Children
who attend morning or afternoon sessions can extend their time with us for
additional hours as and when needed and if we have room for them. This will be
charged at the normal hourly rate.
Our
nursery fees for non-government funded places include breakfast in the morning,
morning and afternoon snack.
All
children receive free cow’s milk daily and can provide soya, oat milk for those
children who may have dairy intolerances.
A 10%
Sibling discount is available for both children who are not in receipt of any
government funded sessions.
We offer a
50% refund when holidays are taken if you give us 2 weeks written or email
notice.
This is
money paid by HM Revenue & Customs to parents with children at home or
people who have a responsibility for bringing up children.
You could
get Child Tax Credit for each child you’re responsible for. You don’t need to
be working to claim Child Tax Credit.
You get
money for each child that qualifies, and Child Tax Credit won’t affect your
Child Benefit. How much you get depends on your circumstances.
You can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children 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).If you get Tax-Free Childcare, you’ll set up an online childcare account for your child. For every £8 you pay into this account, the government will pay in £2 to use to pay your provider.
You can get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as 30 hours free childcare if you’re eligible for both.
What you can use Tax-Free Childcare for
You can use it to pay for approved childcare, for example:
- childminders, nurseries and nannies
- after school clubs and play schemes
Your childcare provider must be signed up to the scheme before you can pay them and benefit from Tax-Free Childcare.
Check with your provider to see if they’re signed up.
If your childcare provider is in an EEA country
You may be able to use Tax-Free Childcare to pay a provider based in a European Economic Area (EEA) country. Contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to check.
Eligibility
Your eligibility depends on:
- if you are working
- your income (and your partner’s income, if you have one)
- your child’s age and circumstances
- your immigration status
If you are working
You can usually get Tax-Free Childcare if you (and your partner, if you have one) are:
- in work
- on sick leave or annual leave
- on shared parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave
If you’re on adoption leave, you cannot apply for the child you’re on leave for unless you’re going back to work within 31 days of the date you first applied.
If your working pattern has changed because of coronavirus (COVID-19)
You may still be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare if you’re temporarily working less and either:
- you’re on furlough through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
- you’re claiming a Self Employment Income Support Scheme grant
If you’re not currently working
You may still be eligible if your partner is working, and you get Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance or contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance.
You can apply if you’re starting or re-starting work within the next 31 days.
Your income
You’ll need to expect to earn a certain amount over the next 3 months. This is at least the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week on average.
For example, over the next 3 months you expect to earn at least £1,813.76 - the National Living Wage for people over 25.
If you have a partner, they’ll need to expect to earn at least this much too.
If you or your partner are temporarily earning less than this amount because of coronavirus, you may still be eligible. You must be furloughed through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or claiming a Self Employment Income Support Scheme grant to qualify.
If you’re self-employed and do not expect to make enough profit in the next 3 months, you can use an average of how much you expect to make over the current tax year.
This earnings limit does not apply if you’re self-employed and started your business less than 12 months ago.
If you or your partner have an expected ‘adjusted net income’ over £100,000 in the current tax year you will not be eligible. This includes any bonuses you expect to get.
You or your partner can earn up to £150,000 in the current tax year and still be eligible if you’re a critical worker and have worked extra hours because of coronavirus.
Your adjusted net income is your total taxable income before any personal allowances and minus things like Gift Aid.
Your child
Your child must be 11 or under and usually live with you. They stop being eligible on 1 September after their 11th birthday.
Adopted children are eligible, but foster children are not.
If your child is disabled you may get up to £4,000 a year until they’re 17. They’re eligible for this if they:
Your immigration status
To be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare, you (or your partner if you have one) must have a National Insurance number and at least one of the following:
- British or Irish citizenship
- settled or pre-settled status, or been living in the UK before 1 January 2021 with the right to reside
- permission to access public funds - your UK residence card will tell you if you cannot do this
If you’re living in an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you (or your partner if you have one) might still be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare if:
- your work is in the UK
- the work started before 1 January 2021
- you’ve worked in the UK at least once every 12 months since you started working here
This is known as being a ‘frontier worker’.
If you get tax credits, Universal Credit, a childcare bursary or grant, or childcare vouchers
You cannot get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as claiming Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Universal Credit or childcare vouchers.
Which scheme you’re better off with depends on your situation. Use the childcare calculator to work out which type of support is best for you.
You could
get Working Tax Credit from HM Revenue and Customs if either of the following
apply:
- you’re
aged from 16 to 24 and have a child or a qualifying disability
- you’re
25 or over, with or without children
You must:
- work
a certain number of hours a week
- get
paid for the work you do (or expect to)
- have
an income below a certain level
Childcare Vouchers
Childcare
Vouchers are a great way for employers to give working parents help with
dependent children. Currently you can claim up to £243.00 per month through
this scheme and, because you don’t pay tax or National Insurance on Childcare
Vouchers, you could save around £1,000 per year.
