Devon County Council Nursery Admissions Policy

Section A – Nursery Admissions

1. Scope of the policy

1.1. This policy applies to community and voluntary controlled (VC) schools with nursery provision (including Nursery Schools) and early years provision running as an extended service (governor-run pre-schools and nurseries) in nursery, infant, primary and all through schools.

1.2. Devon County Council is the admission authority for setting these admissions arrangements.

1.3. The decision-making process for the consideration of nursery admissions applications for 0-4-year-old children is delegated by Devon County Council to the governing body of community and voluntary controlled schools. Governors should set up a Nursery Admissions Panel to manage this work.

1.4. It is recommended that other schools in Devon i.e., academies, foundation, free and voluntary aided schools with nursery and governor/trustee-run provision adopt this policy. They may choose to apply their own oversubscription criteria (that they have consulted on) for the whole school to the Nursery Admissions Policy, so they are aligned. Devon County Council requests that consideration is given to more vulnerable children and families when considering priority for Nursery Places.

1.5. This policy does not apply to community special schools where there are nursery places

1.6. These arrangements comply with the requirements placed on funded providers in Devon that are set out in the Provider Agreement.

1.7. This policy and related documents Nursery Admissions Policy Template 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026, Note of Interest form and Nursery Application Form DCAF-0 2025 – 2026 are taken through the Schools Organisation, Capital, and Admissions group (SOCA) which is a subgroup of the Devon Education Forum (DEF). The group discusses and makes recommendations on the policy.

1.8. Community and VC schools must complete the Nursery Admissions Policy Template: 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026 that has been designed to ensure schools meet the requirements set out in this policy. The template must be completed with all information relating to their school’s nursery ‘offer’.

1.9. Nursery is the stage of education before a child starts at school or reaches statutory school age (the start of the term following a child’s fifth birthday). Most four- and five-year-olds will be in school because places are offered in school for the September following a child’s fourth birthday.

2. Early Years Funding

2.1. All early year’s funding works to funding periods rather than term times, so eligible children will be able to receive the entitlements from the following dates: 1 September, 1 January, or 1 April, after they reach the relevant age.

2.2. Targeted two-year old funding is for families that meet the criteria. Funding is for 570 hours a year. Eligibility starts from the beginning of the funding period following their second birthday up until the start of the funding period following their third birthday when the universal three and four year old funding entitlement begins.

Note to schools: You may have three year olds who are entitled to targeted two year old funding. If you are a school with an age range starting at three, please: a) consider extending the age range down to 2 or b) Claim funding for two year olds so that eligible three year olds do not need to pay to attend in the period before the universal funding starts.

Please see the funding rates: Early Years Funding for 2, 3 and 4 year olds – Information for childcare providers

2.3. The universal three and four year old funding (15 hours) is for all children and is for up to 570 hours a year. Eligibility starts from the beginning of the funding period following their third birthday up until school age.

2.4. The working entitlement funding is for eligible 9 month to 4 year olds. The funding is available until the child reaches statutory school age or from when they start in the reception class at the start of September following their fourth birthday.

Note to schools: You may have a two year olds who is entitled to the funding rate for babies.

If you are a school with an age range starting at two, please:

a) consider extending the age range down to 0 or b) claim funding for babies so that eligible children up to the age of two do not need to pay to attend for up to 30 hours a week in the period before the two year old funding starts.  

Please see the funding rates.

2.5. The working entitlement funding is for 1140 hours a year. This means that children will need to have reached their 9 month/2 year/3 year birthday on or before 31 March 2025, and their parents will need to have successfully applied for the funding, to be eligible from 1 September 2025.

2.6. Parents can choose to take fewer funded hours a week for more weeks of the year).  This is likely to mean that there will be fewer children on your nursery register because they are attending for longer hours. 

2.7. Schools will have children whose parents:

• pay for their place,
• are eligible for the working entitlement funding
• are eligible for targeted two-year-old funding

Eligibility for Funding 

2.8. The process for working parents with 9 months to four year olds to claim funding requires eligibility checks that are processed through Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Parents can check what childcare support they are entitled to via the Childcare Choices Homepage | Childcare Choices website. They will need to open a childcare account through the Government Gateway to manage their application; they will also use this account to manage Tax-Free Childcare Payments. 

