Little Owls is open term time only (38 weeks per year).  We are open from 8.45am to 3.15pm (6.5 hours per day).

Funding

Funding is available at any time during our opening hours and the weeks we are open.  Any hours above this are chargeable – please see the fee section of this policy. Our sessions are:

• early bird session 8.45am – 9.15am
• morning core session 9.15m – 12.15pm
• lunch time 11.45am – 12.45pm
• afternoon session 12.15pm – 3.15pm
  All these sessions are included in funded hours, where the amount of funded hours claimed allows.

We will try to offer you your full entitlement, but this will depend on space available and may mean you need to wait to access your full hours until later in the year.  Parent Agreement Forms will be handed out each term and should be returned at the next session your child attends the setting.  It is the responsibility of the parent to ensure prompt return of forms.  If the form is not returned this could result in funding not being claimed and an invoice issued to cover the hours booked.  If a funding claim is rejected, cancelled or withdrawn the parent/carer agrees to pay all the outstanding fees and the full cost of any reimbursement required by the Local Authority.

Examples of funding and private fees:

A child attends 5 days per week for 6.5 hours per day.  Parent qualifies for 30 hours working parent funding:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
30hrs funded	6hrs	6hrs	6hrs	6hrs	6hrs
Private fees	0.5hrs	0.5hrs	0.5hrs	0.5hrs	0.5hrs

A child attends 3 days per week for 6.5hrs per day.  Parent qualifies for 15 hours universal funding:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
15hrs funded	5hrs		5hrs		5hrs
Private fees	1.5hrs		1.5hrs		1.5hrs

We accept the following funding:

• 2 year old Entitlement for families in receipt of government support (FEEE2 15hours). This funding can only be claimed by one provider.
• Universal Entitlement for all 3 and 4 year olds (FEEE3&4 15 hours)
• Eligible Working Parent Entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds (EFE 15 hours added together with FEEE3&4 15hours, gives a total of 30 hours per week)
• Eligible Working Parent Entitlement for 9months to 2 year old (FEEE1W and FEEE2W 30 hours).  Please note we only take children from the day they turn 2, so parents can use the FEEE1W for your child to be funded straight away.

All funding apart from FEEE2 can be shared between 2 providers.

 Working Parent Entitlements

If your working parent funding code is not authorised via our funding portal, you will be liable for your hours to be charged at our current fee rate.

• Eligible working parents will be able to apply for the Working Parent Entitlement the term after their child turns 9 months. NB, we do not take children until the day of their second birthday.
• Working parent funding can be applied for on https://www.beststartinlife.gov.uk/.
• It is the parents’ responsibility to apply for the Working Parent eligibility code before the deadlines:
  31^st August for the autumn term
  31^st December for the spring term
  31^st March for the summer term
• Once your code is issued via HMRC, parents will receive a reminder from HMRC that the code needs renewing, this needs to do done every 3 months and is the responsibility of the parent.
• Working parents will remain eligible at their current setting if they fall into their grace period, but cannot start with a new setting until their code has been reconfirmed and prior to the cut-off date
• New or lapsed codes will show as eligible once confirmed but cannot be claimed for until the next cut-off date e.g. a new code confirmed on 2^nd January may show the child as eligible, but as it has missed this cutoff date of 31^st December, the code cannot be used until the summer term
• Working Parent Entitlement cannot be used once the child has started at reception in school

2-year-old Entitlement for families in receipt of government support (FEEE2 15 hours)

 This is not a universal offer; only eligible children can access this funding via an application process.  To check for eligibility and apply, parents should visit https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-2-year-olds-extra-support.  If you qualify you will be issued with a code starting TYF, this needs to be passed to our business manager who will submit a placement notification.  This code does not need to be checked again and remains valid until the term after your child turns 3, when they will switch to universal funding.

Early Years Pupil Premium – EYPP

EYPP is additional funding that our setting can receive to improve the provision for eligible children.  It means that for low-income families, we are entitled to receive additional funding for all qualifying children accessing up to 15 hours of funded entitlement for FEEE1W, FEEE2W, FEEE2 and FEEE3&4 universal.

Disability Access Fund (DAF)

DAF is a lump sum once a year for children that are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance.  This can only be paid to one provider.

