Childcare Funding

Your 3-4 Year Old 

15 Hours Free Childcare 

All children aged 3 and 4 years old are entitled to 15 hours of free education / childcare over 38 weeks of the year (570 hours in total) until the child starts Reception Class at school.

30 Hours Free Childcare 

Working parents with 3 and 4 year olds may be entitled to 30 hours funded childcare over 38 weeks of the year (1,140 hours in total) until their child starts Reception Class at school, depending on eligibility.

Eligibility criteria includes work requirements, salary, age of children, and location. For more information, visit the Childcare Choices website. To get the additional hours you will need to apply for your 30 Hours Free Childcare online. You will then be provided with an eligibility code which should be passed onto your childcare provider. You will need to reconfirm your eligibility every 3 months and inform your childcare provider of the new dates.

Using Your Hours

At Abercrombie we allow parents to use their hours, whether it's 15 or 30 hours free childcare, with some flexibility. As much as possible we try to fit around the parents/carers needs.

A few examples of how you can use your hours...

15 Hours - could be taken Monday - Friday am or pm.

         - could be taken with 2 full days and half a day.

At Abercrombie you are also able to pay for extra hours of childcare beyond you free entitled hours. 

30 Hours - you don't have to use all these hours or you may wish to build the hours up gradually.

   - care is available from 7:45am up until 5:15pm, offered through our Extended Services. You can use your hours to cover these extended times.

   - you can split your hours between different childcare providers.

Extended Services

Tax Free Childcare

Tax Free Childcare is paid to help parents in work with the cost of childcare. The government will add £2 for every £8 you pay for childcare, up to a maximum of £2000 per child per year (or £4000 per year if your child is disabled). This can be use to pay for our Extended Services. 

Tax Free Childcare is available for families with children under 12 years old. For more information, visit the Childcare Choices website.

Childcare Vouchers

Your employer may provide childcare vouchers, which mean you do not have to pay tax on some of your childcare costs. You can get information about this from your employer’s HR department. Depending on how much you spend and when you joined the scheme, you can get up to £55 per week.

Childcare vouchers are being phased out because of the introduction of Tax Free Childcare. If you are already using childcare vouchers, you can continue to use them, or you can change to Tax Free Childcare. You can use the government’s Childcare Calculator to find out which option is better for you.

For more information about Childcare Funding, please ask to speak to Ms Mellors at the school office, who will be happy to assist.