2.9. Devon County Council is sent a list of potentially eligible Targeted Two Years old funding parents approximately every 6 weeks by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Parents on this list are sent an email and/or text, which directs them to check their eligibility through the Citizens Portal.

2.10. Schools must direct parents who do not receive an email or text but who they believe to be eligible to check their eligibility on the Citizens Portal before processing an application for a place. Parents get an immediate response about their eligibility.

2.11. Some parents will need to select request help through the Citizens Portal to enable them to submit evidence of eligibility. For example, they may have to attach a court order to prove that a child has previously been in care.

2.12. Parents who are unable to access the Citizens Portal can have an ‘assisted application’ where an eligibility check is carried out on their behalf. These parents should call the Customer Service Centre 0345 155 1013.

2.13. Parents should be encouraged to accept a place and to take up the full number of funded hours.

2.14. Some parents will be eligible for both the Targeted Two Year Old Funding and the Working Entitlement Funding.

2.15 Schools must bear in mind that this may have a bearing on their priority for admissions. If evidence of the Targeted funding entitlement has been given to the school the child can be prioritised even though they claim the Working Entitlement.

Early Years Pupil Premium and Disability Access Funding

2.16. Funding is also given to schools and early years providers for children that are eligible for the Early Years Pupil Premium and for the Disability Access Funding. Both funding types support individual children.

2.17. Devon County Council run an eligibility check for Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) on parents who have set up an account on the Citizens Portal and been found eligible for 2-year-old funding and/ or free school meals AND who have a child of eligible age.

2.18. Parents and carers of children that have previously been in care should ask their school for a form so that EYPP can be claimed.

Complying with the conditions of funding

2.19. All providers in receipt of Early Years Funding are required to complete and return a Provider Agreement Form and return it to the Funding Helpdesk eyef@devon.gov.uk to signify that you agree to comply with the Provider Agreement.

2.20. A new Provider Agreement Form must be completed:

• by all newly funded early years providers
• by existing providers where the age of children being funded is changing i.e., they want younger three-year-olds to be able to access two-year-old funding
• by providers that change their management i.e., a maintained school becomes an academy, a governor-run pre-school becomes a nursery class
• when any details change i.e., phone number, email, named person
• occasionally the Provider Agreement is updated, and a new Provider Agreement Form may need to be completed if there are significant changes to the local arrangements

Admission points

2.21. The age from which you admit children will depend on:

• The age range of your school e.g. 2-11, 3-11, 0-11
• If you have a governor run preschool or nursery it may be from any time after a child’s second birthday unless you have an Ofsted registration to admit younger children
• The start of the funding period after a child’s 9 month, second or third birthday

2.22. Schools are encouraged to meet local demand by regularly reviewing admissions arrangements so that the provision offered meets the needs of the local community. 

2.23. This table shows when funding can be claimed from in relation to a child’s age. 

If a child is born between:	Funding can be claimed from:
1 January and 31 March	1 April following the child’s birthday
1 April and 31 August	1 September following the child’s birthday
1 September and 31 December	1 January following the child’s birthday

3. Statutory duties to ensure sufficient places and to improve outcomes for children

Devon County Council has a statutory duty set out in the Childcare Act 2006 to ensure that there is enough early years and childcare provision for all families that need or want it (so far as is reasonably practicable). They must also strive to improve outcomes for children. This policy reflects these duties.

To enable the Devon County Council to ‘manage the childcare market’:

3.1. Schools should contact the Childcare Information Mailbox if:

• They have parents who cannot access the childcare they need
• They have a waiting list for their nursery

3.2. There are also duties placed on the local authority to supply information, advice, and help to parents about childcare and information, advice, and training for childcare providers. If you cannot offer a place to a family, please direct them to Find Childcare in Devon.

3.3. Schools must complete the Provider Self Update as this information feeds through to Find Childcare in Devon which is published to help parents find the childcare they need.

3.4. Schools must share the Unable to Find Childcare form with parents if they cannot accommodate their request for an early years and childcare place.

