This policy sets out how Dragonfly Day Nursery charges for childcare in line with:

• The Department for Education statutory guidance (updated April 2025)

And  

• Newham Council’s Funding Agreement (for Dragonfly Stratford)
• Or Essex County Council’s Early Education Funding Contract (for Dragonfly Colchester)

And applies to all children attending our settings from January 2026 onwards.

Our aim is to ensure transparency, fairness and compliance with all funding requirements and contracts, particularly those relating to the Funded Early Education Entitlement.

Free Entitlement Hours

 Dragonfly offers the following government-funded early education and childcare hours, subject to eligibility in line with our Admissions Policy and Equal Opportunities Policy, as follows:

• 15 hours per week Universal Entitlement for 3+ and 4+ year olds
• 30 hours per week Extended Entitlement (if eligible) for 9+ months, 2+, 3+ and 4+ year olds
• 15 hours per week funded places for 2 year olds meeting a certain criteria
• Any additional funded entitlements introduced by the DfE and/or local authorities

Families will not be charged for:

• The funded hours themselves
• Any mandatory top-up fee
• Registration or administration fees linked to accessing funded hours only
• Core learning materials and equipment for delivering the EYFS curriculum
• Business overheads (utilities, staffing, rent) related to funded hours only

There will be no financial barriers at the point of delivery of the funded hours only, nor will they be conditional on purchasing any additional services.

Accessing the funding

The funding hours are provided by the local authority and can be taken at our settings in a variety of patterns, depending on parental preference and availability of sessions. Funded hours can be accessed in the following ways:

1. Term-Time (Universal) Offer – 38 weeks per year

For families choosing to take their funded hours during standard term-times only (typically 38 weeks). In this situation, funding will be applied to the hours attended during term-time only, and any additional hours or services will be charged at our standard, private rates.

2. Stretched Funding Offer – 50/51 weeks per year (setting dependant)

For families choosing to access an all year round place will have their child’s funded hours stretched across the full year instead of term time only. This spreads the total annual entitlement over more weeks, resulting in fewer funded hours per week.

Example: 30 hours per week (1,140 hours per year) becomes approximately 25 hours per week stretched over 45 weeks – for Dragonfly Stratford.

Example: 30 hours per week (1,140 hours per year) becomes approximately 22 hours per week stretched over 51 weeks – for Dragonfly Colchester.

 By stretching the hours, families receive a consistent number of funded hours each week throughout the year. Any hours used above the weekly stretched funding amount are chargeable at our standard, private rates.

3. Blended/Split Funding – for Dragonfly Colchester only

Parents may choose to take their funded hours across more than one early years provider. When doing this, the total number of funded hours cannot exceed the child’s annual entitlement, parents must clearly nominate how many hours will be taken by each provider and additional charges will apply for any-non funded hours or service. However, as a general rule of thumb, this is often practice that Dragonfly would discourage as we believe that children thrive off routine and consistency, which in some cases this could impact.

Families in receipt of the FEEE2 funding will not be asked to pay the Voluntary Charges, nor will a registration fee or deposit be required when signing up with Dragonfly.

As per our Admissions Policy, funding options will always be subject to:

• Session availability
• Staffing ratios
• Local authority funding rules
• The submission of a valid Parent Application Form

If a family wishes to move provider part-way through the term without appropriate notice, Dragonfly Colchester may be entitled to retain a portion of the remaining weeks’ funding. However, due to Dragonfly’s commitment to a strong partnership with parents, we will always endeavour to come to a mutually beneficial agreement.

Additional Charges

The Early Years Funding sets out to support Dragonfly Day Nursery with the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory requirements and delivery of the Early Years Entitlement only, thus other aspects such as meals, consumables, additional activities, trips or services, or any extra hours beyond the funded entitlement will be chargeable. Where any of these charges apply, they will be clearly outlined and agreed with parents in advance. All additional services can be chosen as optional add-ons and will be separate from the funded entitlement, thus parents can opt out without losing access to their funded hours only, should they wish to.

Additional charges exist to ensure the sustainability and quality of the provision. These charges support the delivery of an enhanced service beyond the funded Early Years entitlement. Additional charges will always be transparent, reasonable and linked to actual costs incurred in the setting.*

*discounts may apply. These fees are in place to ensure the delivery and maintenance of a high standard of service for. Where a family is genuinely unable to pay for optional charges, we encourage parents/carers to speak to the Nursery Manager in confidence as early as possible.

Additional charges will include:

1. Meals:

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Tea
• Morning and afternoon snacks
• Alternative dietary requirement milks
• Formula for babies only

Any special dietary alternative meals will also be provided (where required) at no additional cost.

Mealtime charges are essential to retain the high quality meals provided by our onsite chefs. Dragonfly prides itself on our carefully planned seasonal menu’s which support healthy eating in line with the Early Start Nutrition and Nourishing our Future teams. This initiative is part of our ongoing commitment to combat the rising levels of childhood obesity and poor oral hygiene.  

