3-and 4-year-olds 

All 3-and 4-year-olds in England are entitled to 15 hours free early education. This will begin the term after their third birthday.

BHCC: Brighton and Hove City Council

Early Years Entitlement:

9 months

From September 2024 the government has announced that some children of working parents would become eligible for 15 hours (12) from the term after they turn 9 months. From September 2025, eligible children can receive 30 hours funding (23) the term after they turn 9 months old.

2-year-olds

Some two year olds, whose families are in receipt of government support are also eligible for 15 hours.

3-and 4-year-olds

All 3-and 4-year-olds in England are entitled to 15 hours free early education. This will begin the term after their third birthday.

Some 3-and 4-year-olds

If a child has working parents, they may be entitled to 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year. This is equivalent to term time, but at Young Friends this is stretched over 50 weeks. Each parent, or the sole parent in a single parent family of a 3- or 4-year-old, has to at least earn the equivalent of 16 hours on the national minimum wage per week, but no more than £100,000 per year, to qualify. Parents can also split their funded hours allowance across more than one provider.

Please see links below to check for eligibility…..

Homepage | Childcare Choices

Early years providers don’t have to offer funded places. This means that your early years provider may decide not to do so. Alternatively, they may limit the number of funded places they offer. This might be because, for example, the level of funding they receive from the government is not enough to cover the cost of delivering places, or because they do not have enough staff to deliver the extended offer.

You don’t have to take up your full entitlement of hours to receive funding. For example, if your child is eligible for the 30 hours, you might choose to only take up 25 hours.

You can split your funded entitlement between more than one provider, though no more than two sites in one day. For example, a child could attend a breakfast club and nursery setting based on one site or a maintained school and a private, voluntary and independent (PVI) provider on two different sites. However, it is important to bear in mind the impact of multiple providers on a child’s learning, development and wellbeing. If you are splitting your offer between providers, you will need to provide your eligibility code and information to each provider.

Providers can charge additional charges. Government funding is meant to cover the delivery of early education and care only. This means that early years providers are allowed to charge for additional goods, services and activities, such as lunch or trips (see Extras)

Eligibility

When you register your child at Young Friends Kindergarten, we will need to see original documentation e.g. passport or birth certificate. From this we will be able to verify their age for any funding they may be eligible for. This documentation will be secured securely in the child’s personal file on our password protected One Drive. To check for eligibility please use the link below:

Homepage | Childcare Choices 30 hours free childcare – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

When your child reaches the correct age, we will send you a ‘Parent Declaration Form’ which will give us all the information we need to process your funding. This will also be stored securely in your child’s file and will allow us to receive confirmation and notifications from BHCC about ongoing (or not) eligibility.

If a parent forgets to apply, the extended entitlement cannot be backdated and will be put on hold until the next term after the application has been made. If it is the term after your child turns 3, they will automatically receive the universal ’15 hour’ entitlement. BHCC will conduct audits at 6 points each year to check ongoing eligibility and notify us if anything has changed. If someone falls out of eligibility there is a grace period of approximately 6 weeks. 

Stand-Alone Funded Space

We offer a limited number of ‘stand-alone’ spaces. Stand-alone funded sessions are 11.4 hours (we round these up to 12) free of charge for families who are receiving support: e.g. eligible for the ‘E’ code support fund, DAF or LAC. These places can be taken as a half day, 3x a week from 8-12 or 4x a week from 1-4. We have 10 standalone sessions per week and offer these places on a first come first served basis. 

To ensure that Young Friends can offer places to everyone, regardless of their background or identified support needs, these free sessions cannot be mixed with paid sessions. Families who require more flexibility with their support-funded place will be required to pay the funded hourly rate. 

If all free places are filled and a family is eligible for support funding, we will lift our ‘minimum two-day’ rule to help them access Young Friends, while keeping costs down. Please note that these days must be taken on a day specified by management.

Families who wish to enquire about stand-alone spaces should contact management on enquiries@youngfriends.co.uk regarding current availability and criteria.

Extras

Government funding is designed to cover the basic delivery of early education and care. However, the funding rate we receive does not reflect the level of quality and the range of exceptional experiences we provide at Young Friends Kindergarten. We are proud to offer a premium experience, which includes many costly yet valuable extras that truly set our setting apart. For this reason, all funded sessions include a fee of £5.15 per hour, allowing your child to benefit from the following enhancements:

Award-winning outdoor environments: Our natural, eco-conscious spaces have been recognized for their excellence, offering your child the best possible connection with nature.

Outstanding in all areas since we opened: We’ve never faltered—earning five consecutive ‘Outstanding’ ratings in all areas, which highlights our unwavering commitment to excellence.

Sustainable activities and trips: Carefully curated eco-friendly adventures that broaden your child’s horizons.

Highly qualified, award-winning team: Our passionate, experienced staff have received industry recognition, ensuring your child receives the highest standard of care and education. Our team are paid more than most Early Years educators to reflect their outstanding work and dedication.

Seed-to-plate experiences: Hands-on growing, harvesting, and cooking fresh food.

Thermomix. With this we prepare all snacks from scratch—including crackers, hummus, and bread—ensuring no additives and fostering healthy lifelong eating habits. 

Kitchen garden visits: For children over three, to explore where food comes from and develop essential life skills.

Full-time Sustainable Leader: A supernumerary dedicated staff member ensures sustainability is at the heart of everything the children learn.

Nature workshop projects and specialist equipment: Bringing nature-based education to life.

