Fees, Funding & Invoicing Policy

Purpose

This policy explains how Bucklebury Farm Day Nursery applies government-funded childcare, nursery fees and additional charges. It is intended to provide clear information for families and ensure compliance with Department for Education and West Berkshire Council funding requirements.

Full Day Nursery Place

Opening Hours: 8:00am – 5:00pm

Fees: £110 per day (fully inclusive)

Bucklebury Day Nursery operates as a full-day childcare setting. Eligible funded childcare hours will be applied to a child’s attendance pattern in accordance with current government funding guidance.

Supper Club

Hours: 5:00pm – 6:00pm

Fee: £12 per session

Supper Club is available as an additional childcare session and must be booked in advance, subject to availability.

Bucklebury Farm Day Nursery offers funded childcare places for eligible children in accordance with current government and West Berkshire Council guidance.

Funding may be available for eligible:

  • Under 2-year-olds
  • 2-year-olds
  • 3 and 4-year-olds

Parents are responsible for:

  • Providing valid eligibility codes where required
  • Completing all funding documentation
  • Informing the nursery of any changes to eligibility

Funded places are subject to availability. 

Parents are responsible for providing valid eligibility information and ensuring funding codes remain current.

Where funding eligibility changes, expires or is withdrawn, parents must notify the nursery immediately.

Where a child’s eligibility changes or funding ceases, future invoices will reflect any childcare hours that are no longer covered by a funded entitlement, in accordance with local authority guidance.

Bucklebury Farm Day Nursery is open throughout the year, with the exception of an annual Christmas closure.

Eligible funded hours are stretched across 51 weeks of the year and applied against a child’s attendance pattern.

Funding is spread evenly across 51 weeks as follows:

  • 15-hour entitlement: up to 11.18 funded hours per week
  • 30-hour entitlement: up to 22.35 funded hours per week

Funding can be applied to a maximum of 9 hours per day until the child’s weekly entitlement has been used.

Parents are not required to purchase additional childcare hours in order to access their funded entitlement.

Where a child’s funded entitlement does not fully cover their chosen attendance pattern, parents may choose to:

  • Use funded hours only at Bucklebury Farm Day Nursery and access any remaining funded hours at another childcare provider; or
  • Purchase additional childcare hours at the nursery’s published rates where they wish their child to attend beyond their funded entitlement.

Any childcare attended in excess of a child’s funded entitlement will be charged at the nursery’s current hourly rate.

Hourly Rate: £12.22 per hour

The Daily Nursery Contribution is entirely optional.

Parents are not required to purchase the Daily Nursery Contribution in order to access a funded childcare place or funded childcare hours.

Option A – Opt out 

Where parents choose not to opt into the Daily Nursery Contribution, they will be responsible for supplying and maintaining adequate quantities of all required items for their child each day. 

  • Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Dinner, Formula Milk 
  • Nappies, Wipes and Creams

Please see our consumables policy that highlights the guidance on providing this.

Option B- Opt in

Bucklebury Farm Day Nursery offers a Daily Nursery Contribution of £10 per day.

The Daily Nursery Contribution supports the meals and experiences provided throughout the nursery day and is shown separately on invoices to ensure transparency.

The contribution helps cover:
  • Food Consumables -£6

Breakfast, snack, lunch, pudding and dinner cooked onsite in the farm café plus milk and formula milk

  • Non- food consumables -£1

Nappies, Wipes, Creams

  • Activities -£3

Animal interactions and talks, soft play, tractor rides

Total Daily Contribution £10.00

Children benefit from daily access to the nursery’s farm-based environment, which forms an important part of our approach to learning, exploration and outdoor experiences.

Bucklebury Farm Day Nursery closes annually during the Christmas period. As nursery fees are calculated and averaged across the year to secure a child’s place, fees remain payable during this closure period.

Invoices are issued monthly in advance.

Where a child accesses funded childcare, funded hours will be clearly identified on the invoice. Any chargeable childcare hours, optional services and additional charges will be shown separately.

Invoices may include:

  • Funded childcare hours claimed
  • Chargeable childcare hours (where applicable)
  • Daily Nursery Contribution (where selected)
  • Supper Club charges (where applicable)
  • Additional charges
  • Late collection charges

Funded childcare hours are provided free at the point of use and are shown separately from any chargeable childcare hours or optional services.

Parents are encouraged to review invoices promptly and raise any queries with the nursery management team.

Late collection charges apply outside of booked collection times.

Charge: £15 per 15-minute period (or part thereof)

Late collection charges apply:

  • After 5:00pm for children not attending Supper Club
  • After 6:00pm for children attending Supper Club

These charges reflect the additional staffing costs incurred outside normal operating hours.

Nursery fees and charges are reviewed annually and may be adjusted in response to changes in:

  • Staffing costs
  • Operational costs
  • Business requirements

Families will be provided with reasonable notice of any fee changes.

Bucklebury Day Nursery is committed to ensuring that all funding arrangements are administered fairly, transparently and in accordance with:

  • The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
  • Department for Education Early Education and Childcare Funding Guidance
  • West Berkshire Council Early Years Funding Requirements

The nursery will ensure that families are able to access their funded childcare entitlement in accordance with current guidance and that all charges are clearly communicated.