Why?
We went to all the seminars, read the consultation papers, filled out the response form and thought we understood it all!
we sorted our flexibility-
parents can drop off at 9/9:15,12 or 1
pick up at 12,1or3
so thats offering 2,3,4,or 6 hour session
still we got an f2
very dissappointed and cant understand it when some have got f3 and only offer 1 drop off time and 3 pick ups

have asked for reasons from eecu but they dont know!
tried to contact winchester but phone lines constantly busy so have emailed. it means we loose 32p an hour per funded child soon mounts up

sorry for the rant, has anyone else had/having any problems with it?

what were the criteria to get an F3 ? - Am not in Hampshire and Portsmouth are setting the SFF differently. Assume the F stands for flexibilty - are you 51 weeks or termtime only ?

I am in gloucestershire ours has gone down 10p per hour basic rate although have got abit extra for deprivation and a one off payment to soften the blow but still out of pocket. like you we offer flexibility. do they want us to be nurserys although a lot of nurseries are pulling out because they cannot afford it.

just heard on radio that they may dropping funding for childrens centres aswell. it will be interesting what happens after election.

buttercup

yes the F is flexibility,
we are a preschool open 38 weeks
the criteria :-

number of hours open per day
4 or less ---- 4, up to 7 ---- over 7
rating no. of sessions
f1 inflexible --- 1 --- 2
f2 standard 1 --- 2 --- 3
f3 moderate 2 --- 3 --- 4
f4 fully flexible 3 --- 4+ --- 5+

shame really we could get to a situation where we have to loose staff then the roll on affect is the quality

sorry tried to copy and paste a chart but went wrong!

Makes a bit more sense now to me - and I suppose as a 38 week pre-school you will probably not fit the F3 criteria , especially as the funding is care and education funding now, termtimes only is just education I assume in thier eyes - or maybe it's because although theo others only have one drop off the pickups can be tailored to cover care elements as well ? It is a shame if it has an impact on staffing - is Hampshire doing the EYP / Graduate incentive as well - maybe thats something you can consider ( I know Portsmouth is offering £6000 pa for this if you have an EYP or graduate leader. ) Good Luck anyway hope it sorts itself out for you.

Our LA went for the pathfinder to start this April but we did such a big campaign that the government refused them and have put them back to next year so this year we stay on the same funding 3.44. we were going to be dropping by 20p and loosing £5000 for the year.
Will have to wait now to see what happens