FREE 30 hour childcare places for 3 - 4 year olds
Eligible must reapply every 3 months from their previous activation date in order to secure their place for the next term.
Am I eligible?
What do we offer?
How can I find out more?
At West Park Kindergarten, we offer more funded childcare hours than any other provider in the region.
All 3 and 4-year-olds in England are entitled to 15 hours of free early education each week for 38 weeks of the year, this entitlement is covered on our funding page, however from September 2017 eligible parents of 3 and 4-year-olds will be entitled to an additional 15 free hours of childcare - raising the entitlement to 30 hours during term time.
At West Park Kindergarten we offer an extra week of free funded childcare compared to other providers in the area, meaning you can access up to 39 weeks of free childcare each year.
All parents must renew their code every 3 months from their previous activation date in order to secure their place for the next term, it is the parents responsibility to reactivate these codes failure to do so could result in them paying unwanted fees.
Am I eligible?
Your child will be eligible from the term time after their 3rd birthday until they start reception class, if the following criteria is met:
Both parents are working - or the sole parent is working in a lone parent family
Each parent earns, on average, a weekly amount equivalent to 16 hours at National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage
Each parent earns less than £100,000 per year
The family lives in England
The additional funding is usually only available for families where both parents are working or the sole parent is working in a lone parent family, however in families where only a single parent is working the funding would still be available if the following criteria is met:
If one/both parent/s is on leave (parental, maternal, adoption etc.)
If one/both parent/s on statutory sick
If one parent works and one parent has substantial caring responsibilities (based on specific benefits received for caring)
If one parent is employed and one parent is disabled or incapacitated (based on receipt of specific benefits)
Please note: Foster carers are not eligible for the 30 hours free childcare for the children that they foster.
What do we offer?
At West Park Kindergarten we are offering the highest amount of 30 hours funding in the region to all eligible children as well as continuing to offer the free 15 hours to all our 3 and 4-year-olds as space allows. Our 30 hours entitlement offers up to 1170 hours free childcare across the year, more than any other provider, of which you do not have to take the full amount.
The Term Time Offer - 3 sessions of 10 hours per week across 39 weeks per year
The Stretched Offer - 2 sessions of 10 hours per week across 51 weeks per year
The funding is only available for 30 hours per week, any additional hours will be charged at the standard nursery rate. A fee of £2.10 is required on all funded days to cover meals and snacks. This is only for days covered by the 30 hours funding, for any days outside of that all meals and snacks are covered by the regular nursery fees.
Eligible parents should have received a voucher code from the HMRC which you must bring to us to confirm your funded place. If you want to know more about the hours we offer then please contact the nursery and we can help answer any questions you might have.
How can I find out more?
The government and South Tyneside council have both released a number of helpful guides and information regarding the 30 hours free entitlement that covers everything you should need to know about the offer, you can also get in touch with us to find out more about what we offer for the 30 hours funding.
Contact West Park Kindergarten
The Government Childcare Choices website
South Tyneside Council - 30 hours free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds
FAQs for parents - 30 hours free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds