
These are charges for items not included in the Government funding. The breakdown of these costs is as follows:
Breakfast, Lunch, Tea and snacks per 8-6pm session = £9.00
Consumables (eg Nappies, suncream, wipes) charged per Govt funded hour = £0.52
Extra activity charges per 8-6pm session = £1.30
These additional items come as a package, which can be opted in or out of as a whole.
To keep things consistent for our nursery operation, if you choose to opt out of this package, this will also apply to any other non Govt funded hours sessions.
Days that combine Govt funded hours with non Govt funded hours
On these days the non Govt funded hours are charged at the nursery standard extra hours rate, £10.00 per hour.
Customised Sessions
We have always tried to provide maximum flexibility for our families to take advantage of the wide range of sessions we offer. Customised sessions utilising the Govt funding are possible, for which we can provide a specific quote.
We also offer some discounted packages for our most popular patterns of attendance, again a specific quote can be provided.
Our charges include full time discount, where relevant. They are averaged out over a year, and provide a consistent weekly charge, which is payable throughout the year, except for the week’s closure between Christmas and New Year. No discount is provided for Bank or Public holidays, other than those in the Christmas closure week.
A sibling discount of 5% is available.
