Bright Star Day Nursery
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

In England, there are two government-funded 15 hours’ free early education schemes that offer childcare for children aged two, three and four: • 15 hours’ funded childcare for eligible 2-year-olds • 15 hours’ funded childcare for all 3 and 4-year-olds This means that your little one will get a funded childcare placement with a government-approved provider (meaning they must be registered with Ofsted and participate in the scheme). Bright Stars is an approved childcare provider and proudly takes part in this scheme.

All you need to do to receive these funded hours is to contact us, share proof of your child's age (their birth certificate) and fill out a declaration form. We will then apply on your behalf.

Your 2-year-old is eligible for 15 hours of funded childcare per week if you live in England and get any of the following benefits: · Income support · income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) · Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) · Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments. · The guaranteed element of Pension Credit · Child Tax Credits, Working Tax Credits (or both), and your household income is £16,190 a year or less before tax. · The Working Tax Credit 4-week run-on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit) · Support through part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act - NASS support Your child is also eligible if: · They are looked after by a local authority. · Have an education, health, and care (EHC) plan. · Get Disability Living Allowance · Have left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangement order. It’s likely that you may have to pay for extra costs such as meals, or be required to bring a pack lunch from home. You can use the hours from 1 January, 1 April or 1 September following your child’s second birthday.

If your immigration status says you have ‘no recourse to public funds’, you might still be able to get 15 hours of funded childcare for your 2-year-old. Your eligibility depends on the following: You must live in England and your household income must be no more than: · £26,500 for families outside of London with one child · £34,500 for families within London with one child · £30,600 for families outside of London with two or more children · £38,600 for families within London with two or more children You might be able to get 15 hours’ funded childcare for your 3- and 4-year-old. You will not be eligible if you have more than £16,000 in savings or investments.

Bright Stars are pleased to offer 30 hours’ funded childcare for all eligible families. All 3 and 4-year-olds in England currently receive 15 hours a week government-funded early education. If their parents are living and working in England, 3 and 4-year-olds may be entitled to 30 hours’ funded childcare. If eligible, you will be entitled to access the 30 funded hours from the beginning of the term following your child’s 3rd birthday. Age of Children Your child/children must be either 3 or 4 years old. You can apply for funding in the term prior to your child's 3rd birthday but the funding will not apply until the term after they turn 3.

