Hi. Help please! I've searched and searched online and asked friends, but I can't seem to get a straightforward answer about pre-school anywhere!
I always knew that when children turned 3, they got 15 hours free childcare. Our DS has been going to a child-minder 3 days a week since he was 7 months and absolutely loves it there. He's now 26 months and it's only recently I found out that the free hours don't count with a child-minder. This is where my confusion starts!
It seems that pre-schools on a primary school site only have set sessions, i.e on a Monday from 8.00-12.30 etc. As me and my husband both work full-time, we can't do drop-offs and pick-ups in the middle of the day. So unless our childminder is willing to do this for us (which I doubt very much), this option is out.
I presume the other option is transferring him to a nursery. The nursery that is most convenient for us and all my friends happily send their children there, has nothing on their website regarding pre-school free hours. They seem to still charge for full days. Does this mean they don't allow for the free hours? Don't nurseries have to accept the pre-school free hours? And then we pay for the rest of the hours on top?
Finally - thanks if you're still with me! - will we get informed by post of our entitlement, or am I meant to take the initiative? When are you meant to apply for a place?
Thanks for any wisdom and advice!!!
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Pre-school confusion
4 replies
wishfulearthmum · 10/04/2014 21:58
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