Regular beach cleans: Instilling environmental responsibility through community action.

Animal therapy: Interaction with our giant rabbits and Labradors, fostering empathy and confidence.

Washable nappies and flannels: We provide and launder sustainable, eco-friendly nappies and wipes, ensuring hygienic care.

Premium products for your child’s care: Weleda nappy cream, grapeseed oil for gentle clean-ups, and Altruist sunscreen for ultimate protection.

Organic, home-grown produce: Fresh fruit and vegetables straight from our kitchen garden.

Completely plant-based menu: Delicious, nutritious meals, all ethically sourced and prepared. We even make our own oat milk.

Daily lunches: Delivered fresh from The Professional Nursery Kitchen, plus homemade snacks, puddings, and suppers prepared in-house using top-quality ingredients.

Daily and consistent cooking: Encouraging children to get hands-on in the kitchen they cook for themselves and eachother.

Above-standard child-to-practitioner ratios: For over threes, we offer a 1:6 ratio (compared to the statutory 1:8), ensuring more individual attention and care.

Comprehensive communication: Continuous updates on your child’s development via our Famly app, keeping you closely involved in their learning journey.

Award-winning outdoor environments: Our natural, eco-conscious spaces have been recognized for their excellence, offering your child the best possible connection with nature.

Outstanding in all areas since we opened: We’ve never faltered—earning five consecutive ‘Outstanding’ ratings in all areas, which highlights our unwavering commitment to excellence.

Sustainable activities and trips: Carefully curated eco-friendly adventures that broaden your child’s horizons.

Highly qualified, award-winning team: Our passionate, experienced staff have received industry recognition, ensuring your child receives the highest standard of care and education. Our team are paid more than most Early Years educators to reflect their outstanding work and dedication.

Seed-to-plate experiences: Hands-on growing, harvesting, and cooking fresh food.

Thermomix. With this we prepare all snacks from scratch—including crackers, hummus, and bread—ensuring no additives and fostering healthy lifelong eating habits. 

Kitchen garden visits: For children over three, to explore where food comes from and develop essential life skills.

Full-time Sustainable Leader: A supernumerary dedicated staff member ensures sustainability is at the heart of everything the children learn.

Nature workshop projects and specialist equipment: Bringing nature-based education to life.

Regular beach cleans: Instilling environmental responsibility through community action.

Animal therapy: Interaction with our giant rabbits and Labradors, fostering empathy and confidence.

Washable nappies and flannels: We provide and launder sustainable, eco-friendly nappies and wipes, ensuring hygienic care.

Premium products for your child’s care: Weleda nappy cream, grapeseed oil for gentle clean-ups, and Altruist sunscreen for ultimate protection.

Organic, home-grown produce: Fresh fruit and vegetables straight from our kitchen garden.

Completely plant-based menu: Delicious, nutritious meals, all ethically sourced and prepared. We even make our own oat milk.

Daily lunches: Delivered fresh from The Professional Nursery Kitchen, plus homemade snacks, puddings, and suppers prepared in-house using top-quality ingredients.

Daily and consistent cooking: Encouraging children to get hands-on in the kitchen they cook for themselves and eachother.

Above-standard child-to-practitioner ratios: For over threes, we offer a 1:6 ratio (compared to the statutory 1:8), ensuring more individual attention and care.

Comprehensive communication: Continuous updates on your child’s development via our Famly app, keeping you closely involved in their learning journey.

Change to Sessions and Prolonged Absences

Management must be notified of any changes to your child’s sessions. We require a months’ notice to increase or decrease your child’s sessions to notify the Local Authority of the changes to your child’s funding entitlement.

We are required to inform the Local Authority should those who are in receipt of funding do not attend for longer than a period of three weeks. Your child’s funding entitlement will not be withdrawn if there is a legitimate reason for your child’s absence.

Therefore, we have a policy and procedure around attendance. All non-attendance for medical reasons, medical appointments, holiday and all other absence will be recorded.

We take attendance seriously and appropriate action is taken when absence is a concern. We actively support you with attendance and will work with you to resolve any problems. If your child should be unable to attend our setting on their nominated day, we would ask that you call us giving an explanation for our records, this includes absence for medical reasons. 

Early Years Pupil Premium

Early Years Pupil Premium is an additional sum of money paid to childcare providers for children of families in receipt of certain benefits and children who are looked after or have left the care of the local authority through adoption or special guardianship. This funding will be used to enhance the quality of their early years’ experience by improving the provision and facilities and resources, with the aim of impacting positively on your child’s progress and development.

All families will be asked to complete a ‘Parent declaration form’ when they become eligible for EYFE funded hours. Part 3 of the form must be completed with parent/carers names, date of birth and national insurance number as part of the process to check EYPP eligibility.

Disability Living Allowance

If a child is registered with SEND and you are entitled to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) you will also be required to complete part 4 of the ‘Parent declaration form’.

Children who are in receipt of child Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and are receiving EYFE are eligible for the Disability Access Fund (DAF). DAF is paid to the child’s early years setting as a fixed annual rate. If your child changes setting during the financial year the DAF will remain with the original setting. We work very closely with Brighton & Hove Inclusion Support Service (BHISS) to ensure that individual children’s needs are met.

English as an Additional Language

If we believe a child may need extra support as English is an additional language, we will contact a member of the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS) to come into our setting to assess the needs of your child. We work closely with EMAS to ensure that every child’s needs are met.