Fees and funding
🌿
Being Open and Transparent​
​
At Yewlands Day Nursery, we believe in working in partnership with families. This means being clear and transparent about our fees, funded entitlements and any additional charges.
​
​
Government funding contributes towards the delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), but it does not cover everything involved in running a high-quality nursery day.
​
Our additional charges help to cover things such as meals and snacks, consumables (including nappies and wipes), and the enriched experiences we offer throughout the year.
If you ever have questions about costs or funding, please speak to us — we will always explain your options clearly and provide a simple breakdown.
Our charges help to cover the cost of meals and snacks, as well as everyday essentials such as nappies, wipes and sun cream. Government funding supports the basic delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage, but it does not include additional experiences.
At Yewlands, we offer a wide range of enriching activities — such as Christmas celebrations, graduation, special events and trips — which are not covered by the funding. These extras play an important part in creating memorable, meaningful experiences for the children.
Why We Provide All Meals
​
​Meals are provided by the nursery to support health, safety and allergy management. Families who prefer to provide their own food are welcome to discuss this with us.
Our professional cook prepares fresh, nutritious meals and snacks on site, helping us create a homely, shared experience for the children.
​
To keep everyone safe and well cared for, we provide all food rather than accepting packed lunches. This is because:
​
-
We follow the new nutritional guidance: Ofsted expects us to offer balanced, healthy meals for every child.
-
It supports busy families: For children attending long days, it takes the pressure off parents to prepare multiple meals.
-
We can manage food safely: We don’t have the facilities needed to store packed lunches at the correct temperatures.
-
It protects children with allergies: Providing all meals in-house allows us to carefully monitor ingredients and keep everyone safe.
Our aim is to make mealtimes a positive, nurturing part of the day where children share good food together.
Funded Early Education at Yewlands Day Nursery
We offer Government-funded early education places for eligible children. Funded hours help reduce childcare costs while ensuring children continue to receive high-quality learning and care.
What funded hours are available?
✓ 15 hours – for all children aged 3–4 (universal entitlement)
✓ 30 hours – for eligible working families of 3–4-year-olds
✓ 2-year-old funding – for some eligible children
✓ Funding from 9 months – for eligible working families (from the term after your child becomes eligible)
When can my child start funded hours??
From the term after their birthday -
Funding starts - 1 Jan – 31 Mar (Summer term)
,1 Apr – 31 Aug (Autumn term)
1 Sep – 31 Dec (Spring term)
How do funded hours work at Yewlands?​
Funding supports the cost of early education and care, but does not cover additional services such as meals, consumables or enrichment experiences. (This includes anything we offer over and above the basices of teh EYFS)
​
Families can stretch funded hours across the year (subject to availability)
Funded hours are taken as part of our normal nursery sessions
Meals, snacks and additional experiences are not included in government funding
Funding covers 38 weeks of the year so if your child attends all year, the funding will be split across 51 weeks.
We’ll always explain clearly how your funded hours are being used, so there are no surprises.
​
Option 1 - 7.30 - 12.30
Option 2 - 1.00 - 6.00
Option 3- Full day
​
What’s not included in funded hours?
Government funding does not cover:
Meals and snacks (AM - Breakfast, morning snack and lunch / PM - Afternoon snack, light tea) (£7.00 per day)
Additional activities or enrichment experiences (£3.00 per day)
Consumables - nappies, wipes, nappy bags, sun cream, non-prescription medicaiton-. (£1.00 per day)
​
​
How do I apply
Visit the Government childcare website to check eligibility
Apply for your funding code
Give your code to us before the start of term
We’re happy to help if you’re unsure at any stage. Need help or advice? If you’re not sure which funding applies to your family, or if your circumstances have changed, please speak to us — we’re always happy to help guide you through it
​
Tax Fee Childcare
​
Tax-Free Childcare can help with the cost of paying for childcare.
You’ll need to set up a childcare account, which both you and the government will pay into. You can then use this money to pay your childcare provider.
For every £8 you pay into the account, the government will top it up by £2.
The total top up you can get for each child is £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year). This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months if your child is disabled
​