Fee Structure - Tom Thumb Nursery Eastbourne

Fees from April 2024

A £30.00 non-refundable registration fee, for all bookings other than those 100% funded by EYEE/ELP, is required to secure and reserve placements.
£6.80 Per hour for children aged 0-24 months, with a 10% discount £6.12, with a 15% discount £5.78, with a 20% discount £5.44, with a 25% discount £5.10 (see discounts)
£6.30 Per hour for children aged over 24 months, with a 10% discount £5.67, with a 15% discount £5.36, with a 20% discount £5.04, with a 25% discount £4.73 (see discounts)
£2.50 For School Lunch, served at 12.00 midday, this is optional, you can send your child in with a packed lunch from home as an alternative, although it must not contain food that requires either cooking or heating up.
£1.00 for breakfast, served at 8.00am, and £1.50 for Tea, served at 5.00pm, again these are both optional.

Payment of Fees

All fees are inclusive of morning and afternoon snacks, all drinks (excluding formula), nappies, wipes and sun cream.
Fees are charged by the hour/half hour (not by the session) and any extra/extended sessions are charged at the same hourly/half hourly rates.
Bills are issued at the beginning of each month for that month.
Fees can be made by cash or BACS (account details can be found on the invoice). If paying by cash please ask a member of staff for a receipt to serve as proof of payment, as no other proof of payment will be accepted.
Payment is expected by the 15^th of each month. Other payment dates and arrangements (weekly etc) can be arranged in writing with Claire.
If full payment has not been received by midday on the last working day of the month, then your child’s placement will be suspended until full payment is received, this may result in loss of your child’s place as we have waiting lists for most days.
Any bad debts (once a child has left) will be referred to the small claims court for collection, any costs of this will be added to the debt.

Notice Periods

You are required to give four weeks’ notice in writing, if you wish your child to leave Tom Thumb. This notice will be charged in full even if your child doesn’t attend.
For children claiming either EYEE or ELP, six weeks’ notice in writing is required. Please note if you access the stretched funding offer and leave midterm/year you may be in a situation of owing us for funded hours used, due to the different lengths in each term, and this will be added to your final invoice. Please note if full notice is not given and/or full payment of your final invoice is not paid, this information is given to ESCC and therefore will affect your ability to claim at another setting.
You are generally required to give four weeks’ notice in writing of any changes to your child’s permanent hours, although exceptions to this may be made by Claire, The Nursery Director.
Extended sessions and extra sessions can be booked at short notice, written notice is not required for these.

Minimum Hours

There is a minimum requirement of three hours per day, and six hours per week, although we do recommend children attend at least twice a week to enable them to settle.
The hours between 9am and 1pm must be booked as a full session, flexible start and finish times are available before and after that session.
Children’s session starts and end times, must be on the hour between the hours of 9.00am and 4.00pm, and can be on the half hour before 9.00am and after 4.00pm.
We do not accept variable bookings.

Discounts/Refunds

We offer a 10% discount off the total invoice for a single booking of 25 hours or more per week and a 20% discount off the total invoice for a single booking of 40 hours or more per week.
For siblings and twin bookings where both children attend either the 25 or 40 hours the discounts are increased by 5% to either 15% or 25%.
No discount is given for children who claim EYEE (3- & 4-year funding)
No discount or refund (this includes any meal charges) is given for part attendance of a pre-booked session or sick days or any holidays.
We will be closed, and do not charge for, all bank holidays, the summer break which this year will be week commencing 5^th of August 2024 and the Christmas break which runs from, and includes, Christmas Eve until New Year’s Day.

EYEE and EYLP Funding

We are registered with OFSTED to deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and therefore can claim the Early Years Education Entitlement and the Early Years Learning Place entitlement from ESCC.
The universal EYEE, for 3- & 4-year old’s, will pay for a maximum of 570 free hours per year, from the term after your child’s third birthday, your child is automatically entitled to this offer, and you will need to apply through Tom Thumb to access this.
The extended 30 hours EYEE will pay for an additional 570 hours per year for eligible 3 and 4-year old’s, from the term after their third birthday, you will need to check eligibility and apply online and then provide us with a code to access this funding and then reconfirmed every 12 weeks. This funding will only last for as long as you are eligible.
The EYLP is available for eligible families of disadvantaged 2-year old’s, from the term after their second birthday, you will need to check eligibility and apply online and then provide us with a code to access this funding.
From April 2024 EYLP is also available for eligible working families of 2-year old’s, from the term after their second birthday, you will need to check eligibility and apply online and then provide us with a code to access this funding and then reconfirmed every 12 weeks. This funding will only last for as long as you are eligible.
Any hours in addition to the 570/1140 free hours are paid at normal rates.
All other nursery fees and placement policies and procedures still apply to children claiming their EYEE or EYLP

38-week offer

For a maximum of 15/30 hours per week over a minimum of two days, during school terms.

