Free Early Years Education Guidance
For families with both working parents, we offer 30 hours free childcare during our school hours. 9am - 3pm Parents can check if they are eligible for the 30 hours by going to the Kent.gov website and searching for '30 hours free childcare' and registering for or logging into their childcare account . Eligible parents will be given a code that the school requires to be able to claim for that child, this needs to also be revalidated every 3 months before the beginning of each new term by using the same process. Please contact the school directly if you have any questions. 15 hours are offered to all parents regardless if they qualify for 30 hours or not.
Delivery patterns of free early education available at Fledglings
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Sessions
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Times
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Weeks Per Year
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Price
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Morning Session
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9.00 am – 12.00 pm
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38 weeks – term time only
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Free
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Afternoon Session
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12.00 pm – 3.00 pm
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38 weeks – term time only
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Free
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For parents that qualify for 30 hours of funded childcare we offer full day sessions (subject to availability) with the day starting from 9am and finishing at 3:00pm Monday to Friday, including lunch time 12pm- 1pm.
Please note that the Free Early Education does not include lunch. Lunch meals are available at additional cost of £2.41 per meal unless a child qualifies for a free school meal. Parents can check this on the KCC website under Free School meals. This applies to children staying for the full day only not a single session.
Further information on eligibility and extended entitlement can be found on the government website https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk).
Please note that funded universal hours claimed at the beginning of each term will be fixed for the whole term (i.e. Autumn Term 1&2, Spring Term 3&4, Summer Term 5&6), any adjustments can only be made at the beginning of the next new term i.e. Autumn, Spring and Summer.
Please note that the Free Early Education does not include lunch. Lunch meals are available at additional cost of £2.41 per meal.
If you take up extra childcare over and above your child’s free entitlement, you will only ever be charged for the extra hours. Additional/non-funded hours can be paid for at a rate of £13.00 per session. Invoices will be emailed to you at the beginning of each month and fees are to be paid within 14 days of receipt of invoice. Payments can be made by cash, cheques, childcare vouchers or online bank transfers.
To claim the Free Early Education the child’s legal documentation, i.e. birth certificate or passport will be required on registration.
Payment of Fees
No deposit or registration fee required. Invoices will be issued on a monthly basis payable in advance. The account should be settled by the end of the second week of the invoice period. Payment can be made by cash, cheque, childcare vouchers or bank transfer. The fees may be subject to periodic reviews, increases will be notified at least one month in advance.
Fees cover all non-funded sessions for which the child is enrolled including any sessions not attended by the child for instance due to illness/holiday. One calendar month’s notice will be required to cancel a place/or reduce sessions, failure to follow to provide this notice will incur the usual fee of £13 per session. Please note that no notice period is required for Free Early Education places.
Non-payment of fees will result in the following actions by the nursery: Children in receipt of Free Early Education will only be able to attend nursery for their Free Early Education. Hours outside of this entitlement will not be available to access until the outstanding amount has been settled. Children who do not receive funding will be requested to not attend the setting until the outstanding amount has been paid.
