Fees, Fundng & Tax Free Childcare
Information for Parents – Fees, Funding and Government support….
At The Wendy House we passionately believe that all children should have access to outstanding Early Years Care and Education. We recognise that the first five years of your child’s life are the most crucial in their development and as such ensure our unique learning environment supports them to thrive and gain the skills, resilience and confidence to excel in their learning during the Early Years and beyond.
In 2010 the Government, recognising the crucial role that Early Years settings play, not only supporting children’s development but also on society as a whole, introduced various schemes to provide financial support to families paying Nursery fees and to ensure all children receive the best possible start to their education - please see below:
Early Years Funding
The exact date your child will receive funding will depend on their date of birth and/or the dates of your parental leave when you return to work. This will be confirmed when you apply to Best Start in Life (formerly Childcare Choices).
If claiming for the first time, you must have returned to work one month before the start of the relevant term.
Please see the key dates for funding below:
Working Parent Entitlement
- 15 hours funded childcare for children aged 9 months to 3 years.
- 30 hours funded childcare for children aged 3 years +.
Eligible families of children aged 9 months + will receive 30 hours funded childcare per week.
To check if you meet the eligibility criteria and find out more about Early Years Funding please visit Best Start in Life (formerly Childcare Choices). Once approved, please ensure you provide us with your unique 11-digit eligibility code (usually starting 500 or 501).
Universal Funding
All parents of children aged 3-4 years, who do not meet the eligibility criteria for the Working Parent Entitlement, will still receive 15 hours of funded childcare per week.
Important information
Government funding does not cover all the costs of your childcare, therefore you will be charged for the hours attended each month outside of the funded entitlement.
Our fees are determined through regular reviews of our operational costs, including our buildings and outdoor environments, staffing costs and training, and general utilities. These costs continue to rise due to a number of factors, including government-enforced expenses, such as business rates, increases in food and utility costs, pension contributions, and higher employer National Insurance contributions. In addition, we continue to manage the shortfall between government funding levels for children aged three years and over and the actual cost of delivering high-quality care and education.
We do not offer term-time only places, therefore we will stretch your funding over the entire year. This not only ensures consistency for your child, crucial for their happiness and development but helps you to budget for you childcare costs knowing your fees will be unchanged.
A Stretched claim works as follows:
- 15 hours/week (570 hours/year) = 11.2 hours/week x 51 weeks (equates to 47.6 hours per month).
- 30 hours/week (1140 hours/year) = 22.4 hours/week x 51 weeks (equates to 95.2 hours per month).
We have a minimum attendance policy of three days a week, however, we do offer places where children attend only for funded hours,which are strictly subject to availability and following verification of your eligibility.
Please note that funded only spaces are allocated on a termly basis, not in advance, and are subject to change.
We do not share funding with other providers – all funding will be allocated as described in this document.
Funded hours can be taken Monday to Friday, within the hours of 7.30 am – 6 pm, subject to availability. As mentioned above, any additional hours are chargeable.
Each month you will receive an invoice that will detail the number of funded hours claimed/attended and the number of hours you are paying for outside of the funding entitlement. Fees are payable in advance on the 3rd of the month by standing order or Tax-Free Childcare (we do not accept childcare vouchers).
Tax-Free Childcare
Eligible working parents can make further savings by opening an online childcare account to pay registered childcare providers directly. It works in a similar way to an online bank account.
This can amount to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each child to help with the costs of childcare. This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months if a child is disabled (up to £4,000 a year).
For every £8 paid into an account, the Government will add £2 (£4 for a disabled child), and up to the total amount in the account can be paid to a childcare provider.
For further information visit Best Start in Life (formerly Childcare Choices) and Tax-Free Childcare - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Nursery Fees
Please click below to see our current fee schedule.
All fees charged are solely for the monthly hours attended outside of your child’s Early Years Funding entitlement, as agreed at the time of securing a place.
Please also refer to our Terms & Conditions (link below) for further information regarding payments, fees and all general T’s & C’s.
Terms and Conditions (Jan 2026), click here....
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