|
Three and four-year-olds in Medway are entitled to a free part-time nursery education place Children in Medway can receive their free nursery education: Medway Council is currently funding up to five part-time sessions each week during school term-time for children attending any one of the registered pre-schools, nurseries or accredited childminders within Medway. At present, all children who receive free education are entitiled to a minimum of five sessions of two and a half hours each week for 38 weeks of the school year. Some nurseries, pre-schools and most childminders operate for longer than two and a half hours each session and/or more than 38 weeks per year. At some of these you may be asked to pay a fee for the extra hours or days that your child attends. Further information is given in the Free nursery education for three and four-year-olds leaflet (pdf 237KB) on Nursery Education Grant (NEG) funding. From September 2010, these free hours will be extended to 15 hours per week. However, some pre-schools and nurseries in Chatham, Luton, Lordswood and Walderslade are already offering 15 hours of free nursery education and childcare to their three and four-year-olds. In addition accredited childminders across Medway and a small number of schools also offer the extended hours.
|
|
Free nursery places pilot for two-year-olds
Medway Council is now piloting free places for two-year-olds in certain settings across Medway. Your child may be eligible for some free childcare if your family is getting at least one of the following benefits:
Places are very limited and cannot be guaranteed. Please contact the Family Information Service, using the details below, for your nearest provider offering this service.
How it works
You do not need a voucher or to register your child with the council. At the beginning of terms one (September), three (January) and five (April), the nursery provides the council with a list of all eligible children. Payment is made directly to the nursery's bank account or to the childminding network. Groups should not make any charge for the five early education sessions. They should not charge parents fees in advance for the free sessions, even if they offer to refund them at a later date.
Eligible age
|
A child born on or between
|
Will become eligible for a free place from
|
|
1 April and 31 August
|
1 September following their third birthday
|
|
1 September and 31 December
|
1 January following their third birthday
|
|
1 January and 31 March
|
1 April following their third birthday
|
The council will begin funding your child's place from the beginning of the school term (one, three or five) when they have reached the eligible age.
Attending more than one group
If your child begins to attend a maintained school nursery class, no funding is available at any other group for the same term.
Your child can receive their five funded sessions at two different groups (for example two mornings at one pre-school and three somewhere else). It is important that you tell the person in charge if your child is attending more than one group. Attending more than one pre-school or nursery can be difficult for a young child.
If the group your child attends opens for less than 38 weeks, a proportion of the funding is still available. However, attending another group for the remainder of the 38 weeks would not be funded and you would need to pay a fee for any sessions provided.
Changing groups during the same term
If your child changes the location they attend during term-time, payment to the new group will begin at the start of the next term (one, three or five). If the new group has a place available, the place should be offered mid-term without a charge being made.
School term dates
You can get a list of school term dates in Medway from this website or by using the contact details below.
Accessing funding later in the term
If your child starts nursery education later in the term, the group providing it will be able to claim funding from the council.
List of nurseries, pre-schools and accredited childminders near you
You can get a list of all nurseries, pre-schools and accredited childminders in your area from the Medway Family Information Service by using the contact details below or by visiting the Family Information Service Directory (www.medwayfisd.com/kbroker/medway/fis/start.jsp).
|
Text version | Accessibility help | Change contrast | Printer friendly
