Coventry childcare provider handbook for the delivery of Early Education Entitlement Funding

Providers should deliver flexible packages of childcare, which support families to take up the Early Education Funding. Entitlement within the parameters set out in the statutory documents. Models should include standalone fully funded sessions and may additionally include models which offer a combination of privately paid for and funded hours. For children accessing funded hours before and after lunch, the lunchtime period should form part of the core funded hours and must not be charged as a ‘privately paid for’ hour. Government requirements stipulate, that children should be able to take up their funded entitlement place in continuous blocks of time.

To enable parents to make an informed decision about where their child takes up an early education entitlement place, providers should publish information about delivery models which include but is not limited to:

• Whether models on offer are term time only or stretched across the academic year
• The number of standalone 15 and 30-hour places on offer for 2, 3 and 4 year olds
• The daily times of the core funded hours e.g. 9am – 3pm for a 30-hour place
• The times and costs of any additional ‘privately paid for’ hours associated with the thespecific models offered by the provider
• Any additional charges for optional activities, services, meals, snacks and consumables, not covered by the funded entitlement
• A policy/statement which sets out alternative options for parents who are unable or unwilling to pay voluntary charges for meals, snacks, additional services, and consumables. For example, allowing the parent to supply consumables or a packed lunch, waiving or reducing the cost of meals and snacks.

Tables 1 and 2 – Examples of funding delivery models

*The maximum EEF entitlement for a 2, 3 or 4-year-old taking up a 15-hour place is 570 funded hours between September and the following August.** The maximum EEF entitlement for a 3 or 4-year-old taking up a 30-hour place is 1140 funded hours between September and the following August.

Table 2

The term ‘consumables’ is used to describe any additional services, activities, trips or sundries

*A child would need to be in receipt of funding at the setting for an entire academic year to be entitled to receive any floating hours where a provider/parent uses the stretched model to receive the maximum amount of yearly funded hours. Floating hours can be taken at a mutually agreed time between the parent and the setting.

Examples below shows models which are all year round but provide term-time only funding.