Early Years Free Entitlement Funding

Free Early Years Entitlement

The government funds up to 570 hours free nursery provision for every child from the term after their third birthday until the child starts in a reception class at an infant or primary school, or until the term in which they turn five, whichever's sooner. 

For those parent's wishing to find out more about funding you can refer them to the Childcare Choices website. For further details on funding and the application process for two year olds places please refer them to our website - Childcare Funding.

In order to claim funding providers need to inform the Early Years Team so that they can get the provider set up on the system. Once that is in place the provider needs to get all parents wishing to claim their free early years  entitlement to complete a Parent Declaration Form (please see below). As a provider you will have access to the Provider Portal and from the information gained from the parent declaration form will be able to claim the necessary hours. 

There are a set number of weeks in each term, which are as follows:

Summer = 13 Weeks

Autumn = 13 Weeks

Spring = 12 Weeks

Please refer to the diary dates document below. Providers will receive two payments a term, an Interim and Actual.

The Interim payment is 60% of the term's payment due to the provider. Actual payment is the amount owed to the provider less the interim payment.

All providers claiming funding need to refer to Shropshire Council's Model Agreement below. There is also additional information from the Department for Education on Statutory Guidance, Operational Guidance and Model Agreement.

30 Hours

Some working parents may be entitled to an additional 570 hours free early years funding. For further details please refer to the Childcare Choices website

For those parents who are having problems accessing their account please refer tot he document below - How parents can access the childcare service. If they are having issues with re-confirming their 30 hour code they can contact:

Customer Interaction Centre: 0300 123 4097 

Attendance Guidance for Early Years Providers

There are many reasons why we want young children to come regularly to their Early Years setting. As well as supporting their learning and development, we want to try to make sure that children are kept safe, their
wellbeing is promoted and they do not miss out on their entitlements and opportunities. If any child's attendance starts to cause concern, please refer to the attendance guidcance below.