Funding & Fees
From April 2025 our hourly rate will be £5.00
Morning sessions £15.00
Lunch £5.00
Afternoon sessions £12.50
All day sessions £32.50
Summer 2026 Funding
Below are the parent declaration forms for claiming nursery funding.
If you claim funding at another nursery, please ensure you include their details indicating which setting is claiming 15 hours universal and which setting is claiming the additional hours (up to 30 hours if you are entitled).
It is important that you complete all the information including your personal details (DOB, NI Number) and eligibility code for 30 hours or 2 year old funding.
The funding portal requires all of this information to complete the application.
Please return the funding form asap but no later than Wednesday 15th April.
|
Blossoms Funding Applications Summer 2026 Letter to parents | [pdf 155KB] |
|
|
|
Summer Funding Form 2026 | [pdf 120KB] |
|
|
|
Parent Guidance on Completing Funding forms | [pdf 101KB] |
|
|
|
Funding Amendment Form | [pdf 153KB] |
|
Free 15 hours childcare
Every 3 and 4 year old is entitled to receive 15 hours free childcare funding per week (570 hours a year).
Every child is entitled to receive this funding from the term after their third birthday and this will remain in place until the start of their Reception year at school.
When will your child be eligible for the funding?
| Birthday falls between | Term funding starts |
|---|---|
| 1st April-31st August | September |
| 1st September-31st December | January |
| 1st January-31st March | April |
If your child attends two settings you can choose to use your free hours at one setting or split the hours between the two. It is important to make sure the provider is aware of how you want to use your funding.
How can I pay my Pre-School fees?
- Employers Voucher Schemes - e.g. Kiddivouchers, Edenred, Sodexo. We welcome payments via this method - please contact us if you need more information on how to set this up.
- Tax Free Childcare
- ParentPay
Working Parents Entitlement
For information on working parent entitlement please click on the link below:-
Apply For Free Childcare If You're Working
30 hour Free Childcare
Some parents will be eligible to claim extra funding on top of the 15 hours funding. This is known as the 30 hour free childcare. To claim the additional 15 hours parents need to apply to HMRC for an eligibility code known as the DERN code. Once received parents should pass this on to the Pre-School and any other settings your child attends to enable them to ensure they receive the correct funding for your child.
Once parents have an eligibility code they need to re-confirm that their working position hasn't changed every 3 months. If parents do not re-confirm the code on time they can fall out of eligibility and will not be able to claim the extended funding. HMRC send reminders directly to parents so it is important that parents keep themselves up-to-date with the deadline dates.
Working Parents Entitlement for 2 Year Olds
If you are working you can claim 15 hours of funding for children aged 9 months to 2 years old. This funding continues until the term after they turn 3 years old when the 3 year old universal funding kicks in. This means that if you child starts at pre-school in the term in which they turn 3 years, you are entitled to use the 2 year old funding. You will require an elegibility code for this.
Update May 2025
All eligible working parents of children who will be at least nine months old on or before 31 August can now apply for 30 hours of government-funded childcare for September 2025 through the government’s childcare expansion.
Parents can check their eligibility and apply at childcarechoices.gov.uk.
Fees, Funding and Contributions
Fees
The fees for the pre-school sessions are £5.00 per hour.
For children that are funded 3+ we charge the hourly funding rate for any additional sessions.
Fees must still be paid if children are absent. For your child to keep their place at the Pre-School you must pay the fees or we must receive Early Years Funding for your child.
You will receive an invoice for your fees at the start of each term. We accept many childcare voucher schemes, 3 year old funding and the tax free childcare Government Scheme – please see below.
Tax Free Childcare
Parents can use Tax-Free Childcare alongside the 15 and 30 hours free childcare schemes in England.
https://childcare-support.tax.service.gov.uk/par/app/eligibility
If you apply for Tax-Free Childcare, you won't be able to get:
- Child Tax Credit
- Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit
- childcare vouchers from your employer
Your Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit payments will stop automatically if you successfully apply for Tax-Free Childcare.
If you are better off using the tax free scheme rather than an employer’s voucher scheme you will need to register with the Government Gateway – this is a simple process but you need to ensure you keep your 12 digit code and password safe as you will need it over the next year.
When applying for a tax free account you will be asked to check your provider – this is Blossoms Pre-School and should come up as a registered provider. I believe you will be asked to decide how payments are made – you should enter weekly, monthly or termly in advance, if this is your chosen payment method. You will then be given a unique reference number URN.
The reference is the first initial of the child's first name and the first three letters of their surname, followed by 5 numbers and then TFC. For example, the reference for Jane Smith would be JSMI78465TFC.
Once you have this please email it to admin@bisleybluecoat.gloucs.sch.uk as we will need it to ensure fee payments are paid on time.
Free Early Education Entitlement [FEEE]
All three and four year olds are entitled to 15 hours of free early education for 38 weeks of the year. This applies until they reach compulsory school age (the term following their fifth birthday).
This will be delivered flexibly over a minimum of three days.
For more information: see link
Additional 15 hours [30 hours free childcare]
You may be eligible to receive an additional 15 hours free funding. To be entitled you must register on https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ which explains what to do next. Once your eligibility is confirmed you must notify us of your eligibility code in order to secure the funding.
Childcare Services Helpline – 0300 123 4097
How do parents apply for 30 hours?
As part of the application process, parents will be asked to enter personal details including their name, address and National Insurance number and the same details for their partner (if they have one). They will also be asked whether they expect to meet the income requirements over the coming three months and whether they are in receipt of any relevant benefits. This information will help HMRC decide whether the parent (and their child) are eligible for 30 hours. At the start of the application process, parents will create a Government Gateway account if they don’t already have one. If parents encounter any problems with the application process or accessing the childcare account, they should direct their queries to the childcare service Customer Interaction Centre on 0300 123 4097.
At the end of the application process, parents will have a childcare service account. In the "secure messages" section of their account, parents will receive messages regarding their eligibility. If parents are eligible for 30 hours, they will be given an 11 digit ‘eligibility code’ for their child. They will be asked to take this code (along with their National Insurance number and child’s date of birth) to their provider to claim their 30 hours place. These codes normally start with ‘5000’. However, there are a small number of cases where parents might have a temporary code starting with ‘11’. It is essential that you provide this information to the provider as it is required for claiming your entitlement through the Funding Portal.
Food & Drink
We will provide each child (free of charge), with milk and a healthy snack during the morning as per our snack menu. Drinking water is always available to the children throughout the day and we address any allergies.
If your child is attending full days or the lunch session and you wish your child to have a school meal, these are charged for and paid for via ParentPay.
Please let us know if your child is entitled to Free School Meals.
https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/schoolsnet/your-pupils/free-school-meals/