Bright Star Day Nursery offers a wide range of funding options to families. As of 01 April 2025 Early Years Funding Early Years Funding is a national scheme, administered by local authorities, which offers funded childcare hours with an Ofsted registered provider. A variety of funded hours are available depending on the child’s age and eligibility criteria. Childcare providers can choose how to offer the Early Years Funding as long as the following parameters are met: - • Funded childcare cannot be longer than 10 hours in a single day; • Funded childcare must be accessed between 6am and 8pm; and • Funded childcare is available at a maximum of two childcare sites in a single day. How Bright Star Day Nursery offers Early Years Funding Bright Star Day Nursery wants to make sure that families use their funding to its full potential. We stretch the early years Funding across 51 weeks or 38 weeks. Stretch effect • 15 hours of funded childcare over 38 weeks (term time) equates to 570 funded childcare hours a year. When attending 51 weeks of the year this is stretched and equates to 11 hours of funded childcare a week. • 30 hours of funded childcare over 38 weeks (term time) equates to 1,140 funded childcare hours a year. When attending 51 weeks of the year this is stretched and equates to 22 hours of funded childcare a week. Any additional hours/weeks where Early Years Funding is not accessed will be charged at the nursery’s usual fee rate (as per our fee sheet). Funding is available in 3 or 6 hours blocks and begins when the nursery opens. Bright Star Day Nursery reserves the right to make exceptions to its funding framework on a case-bycase basis at its sole discretion. Fully funded places (where no additional hours are accessed) are offered at our nurseries. Availability and booking patterns vary from nursery to nursery. Fully funded places may be offered on a term time or stretched basis dependent on the operational requirements of the nursery from time to time. If requested, the Nursery Manager will discuss the options available for a fully funded place directly with parents. Information on all the Early Years Funding eligibility criteria can be found here: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk Essentials and Extras Early Years Funding is intended to cover the delivery of childcare only. It does not cover the cost of meals and snacks, non-food consumables, or additional hours. To cover costs not included in the Early Years Funding we request parents pay a non-mandatory Essentials and Extras fees. The Essentials and Extras fee is detailed in parents’ registration packs. Parents are welcome to provide their child with a packed lunch from home. We kindly ask that all parents who are providing a pack lunch to follow the nursery Packed Lunch Policy to avoid allergen risks and storage/handling issues. Bright Star Day Nursery will not exclude children who want to participate in group activities. Types of Early Years Funding Supported Two-year-old funding A child will be entitled to 570 funded hours a year from the term after both the child has attained the age of two and the child or parent meets the eligibility criteria. Where a child is in receipt of Supported Two-year-old funding they will continue to receive their funded place until the point when the child becomes eligible for the Universal Funding, even if the child or parent ceases to meet the eligibility criteria during this time. Only one type of Two-year-old funding can be claimed at a time. Universal Three- and- Four-year-old Funding All three-and four-year-olds are entitled to 570 funded childcare hours a year. Regulation requires us to validate a child’s age. Parents will need to provide evidence of their child’s birth date (normally a passport or birth certificate) and copies may be taken and retained as evidence of compliance. Working Families Funding Working Families Funding is for qualifying working parents with a child aged 9 months or older, 2, 3 or 4 years old. A child will be entitled to 570 funded hours a year from the term after they have attained the relevant age and the eligibility criteria, set by the government. Parents must apply for a positive determination of eligibility from HMRC via Childcare Service Account i.e. a valid eligibility code. This eligibility code must be provided to us before the Early Years Funding can be claimed. The parent is responsible for re-validating the eligibility code every three months when reminded by HMRC. Failure to do so may result in the Working Families Funding being withdrawn. Foster Care Children in foster care who have attained the Relevant Age are also eligible for the working parent entitlement, provided the foster parent is in paid work outside their fostering role, does not expect their adjusted net income to exceed £100,000 and the responsible local authority confirms it is satisfied that the foster parent engaging in paid work other than a foster parent in consistent with the child’s care plan. The foster parent does not have to meet the minimum income requirement. Foster parents should apply directly to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/30-hours-freechildcare-la-and-early-years-provider-guide. Parent Declaration Form Regulation requires childcare providers to enter into a separate funding agreement with parents, called the Parent Declaration Form. Local authorities require parents to complete a Parent Declaration Form covering the Early Years Funding. The local authority Parent Declaration form must be completed and signed each time a child’s funded hours changes. If the local authority Parent Declaration Form is not signed and returned to us Early Years Funding cannot be claimed and the full fees (without the Early Years Funding applied) will be charged to you. Required documentation Regulation requires childcare providers to obtain documentation to evidence eligibility for the Early Years Funding as per below: • Supported Two-year old Funded Childcare: Child’s birth certificate or passport, confirmation of eligibility (e.g. local authority confirmation letter/email or code); • Universal Funded Childcare: Child’s birth certificate or passport; and • Working Families Funding: Child’s birth certificate or passport, Parent’s full name, date of birth, eligibility Code issued by HMRC, and national insurance number. Additional documentation may be needed depending on local authority requirements. Child Absences Each local authority has its own policy on child absences during Funded Childcare. Bright Star Day Nursery must keep the local authorities informed of child absences and the local authority has the right to recover funding payments made during periods of absences. Parents may be responsible for paying Bright Star Day Nursery for any funding payments reclaimed by the local authority due to a child’s absence. Booking pattern Bright Star Day Nursery requires parents to confirm their booking pattern before the start of a new term. Our nurseries are unable to apply Funded Childcare to any ad-hoc sessions booked outside of the confirmed booking pattern at the beginning of the term. Bright Star Day Nursery is able to make permanent changes to booking patterns in accordance with the terms of the Parent Agreement. Local authority role Each childcare provider enters into an agreement with the local authority to provide the Early Years Funding. The local authority pays the childcare provider directly for the Funded Childcare it provides to the eligible children. The parents of the eligible children do not have access to, or the right to access, the Early Years Funding paid by the local authority. Other types of funding Special Educational Needs and/or Disability (SEND) Funding Every local authority has a SEND inclusion fund to support providers in meeting the needs of individual children with SEND. SEND Funding is paid directly to the provider by the local authority. When deciding on the value of SEND Funding, the local authority must consider the number of children with SEND in the local area, their level of need, and the overall capacity of the local childcare market to support these children. Bright Star Day Nursery will use SEND Funding to support the child with any learning and developmental delay or special educational needs or disability by accessing specialist resources and equipment or 121 support. Disability Access Funding (DAF) DAF is available to children in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and Early Years Funding. Local authorities are responsible for checking that the DAF eligibility criteria are met. It is a one-off annual payment directly to the provider. If the child changes provider during the year, the DAF will remain with the original provider. If a child attends more than one provider, then the parent must allocate the DAF to one provider. This funding cannot be shared across providers. Bright Star Day Nursery will use any DAF to support making reasonable adjustments/adaptations to enable the child to have equal access to the provision in the same way as any other children or for resources that will be beneficial to the child. We will liaise with the child’s parents and engage with any relevant professionals to ensure that DAF is spent appropriately. Where we have more than one child accessing DAF we may use the money for all children to support an adjustment or purchase resource that will benefit more than one child. Any resources purchased as part of DAF remain the property of Bright Star Day Nursery and can be used to support future children to access the provision. If a child moves provision, it is Bright Star’s discretion whether to transfer any resource purchased using DAF to the new provider. DAF will not be used for additional staffing costs. Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) EYPP is additional funding that Bright Star Day Nursery can claim to help improve outcomes of eligible children. The local authority pays the EYPP directly to the provider. EYPP is available to support children whose parents meet the eligibility criteria and are in receipt of Early Years Funding. Local authorities are responsible for checking that the EYPP eligibility criteria are met. Eligibility criteria can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/get-extra-early-years-funding Bright Star Day Nursery will use EYPP funding to support positive impacts on the child’s development. Deprivation Funding Deprivation Funding is paid directly to Bright Star Day Nursery by the local authority. Depravation Funding is available to support children whose parents meet the eligibility criteria and are in receipt of Early Years Funding. Local authorities are responsible for checking that the Deprivation Funding eligibility criteria are met. The eligibility criteria are set by the local authority (which varies per local authority) and may take into account: - • Child’s postcode • Eligibility for Support Two-year-old Funding • Eligibility for EYPP Deprivation Funding is not child specific and can be used to support all children within the setting. Bright Star Day Nursery will use Deprivation Funding to close the gap in attainment of children in the nursery. At our nurseries funded childcare is stretched over 38 or 51 weeks with 3 hours funded childcare per session and a maximum of 6 hours funded childcare per day and begins when the nursery opens. Essentials and Extras are charged.