4. Your Nursery Offer

4.1. Schools must describe and publish for parents on the school website what their 15 and 30 hour offer is. See Appendix 2: Delivery Models

4.2. Schools must decide on their ‘universal offer’ (15 hour offer) in line with the Provider Agreement and publish this on their website.

4.3. There must be no break in the middle of the day and schools must not place a charge on attendance during the lunchtime period (unless it is part of a session that is being bought and not funded).

4.4. The historical model of morning nursery sessions for one group of children that are repeated for another group of children in the afternoon must not be offered.

5. The Working Entitlement (30 hours)

5.1. Schools must describe to parents what their ‘working entitlement offer’ (30 hour offer) is and how hours or sessions can be bought. 

5.2. Parents that use the school as well as another provider can claim funding from both providers and during the school holidays.

5.3. Where schools run their own early years provision as well as before and/or after school provision for nursery and older children this policy must be applied to the allocation of places for the 0- 4-year-old places across all the services. Sessions can be funded between 7:00 and 19:00. 

5.4. The provision before and after school and during the school holidays (wraparound childcare) will differ from the core early years provision made during the school day as there may be older children attending. A teacher is not required to lead the provision during these times in maintained schools that have an extended age range and therefore there can be a 1:8 ratio of adults to children – there must always be two adults in attendance (minimum qualifications will be a Level 3 and a Level 2 see the Early Years Foundation Stage for guidance). Schools offering governor-run provision will most likely have a similar staff structure during all opening times. 

5.5. Schools must decide on their working entitlement offer in line with the Provider Agreement and publish this on the school website. 

5.6. If the school cannot offer longer hours than the school day, they should work in partnership with childminders and other providers so that parents can be signposted to other provision where they can access more hours to enable them to work. 

5.7. Devon County Council expects nurseries and governor-run pre-schools and nurseries to have a mixture of children accessing funded time or for only bought hours or sessions.

6. Published Nursery Admissions Number (PNAN)

6.1. This is the number of children that can be admitted at any one time. The governing body must set the PNAN, they should not refuse admission for applications below the PNAN.

6.2. The PNAN must differentiate between the number of babies, 2-year-olds and 3- and 4-year-olds that can be admitted.  

6.3. The governing body may also need to differentiate the PNAN between the numbers of children that can attend at different times of the day because both demand and staffing may differ. 

6.4. The main purpose of having a PNAN is to enable parents to see how many places are available when they are making an application.

6.5. If there is unexpectedly high demand for places and the governing body believes they could admit more children, the likely outcome will be that school will admit above the PNAN or the PNAN will be increased.  

6.6. The number of children that can be admitted at any one time will depend on their age, the amount of floor space available and what other qualified staff may be needed. 

6.7. The governing body should factor in the local demand for places and the age ranges of the children wanting a place. If there is a change to the PNAN part way through the year this must be published on the school’s website and updated through the Provider Self Update which will update  Find Childcare in Devon.

6.8. If there is an increase in the demand for places the governors may decide to increase the PNAN at the start of the following term to accommodate children on the waiting list and conversely reduce the PNAN if, exceptionally, there is very low demand, and the organisation of the setting is changed so that the admission of another child would be prejudicial to efficient provision. 

7. Charging

7.1. The school must have regard to the Provider Agreement.

7.2. The schools charging policy must set out the details of how to buy nursery time, how much it costs, and how and when parents will be invoiced. The charging policy must be published on the school website.

7.3. Schools must clearly show to parents when the start and finish times of sessions will be and ensure that parents can clearly see that they have received the full entitlement completely free. This can be on a contract, on invoices or on the Parent Declaration Form.

8. Helping parents with the Cost of Childcare

8.1. Schools must register for and promote the take up of Tax-Free Childcare to help parents with the cost of childcare.

8.2. Schools must signpost parents to the Childcare Choices website  so they can check what help they could get with childcare costs.

8.3. Working families who are in receipt of Universal Credit can get up to 85% of childcare costs through  Universal Credit childcare costs 

8.4. Parents in full-time higher education can apply for a Childcare Grant to pay for childcare costs for children under 15 (or under 17 if they have special needs).