We are
registered with most childcare voucher companies, please ask for more details.
Tax Free Childcare
Free early learning for 2 year olds
We are
registered by Cumbria County Council to provide free early years education for
some two year olds. There is a qualifying criteria for this funding, you can
either enquire via the Cumbria County Website or we can help you with an
assisted application if you think you meet the requirements of the criteria.
Is my child entitled to a free
place?
In order
to apply your family MUST be in receipt of one of the following benefits:
- Income
Support
- Income
Based Jobseekers Allowance
- An
income-related employment and support allowance
- The
Guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Support
under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Child
Tax Credit provided the annual gross income is no more than £16,190 as
assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, (this figure changes
annually in line with changes to wider tax credit thresholds) and are not
in receipt of Working Tax Credits (except during the four-week period
immediately after their employment ceases, or after they start to work
less than 16 hours a week)
- or
be a Child Looked After by the Local Authority
When is my child eligible for a
free place?
If your
child’s second birthday falls between: Your child will become eligible for a
free place from:
- 1
January and 31 March – The start of the Summer Term (April)
- 1
April and 31 August – The start of the Autumn Term (September)
- 1
September and 31 December – The start of the Spring Term (January)
The offer
Eligible
children are entitled to 570 hours annually, our sessions can be taken between
the hours of 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and can be used term time or the hours
can be stretched over more weeks if agreed with the family and childcare
provider).
You can
also use two settings when using the early years entitlement, but this will
have to be discussed with those settings to ensure that it is in accordance
with the other setting’s admissions policies.
For more
information please see www.childcarechoices.gov.uk Some
families will also be able to access working tax credits in addition, to
further support childcare costs. Please contact HM Revenue and Customs for
advice.
How do I apply?
- You
can apply online
- Or
by telephoning 01946 506229 for more information
For more
information, see: www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.
15 hours and 30 hours entitlement for three and
four year olds
We are
registered with Cumbria County Council to offer the government's early years
entitlement for three year olds.
Children
who have their 3rd birthday between these dates will have a free place from the
following month:
- 1
April and 31 August – September
- 1
September and 31 December – January
- 1
January and 31 March – April
The free
entitlement is for 15 hours or 30 hours and can be claimed in a variety of ways
such as termly, inline with schools or spread throughout the year. Please
contact the nursery management team to discus the options which will meet your
needs
For those
parents who wish to combine free entitlement with wrap around care the free
entitlement hours used will be delivered completely free at the point of
delivery and additional services will be charged in accordance with our fees
policy
Children
who take up free entitlement within their day care will also be able to stretch
out their free entitlement throughout the year.
To
register for the early years entitlement we will need to see a copy of your
child’s birth certificate to support the governments auditing systems and our
contractual obligation. We will also require you to sign an Agreement Form,
known as a Free Entitlements Contract.
If you
believe you are eligible for 30 hours free funding after the term your child
turns 3 then you will require an eligibility code to enable nursery to access
this funding on your behalf. Please go to www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.
There is a strict timeline on accessing funding so please ensure you plan
ahead. Once you have had an eligibility code allocated we will also need the
National Insurance number of the person registering the entitlement to enable
us to register with the Local Authority to access funding.
Early Years Pupil Premium
From April
2015, nurseries, schools, childminders and other childcare providers have been
able to claim extra funding through the Early Years Pupil Premium to support
children’s development, learning and care.
National
data and research tell us that children eligible for free school meals tend to
do less well, e.g. in 2014, 45% of children eligible for free school meals
achieved the expected level at the end of the early years foundation stage
compared with 64% of other children. The Early Years Pupil Premium will make
available to us extra funding to help close that gap.
We can use
the extra funding in any we choose to progress the quality of the early years
education that we provide for your child. This could consist of, for example,
additional training for our staff on early language, resources to support home
learning, investing in a partnership working with our colleagues in the area to
further our expertise or supporting our staff in working on specialised areas
such as speech and language.
The money
is paid directly to the provider by the Local Authority. The nursery manager
has forms to enable you to apply for the funding or can give you the number of
the Local Authority so that you can check your eligibility.
Families
may be eligible if they are receiving any of the following:
- Income
Support
- Income-based
Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related
Employment and Support Allowance
- Support
from NASS (National Asylum Support Service) under Part 6of the Immigration
and Asylum Act 1999
- The
Guarantee Element of State Pension Credit
- Child
Tax Credit (with no Working Tax Credit) with an annual income of no more
than £16,190
- Working
Tax Credit run-on
- Universal
Credit
For more
information, see: www.childcarechoices.gov.uk