Special Educational Needs Inclusion Funding (SENIF)

If your child has special educational needs and disabilities and requires additional support in order to be included in activities, we are able to apply for SENIF.  If SENIF is agreed, it is paid for all FEEE hours attended.

Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI)

This additional funding is paid directly to us and is a supplement per hour for FEEE3&4 and extended hours only.  This finding is added automatically for children who live in an eligible postcode.

Tax-Free Childcare

To check eligibility parents would need to go to https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare.  If they are, parents need to apply via this website.

Fees

We regularly review our fees to ensure they are in line with the cost of running our setting to the level we and you expect.  We aim to review fees annually and will give notice of one month should fees need to be increased.  Whilst we try to do this annually, we do reserve the right to increase fees at any time and without notice.

Our fees are advertised on our website and any increase will be advised by email to each attending family.

Fees are invoiced on a termly basis and broken down into three equal payments due on the last day of each month.  If the last day falls on a weekend, fees will be due the Friday before.

Fees will not be refunded if a child is unable to attend due to sickness or holiday.  If you have a reason, you believe falls outside of these conditions, please speak to the Business Manager and a decision will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Voluntary Chargeable Extras

At the current time we do not charge for any extras for normal sessions.  Morning and afternoon snacks are included in our fees.  The same as wipes, nappy sacks and sun cream.  Forest School is also included in our fees.  We do reserve the right to change this at any point when we feel that it would have a detrimental effect on the preschool.  If at any point we do feel we need to charge for these extras, all attending families will be notified via email and alternative options will be advised in the same email.

The only event we ask for a small voluntary donation for is our children’s Christmas party.  Whilst Little Owls cover most of the cost for presents, party bags and party food, this small voluntary donation does to help towards this cost.

Invoices and Payments

As we are a charity, we appreciate that invoices are paid on the day they are due, so that we can pay our staff.  These will be sent round via email within the first 10 working days of each term.  The invoice will show the following:

• Who the invoice is addressed to
• Who the invoice is for
• The term and dates that the invoice covers
• How many total hours per week your child attends
• How many of those hours are covered by funding
• How many of those hours are covered by fees
• Any deductions i.e. PD Day covered by any private fees
• Any additions i.e. late pick up charge
• Total amount of the invoice
• 3 payment dates on which the amount shown should be paid
• At the bottom of the invoice is a section for ad hoc sessions booked.  These need to be paid on or before the date of the ad hoc session and are charged at a higher rate due to possibly needing staff to stay for longer than their scheduled hours.

We accept childcare vouchers from employers and Tax-Free Childcare to help towards the cost of childcare https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare. If you wish to use employer childcare vouchers, please speak to the Business Manager to obtain any account codes you may need.  Childcare vouchers must be set up to be received by the due dates on your invoice.  We cannot refund any unused childcare vouchers.

We reserve the right to charge a late collection fee of £15 per hour or part thereof for any child collected after their agreed pick-up time.

We reserve the right to cancel any sessions for reasons beyond our control and will advise you as soon as possible.

Late Payment

All fees should be paid on the date they are due, in the event that the payment is still not made by 48hours after this date an immediate £5.00 will be added to the amount.  If any payment remains outstanding after 7 days a further £5.00 will be added. After this date we reserve the right to charge interest at 2% for each outstanding day.

If the invoice remains unpaid after 28 days, sessions will be suspended until the invoice and all late fees have been paid in full, your child can then return to the setting.  However, we do reserve the right to ask for a deposit in advance of next month’s fees. If fees are not cleared within 56 days, we reserve the right to commence legal proceedings.

If you are having trouble paying your invoice, or would like to pay weekly instead of monthly, please speak to the Business Manager.

Notice Period

We require 4 weeks’ written notice of any intention to reduce sessions or to withdraw your child from Little Owls.  This can be given via letter or email.  Fees will be due up to and including the last day. A final invoice will be issued within 48 hours of the notice period and the outstanding fees should be paid within 48 hours.

Policy agreed by

Business Manager and Trustee	Denise Rehal
Preschool Manager and Trustee	Nicola Bloomfield
Date	18/11/2025
Review Date	17/11/2026