Fees & Funding
Information and support on how to fund your child’s nursery journey.
What funding is currently available?
Scotland
15 & 30 hours funded childcare
Children aged 3 and 4 years old can receive funded hours up to 1140hrs a year (30hrs a week term time), as well as some 2-year-olds being eligible for funding (visit your local council website to find out what you are entitled to).
England
In England you may be eligible for funding between 15 to 30 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year. The funding entitlements are listed below;
Disadvantage entitlement/Entitlement for families receiving additional support – families that are eligible for this funding will be able to receive 15 hours per week Term Time (38 weeks per year). The child becomes eligible the term after their 2nd birthday and the terms commence as follows: 1st September, 1st April or 1st January. Depending on the LA it may be possible to join midterm, this should be discussed with your nursery manager who will support discussion with the appropriate people.
Universal entitlement – All families age 3 and 4 are eligible for 15 universal hours Term Time only (38 weeks per year), there is no stipulation on eligibility for these hours. A child becomes eligible the term following there 3rd birthday and the terms are as follows 1st September, 1st April or 1st January.
Working Parent entitlement – children 9 months plus in this category will be eligible for 30 hours per week Term Time (38 weeks per year). A child becomes eligible the term after they turn 9 months, the terms are as follows 1st September, 1st April or 1st January.
Your funding is allocated for 38 weeks of the year, here at Thrive this is stretched to cover the 51 operating weeks (during school term time). A breakdown of this can be found on the download below.
Download our funding policy here
You can use Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare whilst claiming your 15 or 30 hours of childcare support.
These schemes are only available to families living in England, although similar schemes are available in Scotland & Wales.
You can find further information and details on how to apply for funding using the Best Start In Life website (formally known as Childcare Choices) Best Start in Life – Best Start in Life
All nursery spaces are subject to availability and fill very quickly, so we recommend you place your enquiry for a personal tour as early as possible, to ensure you get the sessions and start date you require.
Please contact us today so we can best support and advise on any questions you may have.
Nursery Fees
Nursery fees are nursery specific and will be made available to you on request.
How to Pay
You can pay your nursery fees via Tax Free Childcare, Childcare Vouchers, Thrives ‘Parent Zone’ App or by setting up a Direct Debit. Unfortunately, we do not accept cash or cheque.
What Extras are Included at my chosen Nursery?
Thrive nurseries currently provide Nappies, Wipes, Formula milk, Meals and Snacks within our fees. Some ‘Extra Curricular’ activities are also included in your fees, however these ‘Extra Curricular’ activities vary by nursery depending on location, accessibility to classes and variation of what’s on offer in their local area. Please get in touch with us today so that you can get a feel for what’s included across our nurseries in and around your location.
What do our fees include?
Nappies, formula milk and Wipes
Our nurseries provide Nappies, Formula milk and Wipes. Speak to your nursery manager if you need more information.
Healthy, well balanced Meals and Nutritious snacks
Children are provided meals and snacks that are designed to give them the best start in life and help them thrive throughout the day at nursery. Find out more about what is provided here
Free Settling in Sessions
Having your child start nursery is a big step for the whole family. Our settling in sessions are designed to put both you and your child at ease and to make sure starting nursery is as smooth as it can be. Find out more about how these work here
Our child-centred quality Early Years Care and Education
Our curriculum includes and adheres to the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, while offering a hands-on approaches to encourage the skills your child will need in the nursery and beyond. Find out more here
Access to a wide range of quality resources and equipment
Our nurseries provide an extensive range of resources to encourage children to learn through play. We favour naturalistic learning resources and make fantastic use of our outdoor equipment, promoting free-flow and Child-led learning.
Access to E-Learning Journals
Our E-Learning Journals via the ParentZone app allow you to see your child’s activities at nursery with the click of a button. Your little one’s Keyworker will upload images and notes about your child’s development, any useful updates from their day and participation in activities at nursery for you to access wherever you are.
Newsletters and Parent Evenings
We understand this time in your child’s life is crucial to development and our relationships with parents are key. Our regular newsletters and parent evenings keeps you in the know, specifically about your little one and what’s happening within your nursery.
Sports and Physical Development
As part of our curriculum we are committed to ensuring children are physically active for a minimum of 3 hours per day. Our Physical Development Champions at each nursery design children’s general physical activities based around movement, raising the heartbeat and exercising the cardiovascular system – as well as promoting confidence, teamwork and social skills development.