At Bright Star Day Nursery, we accept the government funding for children aged 9 months, 2, 3 and 4 years, provided through Brent. The total hours per week are 15 to 30, the funding calendar runs alongside that of the academic school year of 38 weeks. Each funded session is three hours long our sessions are as follows: • Morning session: 9:00 am - 12:00 am • Afternoon session: 1 pm – 4 pm • Full day: 9:00 pm – 3:00 pm ___________________________________________________________________ Description Monday: 09:00 - 15:00 @ £0.00 per hour Tuesday: Monday: 09:00 - 15:00 @ £0.00 per hour Wednesday: Monday: 09:00 - 15:00 @ £0.00 per hour Thursday: 09:00 - 15:00 @ £0.00 per hour Friday: 09:00 - 15:00 @ £0.00 per hour 30 hours free childcare (over 38 weeks) Unit - Weekly Unit price - Free Line total - Free ______________________________________________________________ Additional hours purchased (0 hours per week) Unit - Weekly Unit price - £.000 Line total - £0.00 Lunch - @ £3.50 per day x 5 days Tea - @ £2.50 per day x 5 days Snacks - @ £2.00 per day x 5 days Unit - Weekly Unit price - £40.00 Line total - £40.00 _______________________________________________________________ Additional voluntary services (for example, trips, educational visits, and yearly celebrations) Unit - Termly Unit price - £ Line total - £50.00 Total £90.00 If you do not wish to pay for specific consumables, for example because you wish to provide your own, please make your nursery aware so next steps can be discussed.