Help with Costs
Help is available for all families towards the costs of childcare, these vary depending on the age of your child.
From birth
A tax-free childcare scheme is run by the Government and available for all families with children under the age of 12. For every £8 you pay into an online account, the government will add an extra £2, up to £2,000 per child per year.
You can then pay nursery invoices directly from this online account. More information about this and how to apply are available at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
For some children age 2
Families receiving some form of support (such as Job Seekers Allowance or Universal Credit) or if a child has a disability, they may be entitled to 15 hours of funded nursery time once your child is 2.
As Little Peanuts is open all year, we stretch this funding so that you can receive 11 hours a week across the whole year. Little Peanuts can give you more information if you think that you are eligible, or you can contact York Family Information Service 01904 554444 / fis@york.gov.uk / text only: text '2yo' to 07624 802244.
Children aged 3 - 4
All children qualify for 15 hours of funded term time childcare from the term following their third birthday. As Little Peanuts is open all year, we stretch this funding so that you can receive 11 hours a week across the whole year.
Children who live in a household where all the adults work often qualify for an additional 15 hours of funded hours. Therefore, many three and four-year-olds will have 30 hours of funded childcare during term time, which is stretched across the whole year at Little Peanuts. To find out whether you are entitled to claim the additional 15 hours of funding and to receive your funding code, visit https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
Extending Funded hours for Early Years
You may be aware that there is a plan to extend funded hours to younger children, starting with two-year-olds and then extending to all children aged 9 months and older.
At present, all children qualify for some funded hours from the term after they turn three years old. Many will be able to claim the full 30 hours offer, which is based on their parents’ employment and earnings. Children at Little Peanuts aged 3 are using funded hours already.
As we are a whole year setting, rather than term time only, this affects how we offer the funding. The 30 hours over 38 weeks for term time only, becomes 22 hours over 51 weeks when we claim what is described as the ‘stretched’ offer. This also means that we work on three equal blocks of time across the year to arrange our funding (January-April; May-August; September-December), rather than following school term times.
The Government is introducing an extension of the funded hours offer, to be rolled out over the next two years. The first phase of this begins by offering 15 hours of funded education to children who are aged 2 by 31st March 2024. If your child is eligible to claim for this funding, you can apply for a funding code through the Government website – www.childcarechoices.gov.uk. Once you have received your funding code, you will need to log on and reconfirm the code every three months, so it is recommended to wait until February 2024 to apply for a new code so that it is still valid in April. In order to be able to claim funding for the summer funding block, you must apply for your code before 31st March 2024.
The next phase of the extension of funding will be in September 2024, when all children aged over 9 months by 31st August 2024 will be able to apply for 15 hours of funded education. Following that, it is intended that all children aged over 9 months will be able to apply for 30 hours of funded education from September 2025. All funding will be offered only to children whose parents meet the earning and employment criteria – as is the case for children who receive the full 30 hours of funding after the age at three currently. You can review the eligibility criteria on the Childcare Choices website.
Got a question about help with childcare costs?
No matter what the age of your child or your family’s circumstances, we’re always happy to talk you through your options, so please call us for a chat or to arrange a visit.
Email Sarah at Sarah@littlepeanutsdaynursery.co.uk and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
Further information can be found at https://www.raiseyork.co.uk/childcare/reduce-cost-childcare