Two-year-old funding
Some two-year-old children will qualify for a maximum of 570 hours government funding for one year. At Once upon a time, this funding provides one full day of childcare per week, all year round (or two half days). No additional fees will be charged.
Eligible parents will receive a letter from Norfolk County Council. Parents should contact us and, subject to availability of places, will need to provide us with a copy of their letter.
Three and four-year-old funding
This funding starts from the school term after a child’s third birthday. All children qualify for 15 ‘Universal’ funded hours per week for 38 weeks of the year. This totals 570 hours per year (15 x 38).
Eligible parents qualify for a further 15 ‘Extended’ funded hours per week for 38 weeks of the year, which means a maximum of 30 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year can be claimed. This totals 1,140 hours per year (30 x 38).
To check your eligibility for 30 hours,
The government believes that their funding covers the cost of a child’s care and education. We, along with virtually every other nursery school in the country, strongly disagree. However, so that parents do not miss out on this help with their childcare costs, we do accept this funding.
Furthermore, nursery schools are allowed to charge for consumables, mainly the food and drink supplied during the day. However, this is optional for the funded hours and should parents choose not to pay our optional Consumables Charge, they would have to supply all the food and drink that their child would consume at nursery.
At Once upon a time we produce a ‘Statement of Fees’ for each school term. This details how many sessions are attended during the term, how many hours can be claimed and the fees. The total fees are divided by the number of months in that term so that parents can budget to pay the same amount each month.
A claim form is provided each term for parents to check and sign. This allows us to claim the funding direct from Norfolk County Council via an online portal.
Norfolk County Council has produced this
Tax Free Childcare
This was introduced in 2018 by the government as a cost-effective way to help thousands of parents pay for childcare. Eligible parents simply set up an online savings scheme with HMRC and the government will pay £2 for every £8 you pay. Put another way, every £100 of nursery school fees will cost you £80. There are some terms and conditions attached to TFC but it is becoming very popular with Once upon a time parents.
For more details
For more details