The term after your child turns 3 they will be eligible for a minimum of 15 EYE Funding. All 3 year olds are eligible for this funding, which does not need to be applied for. Funding can be extended to 30 hours EYE Funding, depending upon your circumstances. To check your eligibility for 30 hours funding please visit the Government website:

https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare

When to apply for 30 hours funding

Changes to funding for 2 year olds will begin from April 2024, following a Government announcement regarding the introduction of 15 hours funding for working parents of 2 year olds. This will increase to 30 hours from September 2025.

For further information and to check your eligibility for this funding, please visit the Childcare Choices Government website where you can register for updates regarding the funding expansion and how this could affect your family.

The existing 2 year funding (available to those in receipt of additional Government support (e.g. Working Tax Credits, Universal Credit, Income Support) will continue for those eligible. To check your eligibility for this please visit: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-2-year-olds

For those families not eligible for funding, and for those who exceed the maximum funded hours, our invoiced hourly rate of £7.50 will apply.

EYE funding enables nurseries to claim up to 570 hours of Universal funding and 570 hours of Extended funding, totalling 1140 over the academic year. This funding can be claimed over 38 weeks each year and Hordle Explorers Nursery opens for 39 weeks per academic year.

This means that the shortfall of one week of funding will be charged at our standard hourly rates. Please plan ahead for this - we will not be able to adjust your child’s hours to reduce this cost and cannot accept non-attendance in lieu of payment so please ensure you plan accordingly. 

Furthermore, if your child runs out of funded hours (most likely to occur for those who attend full time throughout the academic year), any shortfall in hours will be invoiced to families at our standard hourly rate. 

This applies to all children in receipt of any 2 year or 3 year funding.

In addition, parents can also get up to £500 every 3 months to help with the costs of childcare through the Government run Tax Free Childcare scheme. Your eligibility depends on whether you are working, your income (and that of your partner), your child’s age and circumstances. For information on this scheme and to check your eligibility and set up an account, please visit https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare

If eligible, you will be provided with a unique Tax Free Childcare reference number, which must be provided to Hordle Explorers Nursery before any payments are made.

Although this scheme is closed to new applicants, some employers still run childcare voucher schemes for their employees. If you joined one of these schemes on or before 4th October 2018 you might be able to keep getting vouchers which you may be able to use to make payment towards nursery fees. Please provide your Childcare voucher company to us via email and we will advise next steps. 

Any nursery fees due over and above Early Years Education funded hours or via the alternative routes listed are due to Hordle Explorers Nursery via our online payment system, Scopay. 

When your child joins us, you will be provided with your Scopay account letter, which provides instructions on how to set up your account. We would kindly ask all parents to set up their account, even if their child is fully funded as we also use this system to pay for ad-hoc sessions and any consumables costs, which cannot be claimed through funding. 

You will receive a termly invoice from Hordle Explorers Nursery, payment for which is due in the following way:

Either:

100% due at the beginning of the term

Or 

50% due at the beginning of the term and 50% due at half term

Exact payment due dates are always included with your invoice.

We would politely request that parents make a note of these dates and ensure timely payments are arranged. Please note that any late payment of nursery fees will incur a late payment surcharge of £20. 

Please note that Childcare voucher and Tax Free childcare payments can take up to 5 days to reach us, so please plan accordingly.