Flexible Funding

[Guest]

Hi we have in our policies that children must attend more than one session per week as we find the children are more settled than only coming once a week.

 

Does anyone know if we will still be able to state this from September with the new 15 hours "flexible" funding coming into play. We would normally be offering out places at the end of the month but have had no guidance from LEA as to what is expected from us!

 

[Guest]

I have not read any where that you cant but each LEA will have their own designated conditions

we are still awaiting new ones

 

surely it is down to parental choice?? I do agree 1 session is not enough but is it not parents choice??

Mind you it is your own setting and your policies must reflect that.

[Guest]

This flexible funding thing is really starting to confuse me!!

 

I am ok with most of it, but the thing about having to have the 15 hours over a minimum of 3 days?!!

 

If it's all about parent choice, what if they want to use the hours over a day and a half?

 

As if there isn't enough to cope with in September without the admin of all this!!

[thumperrabbit]

We also state that children must attend a minimum of 2 sessions per week, I hadn't thought about this.

Another telephone call tomorrow!

[Guest]

I think how we offer flexible funding is going to be down to your local authority. just read the new guidance, which is about 40 pages long. Looks like the main guide says it could be 3 hours x 5 sessions, or 5 hours of 3 sessions or in some cases whatever the parents wants e.g. to coincide with parents shifts etc.

 

Everything has to be free at point of entry, so basically if a parent wants to put a child in for more than 3 hours, it is bound to coincide with lunch or tea. You can't make a parent pay for the lunch/tea, you have to give them a choice of paying or bringing in a packed lunch.

 

One main problem I can see as regards to sustainability is paying for the staff costs to cover lunch time supervision. This could be a problem.

 

Ring your local development work for advice about what your local authority is doing. Mine is Birmingham, so probably will have to provide an all singing all dancing flexible childcare option for parents, for a low NEF funding cost.

[HappyMaz]

Everything has to be free at point of entry, so basically if a parent wants to put a child in for more than 3 hours, it is bound to coincide with lunch or tea. You can't make a parent pay for the lunch/tea, you have to give them a choice of paying or bringing in a packed lunch.

I don't think that is true, Sheila21 - you can specify that your 15 hours will be delivered in five three hour sessions, and charge for lunch club as before. That is what we've been told in our area, anyway. Otherwise we'll be out of business by half term!

 

Maz

[laura]

We have been told that we can be as flexible as we like and can specifiy what our funded sessions are. In our county funding has to be taken between certain hours (not 100% sure what they are off hand but I know it's from 9am) for a minimum of 2 1/2 hours and a maximum of 6 hours in day. However they warned us all that if we were less flexible than a pre-school/nursery up the road then parents would go there.

 

Not sure what we are doing as financially it will help us if they do 3 hour sessions 9 - 12 or 12- 3 or a 6 hour session 9-3, as at the moment our sessions are 3 hours but with current funding we have children arriving at 9-30, leaving at 2-30 but staff contracts are from 9 to 3 so we lose out. I can just see some of the parents saying they'll do 9 to 2-30 two days a week and then 9 til 1 another day which I really don't want! I am going to write a carefully worded letter suggesting ideal hours and make it open for parents to approach us with any other needs!

 

Our funding is also not being increased in april or september

[Guest MaryEMac]

We were told that lunch can be taken as part of their entitlement so we only charge for lunch for unfunded children. They all bring packed lunch.

 

Mary