Fees and Contributions

Fees

The fees for the playgroup sessions are £3.50 per hour [a minimum of 3 hours is required], payable weekly in advance. For children that are funded 3+ we charge the hourly funding rate for any additional sessions [as of Sept 2025] this is £5.30 per hour.

Fees must still be paid if children are absent without notice for a short period of time. If your child has to be absent over a long period of time, talk to the committee chair, or, the manager. For your child to keep her/his 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, 2 year old funding and the new tax free childcare Government Scheme – please see below.

Fee structure:

Please Note – All playgroup children are entitled to 15 hours childcare free of charge in the January/April/September following their 3^rd birthday.

Some of our working parents will be eligible for an additional 15 hours free childcare from the Government. To check eligibility and apply please go to https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ If you are eligible you will be given a code which you will need to pass on to the Pre-School. You can check up to 16 weeks prior to your child’s 3^rd birthday.

All of this information will be shown on your invoice with a breakdown of payment dates.

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 or two.

When applying for a tax free account you will be asked to check your provider – this is Ashton Vale 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 John Smith would be JSMI78465TFC.

Once you have this please email it to [email protected] 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). The early education can take place in nurseries, playgroups, and Pre-Schools or at their childminders.
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 interaction services – 0300 123 4097

How will 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 ‘500’ or ‘501’. However, there are a small number of cases where parents might have a temporary code starting with ‘11’.

Free Early Education Entitlement [FEEE] 2 year olds 

If you are the parent/carer of a two year old and you receive certain benefits you could be eligible to apply for a free early education place
For more information: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/schools-learning-early-years/free-early-education-for-two-years

Food & Drinks

If your child is attending full days please bring a packed lunch in accordance with our healthy eating policy. http://www.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk/childrens-food-trust/parents/ Lunch will be at midday.

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.

We will provide cooking sessions & food tasting sessions as well as special event food and we ask you to make a voluntary contribution of £5.00 per term towards the cost of cooking ingredients & food for tasting sessions [£30.00 for the year].