Fundraising Activities
Taking part in fundraising activities helps children to learn about others that live differently, or are in disadvantaged situations and understand how we can help them. Fundraising events are good fun and a great way to bring children, families and communities together.
Outdoor Time & Forest School sessions
Forest School is an inspirational process that offers our children opportunities to develop their self-confidence through hands on learning experiences in our woodland gardens and outdoor classrooms.
Graduation Ceremonies
We celebrate the big move to primary school with a special graduation ceremony each year – caps, gowns, the works!
Music, Dance and Creative Arts
Generally within our nurseries all of our children out with classes will be introduced to music, dance and creative arts as it is already a huge part of our curriculum. Some of our nurseries also offer specific classes such as Baby Ballet and Street Dance, Rhythm Time, Music Mischief Classes, Petite Acting Academy Classes and Boogie Bugs.
Language and Story time
Within our curriculum and nurseries all of our children will be provided with a space to develop their speech and language every day during their time at nursery, as well as learning through play and Story times in our cosy corners.
Cooking and Baking activities
Wherever we can we encourage children to partake in preparing their meals at nursery. We love to see our preschool children take pride in their culinary creations and enjoy healthy and delicious food.
Wellbeing activities
Wellbeing, physically, mentally and emotionally has a huge importance within our curriculum and daily life at our nurseries. Alongside our approach, some of the nurseries have a mini farm, nursery pet, occasional ZooLab visits or theraponies visits to not only stimulate learning but so beneficial to mental health.
What location are you in?
Scotland
Applying for 30 Hour Funded Childcare
In order to access funded childcare, you will need to confirm your eligibility and there are set cut-off dates for applying for funded childcare throughout the year dependant on the local authority that you reside in.
Acceptance of funded places within our nursery is dependent on our availability.
How Funding Applies to Your Nursery Fees
Following consultation with families, we ‘stretch’ the funded entitlement across the whole year, This equates to up to 22 hours of funded childcare per week which can be assigned to varied session patterns.
Scottish children are entitled to 1140hrs funding pro rata*, there are some caveats to cross boundary funding. Not all councils will accept children into a nursery if they reside in another council area or they may only get 600hrs.
Check what help you’re entitled to in Scotland here as different councils operate different start dates for eligible children.
England
Applying for 30 Hour Funded Childcare
In order to access 30 hours funded childcare, you will need to confirm your eligibility and collect a unique code through HMRC. Eligibility for funded childcare is income-based, and there are set cut-off dates for applying for funded childcare throughout the year.
You will then need to provide our nursery team with your unique code number, which will need be validated via the relevant Local Authority system in order for us to register your child’s place. Acceptance of funded places within our nursery is dependent on our availability.
How Funding Applies to Your Nursery Fees
Following consultation with our current families, we have agreed to ‘stretch’ the 15 and 30 hour funding entitlement from term-time only to all year-round, which equates to 22 hours of funded childcare per week, depending on which term you join the scheme.
Apply for funding here
Tax Credits
If you receive tax credits, the amount you are eligible for may be affected by using childcare vouchers. You can check whether you would be better off taking childcare vouchers through this free online calculator.
Many families do not take advantage of the financial help that is available to them for the cost of childcare. Families on middle as well as low incomes may be entitled to financial support such as Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit. This extra help – called ‘the childcare element of working tax credits’ – is available to individuals on lower incomes to help with the cost of childcare. The amount received is dependent on your circumstances and income, but could cover up to 70% of your childcare costs.
To be eligible, lone parents must work 16 hours or more per week, for couples, both partners must work 16 hours or more or one partner must work 16 hours or more per week if the other is unable to work for specific reasons. To see if you are eligible for assistance, please visit: www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/start/who-qualifies/children/childcare-costs.htm
Paying your fees
Nursery fees are due in advance and we politely request payment is received on or before the 1st of each month. Some payment methods can take up to 3 days to reach us to please take this into consideration when arranging payments.
We offer payments via direct debit, via BACS transfer and other payment schemes once agreed with manager. We do accept all major credit and debit cards.
If you are having any difficulty with payment, please do let your Nursery Manager know and we can try and rectify the issue as quickly as possible.
Querying a bill?
If you are querying a bill you have received do notify the Nursery Manager directly of this and they will kindly look into it with assistance of our finance team.
*Some of our nurseries have a term time only offering, places are limited and not available at all nurseries.