     2.  Consumables:

2. • Arts and crafts materials that are taken home (such as special crafts and keepsakes)
   • Specialist items (like baking ingredients and gardening seeds)
   • Consumable resources required to support cultural and seasonal celebrations (e.g Christmas specific arts and crafts supplies, a tea party to celebrate the Lunar New Year etc)
   • Enhanced provision consumables (including non-reusable items such as cocoa powder, hay, shaving foam, clay, salt-dough etc) used to elevate the learning experience

3. Outings, trips and additional experiences:

• Visits to any external location where there is a charge for entry, such as farm visits, soft play, museums, galleries, the zoo etc
• Special events and experiences, such as entertainers visiting the nursery or the Christmas pantomime etc
• Professional photographer visiting the nursery bi-annually

 Outings and trips will be charged on an ad hoc basis, as and when an event or experience has been planned. Costs such as transportation will be factored in and attendance on trips will always be optional. General interest forms for trips will be distributed in advance with estimated costs to assess interest levels prior to booking experiences.

    4.  . Extra Curricular Activities/Workshops:

• Sports sessions such as football and/or yoga (setting dependent) will take place during the week. These are additional to the core provision and will carry a separate charge

5. Additional hours:

• Any additional hours utilised by families will be invoiced and should be paid in advance. These hours will be charged at Dragonfly’s private rate

It is important to recognise that these charges are necessary as the government funded entitlement covers the provision of early education only and does not meet the full cost of consumables and additional services. Whilst these charges will be voluntary for the funded hours, supplementary charges enable Dragonfly to maintain high-quality learning environments, provide nutritious and balanced food and offer enriching experiences that benefit all children.

Families who choose not to pay the voluntary charges will not be denied access to their funded entitlement however all spaces will be subject to availability as per the Admissions Policy.

Private Hours

 Private hours refer to any childcare hours that fall outside of a child’s funded Early Years entitlement. These hours are chargeable at the setting’s standard private hourly rate and must be booked separately and paid for by parents/carers ahead of the time they are accessed. Private hours will include:

• Hours taken in addition to the government funded 15 or 30 hours
• Hours that fall outside the designated funded session times set out by the setting
• Any non-funded hours during holiday periods (where a child is accessing funding on a term-time only basis)
• Ad hoc extra sessions above and beyond the funded entitlement

Charges for private hours reflect the full cost of delivering high-quality childcare, including staffing, resources, utilities and operational expenses that the business may incur. These charges are essential to ensure the sustainability of the provision and will be reviewed annually.

Parents/carers will always receive clear information on:

• The current hourly/daily rate for private hours (this varies between age groups and settings)
• Session structures and availability
• Invoicing schedules and payment arrangements

For all private hours, payment will be required regardless of a child’s attendance, except in circumstances outlined under the Absence Policy and Dragonfly’s Terms and Conditions. Any swaps to sessions will be purely at the discretion of the Nursery Manager, subject to availability and staffing.

Fee increases

Dragonfly will always attempt to absorb as many of the rising costs to remain as competitive and affordable to families as possible, however a fee increase will occur at least once a year to ensure that we can continue to provide safe, high-quality care and education. Any fee increases will consider external factors such as rising National Living Wages, an ongoing investment into staff training, qualifications and retention, rising utility costs and other external factors that may be applicable at the time of the increase.

Deposits and Registrations Fee

Dragonfly Stratford: For all children accessing a place at Dragonfly Stratford that exceeds their funded entitlement, a deposit of 50% of the monthly fee will be required at the point of admission. This fee will be refunded when the child leaves the nursery, providing that they have attended Dragonfly for a minimum of 6 months and provided the correct notice period of two months.

Dragonfly Colchester: For all children accessing a place at Dragonfly Colchester that exceeds their funded entitlement a £100.00 registration fee will be charged. This is a flat-rate, non-refundable fee and will be required at the point of admission. Payment must be received ahead of the child’s settling in date should the parent/carer wish for the child to access private hours.

Invoicing and Receipts

 Invoices will be issued in advance and on a termly basis, based on each specific child’s booked sessions and any additional services. Invoices will be sent electronically and are available on request in a paper format.

To ensure transparency, invoices are clearly itemised and will include:

• Childcare fees for privately paid hours
• Funded hours shown in line with government guidance
• Meals where applicable
• Consumables where applicable
• Extra curricular activities/workshops
• Extras/trips (on an ad hoc basis)

Payment dates will be clearly indicated and always due ahead of the days of attendance. All fees will be payable by bank transfer or via a tax-free childcare account. Fees will be charged regardless of attendance, including illness and/or holidays, unless otherwise stated.

Families who require a receipt may request one in writing as receipts will not be issued automatically. Receipts will be provided electronically, reflecting the payment received against the relevant invoice, outlining payment date and exact monies received. All requests must be made within a reasonable timeframe to allow for accurate processing and administrative time.

Attendance Changes

If you wish to make a change to your child’s session pattern, you must notify the Nursery Manager in advance in writing. Dragonfly will always try to best accommodate changes, subject to availability. Increases/decreases in sessions will require one month’s notice and only granted subject to availability. For funded only children, changes may only be made from the beginning of the following term.

Late collection charges

Dragonfly understands that occasional delays can happen, however persistent lateness can cause distress for children and disruptions to staff due to the ratios we must follow. For late collections, there will be a charge of £2.00 per minute overrun beyond the session time, which will be invoiced separately. For further details, please see our Late Collection and Child Not Collected Policy.