We will be increasing our fees from April 2024. Our fees are reviewed each year.

2 year olds	£7.25 per hour
3 and 4 year olds	£7.60 per hour
Breakfast club for school age children*	£6.10 per hour
Teatime club for school age children*	£10.73 per session (includes light tea)
Late session for school age children*	£6.10 per session

*Please note, our breakfast club and after school club sessions are also available for our preschool children (hourly rate applies if not funded)

Meal Charges (Funded Preschool Children)

Due to our ever increasing costs and overheads, we have introduced a weekly charge to cover the costs of consumables, this is for items such as snacks, nappy bags and wipes etc… In addition we have also have also introduced a charge to cover the cost of providing meals to our preschool children.

Any meals served during our breakfast and/or after school clubs to funded preschool children are charged as follows;

£1.50 for breakfast
£1.50 for tea

Consumable Charges (Preschool Children)

£2 per week for children attending 2 days or less a week
£4 per week for children attending 3 days or more a week

Funding

15 hours funded Childcare for 3 and 4-year-olds – Universal Funding

From the term after their third birthday, until they start school, your child is entitled to fifteen hours per week in a registered early years setting. You will be asked to fill in an Application Form and supply proof of your child’s identification such as a birth certificate; the original document will need to be seen. This will be copied and returned to you immediately. Please ensure you do not leave the building without it.

If for any reason your child is absent from a session; illness or holiday for example, it is essential that you inform us as soon as possible in writing. We are subject to regular checks of the register to ensure children are attending all the sessions claimed for. If for any reason the preschool found itself in the position of being penalised for any un-notified absences, parents would be asked to refund the group for the lost revenue.

30 hours funded childcare

We offer 30 hours funded childcare to some children of working parents who may be eligible for extra free early education and childcare. Find out more about the extended entitlement.

If you want your child to attend more than 15/30 funded hours, or you are using all or part of the Early Years Grant at another setting, our fees are very reasonable at £6.10 per hour for 3 and 4-year-olds.

Any parent having difficulty paying their fees should notify the administrator or chairperson immediately and further arrangements may be made. It is playgroup policy to go to court to recover unpaid fees.

For 2 year olds our fees are £7.25 per hour because of the higher numbers of staff required.

We do not charge a registration fee for Local Authority funded or for parent funded sessions. Some parents may qualify for funding for children below 3 years old under the 2-year-old funding scheme. We are also registered to accept childcare vouchers.

Please contact us for more details.

Two year old funding – 15 hours – For families receiving additional Government support

Some children may be eligible for two year old funding if the parent/carer or child meets the eligibility criteria. Eligible children can access the two year old funding from the start of the funding period following their 2nd birthday and continue to access this until they become eligible for the 3 and 4 year old funding at the start of the funding period following their 3rd birthday.

Two year old funding – working families from April 2024

From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours childcare support. Please check Childcare Choices for further information.

Fees and session times for Before and After school club

We also run a Before and After School Club for children attending The Duchy Primary School in Bowley Meadow. The session times and fees are as below:

Please note, our breakfast club and after school club sessions are also available for our preschool children (hourly rate applies)

Early Drop Off: 07:45 – 08.00 – £2

Breakfast session: 08.00 to school registration; includes light breakfast and a walking bus to school. Costs £7.60 per session. Children must be dropped off by 08:20 in order to be on time for the walking bus – earlier if they need breakfast. We cannot delay this as other children may be late for registration at school.

Teatime session: End of the normal school day to 17:00; includes walking bus from school and a light tea. Costs £10.73 per session.

Late session: This is an additional session which runs from 17:00 to 18:00, for parents who work longer hours or who have further to travel. This costs £6.10 per session.

School settling in sessions: During the first two weeks in September, we also run an afternoon sessions for children new to The Duchy Primary School to assist parents who need to work whilst the school is operating half day settling in sessions. We collect children at lunchtime and bring them up to the preschool by walking bus. Please inquire for prices and availability if this service would be useful to you.