9. Transport

9.1. There is no entitlement to transport under Devon County Council’s Education Travel Policy for children prior to attendance in a reception class as a rising five-year-old.

10. School Lunches

10.1. Free school meals (FSM) must be supplied for children who are registered pupils (0- 4-year-olds in nursery classes and nursery schools only) who have a unique reference number (URN) and whose parents meet the benefit related criteria. 

10.2. The child must attend both before and after the lunch period. 

10.3. A free school meal must be given whether the child is attending for funded time or sessions that the parents must pay for.

10.4. There is no lower age limit. 

10.5. This does not apply to provision run as an extended service/governor-run pre-schools. However, schools with an age range starting a 0, 2 or 3 that call their provision a ‘pre-school’ must supply a free school meal. 

10.6. Schools must encourage parents at the earliest opportunity to check their eligibility for 2-year-old funding (if appropriate) and Free School Meals through the  Citizen Portal.

10.7. Parents must be informed that a free school meal could be available to them as this may help them when choosing which sessions to attend. 

10.8. For more information please see Free School Meals for Nursery Children.  

11. How to apply for a nursery place

11.1. To apply for a place parents must use this Parent Declaration Form template that the school has customised and parents can obtain from the school and the Nursery Application Form DCAF-0 2025 – 2026 and return this to the school.

Nursery Admissions Panel 

11.3. Schools must have a Nursery Admissions Panel to manage applications.

11.4. Responsibility for Nursery Admissions sits with the governing body, so it is for them to decide the membership of the panel.

11.5. The closing dates for applications to the school Nursery Admissions Panel are 1 April, 1 July, and 1 January (these dates may be changed to fit with the school calendar.)  

11.6. Applications made after these dates may not be considered until after all the applications that arrived on time.  

11.7. If a parent could not apply before the closing date because they moved to the area, they should inform the school. If the reason for applying after the closing date is acceptable to the Nursery Admissions Panel, the application will be considered at the same time as everyone who did apply on time if this is still possible.

11.8. No places will be held in reserve for a child who applies late; the governing body cannot hold places empty if another child applies for admission. 

11.9. Schools must publicise the need to apply for a place on their website.

11.10. The Note of Interest may be completed by parents of children who are not yet eligible for a nursery place i.e., where a parent with a baby or toddler enquires about a place.

11.11. When parents return the Note of Interest to the school they will be informed when they must complete the Nursery Application Form DCAF-0 2025 – 2026 and Parent Declaration Form to fit with the Nursery Admissions cycle.

11.12. If the nursery always has unfilled capacity, the Nursery Admissions Panel should accept applications throughout the year.

11.13. Children must be enabled to start as soon as the parent needs the place, and they must not be required to wait for the application date. 

11.14. This may mean that the Nursery Admissions Panel passes responsibility for making decisions about nursery applications to the Head Teacher so that there is no need to gather the admissions panel for applications when the nursery is undersubscribed. 

11.15. Many schools may find that if they are only open during term times that the admissions process will only be required in the summer term for admissions at the start of each academic year in September. Increasing numbers of schools have reported being full from the autumn term onwards and not being able to admit children during the year. 

12. Information provided on the DCAF-0 Nursery Application Form

12.1. When parents return the Note of Interest to the school they will be informed when they must apply for a place.

12.2. No other information is needed to enable the governors to decide on whether a child should be given a place. 

12.3. Information provided by parents on their eligibility for the extended entitlement and/or the number of funded hours the parent wishes to use must not be factors influencing whether a place is offered or not.

12.4. It is important that where the Nursery Admissions Panel offers places to some and refuses others that they do so fairly and consistently.

12.5. Where the Nursery Admissions Panel have reason to believe that information is false and has been supplied knowingly, they may withdraw the offer of a place. This is particularly relevant where an address is given which is not the one from which a child will attend nursery, and this disadvantages another child. 

12.6. The school may choose to ask for evidence of a child’s home address before admission. 

12.7. The Nursery Admissions Panel must check proof of date of birth evidence to ensure the child is eligible to attend and claim funding before agreeing to the offer of a place. 