Funded term time only booking dates are as follows.

4^th September 2023 to 15^th December 2023 with a break w/c 23^rd October (total 14 weeks)

Friday 5^th January 2024 to Thursday 28^th March 2024 with a break w/c 12^th February (total 11 weeks)

15^th April 2024 to Monday 22^nd July 2024 with a break w/c 27^th May (total 13 weeks)

15 hours funded only bookings can select one of these following options:

2 x 9-4.30 days
3 x 8-1 days
3 x 1-6 days
5 x 1-4 days

Stretched offer.

This is only available for families wishing to access the full 15 or 30 hours plus additional weekly paid hours. The 38-week funding is then stretched across all the weeks we are open.

If your child is due funding from September 2023 the 1140 hours are split into 23 hours per week over 50 weeks (4^th September 2023 until August 30^th 2024)

If your child is due funding from January 2024 the 720 hours are split into 21.5 hours per week over 34 weeks (January 2^nd 2024 until August 30^th 2024)

If your child is due funding from April 2024 the 195/390 hours are split into 9.5/19 hours per week over 21 weeks (April 2^nd 2024 until August 30^th 2024)

Get help paying for your Childcare

Tax-free childcare

For working families, including the self-employed, in the UK
Earning under £100k and an average of £167 per week (equal to 16 hours at the National Minimum or Living Wage) each over three months
Who aren't receiving Tax Credits, Universal Credit or childcare vouchers
With children aged 0-11 (or 0-16 if disabled)
For every £8 you pay into an online account, the government will add an extra £2, up to £2,000 per child per year.

You apply for this at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

15 hours funded childcare for families of disadvantaged 2-year-olds.

The government offers funded childcare to families with disadvantaged 2-year-olds. This may include you if you or your partner:

receive benefits, allowances or other government support.
have a disability or if your child has a disability.
arrived from another country and cannot claim benefits.

You apply for this at www.eastsussex.gov.uk/children-families/childcare/funding/apply

15 hours funded childcare for working families with 2-year-olds (and 9-month-olds from Sept 2024)

Working parents and carers of 2-year old’s may be entitled to 15 hours of funded childcare. But you will need to meet certain conditions, like:

each partner in your household works at least 16 hours a week.
each partner in your household earns at least £139 a week.
neither partner in your household earns over £100,000 per year

if you’re a single-parent family, you’ll need to meet the same criteria.

You apply for this at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

15 hours funded childcare for 3- & 4-year-olds

All families – the universal offer

Everyone can claim 15 hours a week of funded childcare when their children are 3-4 years old. And this continues until they start school - even if that’s past their fifth birthday.

You apply through a childcare provider for this.

30 hours funded childcare for 3- & 4-year-olds

Working parents and carers can get an extra 15 hours of funded childcare for their 3–4-year-olds.

This means you would get 30 hours a week in total. But you’ll need to meet certain conditions, like:

each partner in your household works at least 16 hours a week.
each partner in your household earns at least £139 a week.
neither partner in your household earns over £100,000 per year
if you’re a single-parent family, you’ll need to meet the same criteria.

If your family doesn’t meet the income levels, you might still get the extended offer if you get benefits or other support.

You apply for this at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Tax credits for childcare.

For working families, in the UK
With children under 16 (or under 17 if disabled)
70% of childcare costs, up to a cap
If you cannot make a new claim for Tax Credits, you may be able to apply for Universal Credit instead.

For more information see www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Universal credit for childcare

For working families claiming Universal Credit, in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
With children under 17*
Up to 85% of eligible childcare costs
Who are not receiving Tax-Free Childcare

For more information see www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Support while you study.

Weekly payments from Care to Learn if you are at school or sixth form college.
Help through your college if you are in further education.
A weekly grant if you are in full-time higher education.

For more information see www.childcarechoices.gov.uk