12.8. If there are more applications than there are places available, the Nursery Admissions Panel will prioritise applications according to the Oversubscription Criteria Appendix 1. 

12.9. The Nursery Admissions Panel must apply the Oversubscription Criteria to all applications. 

12.10. After the Nursery Admissions Panel has prioritised against the Oversubscription Criteria which children must be given places, the child at the top of the prioritised list will be given the sessions they want, and the Nursery Admissions Panel will work their way down this list until all available time has been offered. 

12.11. Children further down the prioritised list may not get the sessions they want. Alternatives should be offered. Those parents may or may not choose what is offered. If they do not, continue to go down the list until all sessions have been taken. 

12.12. If there are fewer applications than places available, then no application will be refused. 

12.13. Schools must not limit or restrict the hours or times offered. Wherever available the full 15 or 30 hours must be offered to a child that has been prioritised using the Oversubscription Criteria. 

13. Informing Parents and the waiting list

13.1. The school will contact successful parents before May half term if an application was made on 1 April, before October half term if an application was made on 1 July and before February half term if an application was made on 1 January. These dates may be adjusted to fit with the school calendar. 

13.2. Parents must also be contacted if there is not a place available.

13.3. Following the allocation of nursery places the school will keep a waiting list in order of the Oversubscription Criteria. 

13.4. The Oversubscription Criteria must be used to prioritise the waiting list of children who want a place in the nursery. These will be children who are old enough to attend the nursery now.  

13.5. Parents of children who are not yet old enough to attend the nursery should complete the Note of Interest so the school can contact them when they need to apply for a place. 

13.6.Places on waiting lists must not be prioritised according to how long a child’s name has been on that list, by the age of the child nor by whether the place is funded or bought. 

13.7. It is possible that a child’s name could go down a list as well as up.

13.8. If a place is only available for a short period of time when an application has been made, i.e., half a term or less, the school should discuss with the parent whether it would be in the child’s best interest to attend the nursery for such a short period of time before having to find a place at another provider. Continuity and consistency of care is most important in the early years and having lots of transitions can be disruptive for a child. 

14. Admissions at other times

14.1. Parents can make a request for admission at any time using the Nursery Application Form DCAF-0 2025 – 2026 and the Parent Declaration Form. This allows for the child to start as soon as possible.

14.2. A formal offer letter/email will then follow from the school. 

14.3. If parents are seeking a nursery place because the child has just moved to the area admission should be as soon as possible.

14.4.  If the parent is leaving another provider (to attend the school nursery) where they have been buying hours, it is likely that they will have to give a period of notice before they leave. If this notice period is not honoured a charge may be levied because they have given up a place without giving sufficient notice. The provider makes this charge because they may not be able to fill the times left by the child. 

15. Increasing the hours attended

15.1. If a session/s becomes available part way through a term priority for these sessions must first be given to children already attending who want to buy, take more funded sessions, or change the sessions they attend. Some family’s circumstances may change which means they will need more sessions to enable them to work.

15.2. The Oversubscription Criteria must be used to prioritise parents who want more or different sessions.

15.3.  Parents with children attending the nursery will be offered the available session/s. Until there are no sessions left. 

15.4. Changes to the sessions attended will generally only be agreed to take effect from the start of a term and only then if there is capacity to accommodate requests. 

15.5. It is expected that parents will ensure that their child attends at the times booked so that children can get into good routines and be ready to start school. 

16. Admission appeals

16.1. If a nursery place is refused, parents can go through the school’s complaints process to express their concerns.  

16.2. The Nursery Admissions Panel will review the decision and decide whether the refusal was justified on the grounds that the nursery is full.

16.3. Even if it is agreed that the nursery was full, it will consider the impact on the child and family and may still award a place at the nursery if there is both the physical space and enough staff available. 

17. Attending more than one provision

17.1. Early Years Funding can be taken with more than one provider, the child is limited to only accessing providers on two sites in one day – this could mean they attend several providers that are co-located. For example, a breakfast club, school nursery, after school club (all on the school site) and then a childminder in their home. 

17.2. Checks are conducted to ensure that overclaims are not made when using the entitlement at more than one provider. If this occurs, the parent must choose where to claim the funded entitlement and where to pay for more hours. The provider that has hours reduced should charge the parent for the added hours. Parents will normally choose to fund the provider with higher fees to keep their chargeable time to a minimum. 

18. Induction into the Nursery

18.1. Schools should encourage visits from parents and children who are considering applying for a place. This is an opportunity for parents to see what is on offer. 

18.2. Visits to the nursery and home visits by school staff are not a compulsory part of the admissions process and will not affect decisions on whether a place can be offered at the nursery.

18.3. Parents should be told, prior to making an application, of starting times and induction and transition arrangements so they can make an informed choice for their child.

18.4. If a place is available, the school must not delay the child from starting in order to conduct a home visit.

19. Points of admission to Nursery and School

19.1. Early Years funding will be paid up until the time when the child reaches statutory school age if the parent chooses to defer or delay entry into school.

19.2. There is a legal requirement that all children begin full time education by the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday.

19.3. All places offered in reception, at the normal admissions round, are for full-time admission in the September following the child’s fourth birthday.

19.4. It is a legal requirement on schools to offer a full-time place but not on parents to send their child full time.  

19.5. Parents have a right to defer or delay admission or send their child to reception part-time. 

19.6. More children than ever are attending early years provision for longer hours. Schools must consider this when children are starting in reception classes. 

19.7. Schools can also offer the choice of a part time ‘staggered’ entry – the school should set out clearly for parents what that choice is, so they can make an informed decision. Governors and staff may find the Options for Parents of 4-year old’s document helpful when considering this. 

Section B – Employee Guidance

Guidance for employees

Officers of Devon County Council’s Early Years and Childcare Service are accountable for this policy in cooperation with governors, management, and staff in schools. 

The governing bodies and staff in all schools are requested to support the efficient operation of the policy.  

No advice should be given by school staff or management which a parent may interpret as a sign that a place will or will not be made available at a school. 

The schools Nursery Admissions Policy must be uploaded onto the Provider Self Update. 

Any queries about the operation of the scheme should be referred to Devon County Council’s Early Years and Childcare Service for advice and support. 

Further information on early years funding is on the Devon County Council website. 

Please e-mail  fran.butler@devon.gov.uk or call 01392 385395  

Section C – Appendices

Appendix 1: Oversubscription Criteria

Nursery Admissions Oversubscription Criteria: September 1, 2025 – August 31, 2026

To be used when the number of applications exceeds the number of sessions available in the nursery for all ages of children.  

A child with an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) naming the school or nursery will be admitted [11]. 

1. Looked after Children [12] and children who were previously Looked After but immediately after being Looked After became subject to an adoption order, a child arrangements order (CAO), or a special guardianship order (SGO) [13] including those who were in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care because they were adopted. 

2. Priority will next be given to children or parents with an exceptional medical or social need [14] to attend this nursery. 

3. Priority will next be given to children who live in the schools designated area and are eligible for targeted two-year-old funding or Early Years Pupil Premium or Disability Access Funding. 

4. Priority will next be given to children who live within the schools designated area and whose parents are eligible for the working entitlement. 

5. Priority will next be given to children who live in the schools designated area who have a sibling at the school or nursery. 

6. Priority will next be given to all other children who live in the schools designated area. 

7. Priority will next be given to children who live outside of the schools designated area with a sibling at the school or nursery. 

8. Priority will next be given to children who live outside the schools designated area who are eligible for targeted two-year-old funding, Early Years Pupil Premium or Disability Access Funding. 

9. Priority will next be given to the children of members of staff who have been employed at this school for at least two years or who were recruited within the last two years to fill a vacancy for which there is a skills shortage. 

10. Other children. 

[12] These children are Looked After by or provided with accommodation in the exercise of its functions (see the Children act 1989 section 22 (1)) by a Local Authority. 

[13] These children meet the eligibility criteria for targeted two-year-old funding and for Early Years Pupil Premium. 

[14] Evidence from a medical specialist or social worker must be provided. 

[15] Parents must be encouraged to check their eligibility through the Citizens Portal before making an application. 

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Appendix 2: Delivery Models

Deciding on the right model for your school can be difficult. It has a bearing on the staffing you need, and the viability and sustainability of your provision. This appendix sets out some examples and considerations that you may want to reflect on when you review your schools ‘offer’.

Considerations:

• The model must enable parents to only take the funded hours if that is what they choose. Make sure parents can get 15 and 30 hours without having to pay for extra time or forfeiting funded hours.
• The model should reflect the local demand. If most of the families are working full time you will probably need to offer a longer day. If families do not work or only work part time the school day may be fine.
• Most schools will have a mixed demand. This should be reflected in the ‘offer’.
• Make the offer ‘simple’. That makes claiming funding and invoicing more straightforward. It also makes it easier for parents to understand and calculate how much of their entitlement they are using.
• The school day may not start and finish on the hour or half hour; try to avoid creating sessions that would make it difficult to calculate the time booked.
• You claim funding for the hours booked, not the hours attended.
• Many parents will want to ‘stretch’ the entitlement across the year. Be clear about what your term time offer is, and if you open for more than 38 weeks, what your ‘holiday’ offer is.
• If you offer term time only places many parents may also need to use an all-year-round provider and so they may split the funded time or pay for time at the school and use the funded time with the other provider. If this happens at your school, consider how the other providers are making their offer.
• The number of drop-off and collection times that you will have.
• The pros and cons of limiting choices of sessions.
• How much flexibility you can offer to meet local demand without creating a model that is complicated to staff and administer.
• The impact on children’s education and care.
• 12:00 -1:00 lunchtime is part of the children’s learning time.

Below are some examples of how you may choose to deliver sessions in the nursery:

Many Devon schools operate the 3-hour model, with increasing numbers offering wraparound childcare sessions for nursery and older children. It fits well with the school day but may not be ideal for working families.

Example with 3-hour sessions:
9:00 – 12:00 = 3 hours 12:00 – 3:00 = 3 hours

The five-hour model suits working parents, but the session times may be longer than some families want or need.

Example with 5-hour sessions:
8:00 – 1:00 = 5 hours 1:00 – 6:00 = 5 hours

Example of mixed sessions:

Sessions	You might choose:
If parents need just mornings:   8:00 – 12:00 = 4 9:00 – 12:00 = 3 7:00 – 12:00 = 5 8:00 – 1:00 = 5 9:00 – 1:00 = 4	Drop off 8:00, 9:00, 12:00 Collect 12:00, 1:00, 3:00, 5:00   8:00 – 1:00 9:00 – 12:00
If parents need a day:   8:00 – 3:00 = 7 8:00 – 4:00 = 8 8:00 – 5:00 = 9 8:00 – 6:00 =10 9:00 – 3:00 = 6 9:00 – 4:00 = 7 9:00 – 5:00 = 8 9:00 – 6:00 = 9	9:00 – 3:00 = 6 8:00 – 5:00 = 9
If parents need just an afternoon:   12:00 – 3:00 = 3 12:00 – 4:00 = 4 12:00 – 5:00 = 5 12:00 – 6:00 = 6 3:00 – 6:00 = 3	12:00 – 3:00 = 3 12:00 – 5:00 = 5

You could choose to offer following as bought (only) choices that could be made with the 3-hour model: 

8:00 – 9:00
7:30 – 9:00
7:00 – 9:00
3:00 – 4:00
3:00 – 4:30
3:00 – 5:00
3:00 – 5:30
6:00 – 6:30
6:00 – 7:00

Or you could offer these as part of your funded provision.

You could choose to offer the following bought (only) choices that could be made with the 5-hour model: 

7:00 – 8:00
7:30 – 8:00
6:00 – 7:00
6:00 – 6:30

Or you could offer these as part of your funded provision.

Appendix 3: Contacts and Further Information

Early Years Funding Helpdesk	Early Years Funding Website   E: eyef@devon.gov.uk   T: 01392 385530 (Funding Helpdesk)
Nursery Admissions	Nursery Admissions Website   E: fran.butler@devon.gov.uk
School Admissions Service	School Admissions Website   E: admissions@devon.gov.uk    T: 0345 155 1019
Early Years and Childcare Service contacts	Meet the team