How We Calculate Your Fees

Here at Rise & Shine we want to make things as simple and easy to understand as possible, especially when it comes to those all-important fees and finances. We understand that as a parent/carer you want peace of mind when it comes to paying your nursery fees.

For this reason, we have put together this guide where we will hopefully answer some frequently asked questions about fees.

Please note that all calculations are based on a 51 week year as we are closed between Christmas and New Year which you are not charged for.

‘All Year Round’ Fees are calculated according to a monthly average, to create a fixed monthly fee that you can budget for:

Weekly fee multiplied by  51  divided by 12 = Fixed Monthly Fee

Under 2 years of age

IMPORTANT Please note that half days for under two's are not available for regular bookings as it is too disruptive for such small children, however ad hoc half days are possible subject to availability at the managers discretion.

Over 2 years of age

(fees are payable in advance on or before the 28th of each calendar month).

Discounts

Full time week discount          10% automatically taken off monthly bill.

Sibling discount                      10% discounted from eldest childs monthly bill.

Other Fees

Registration Fee         £100.00 (non refundable)

Deposit                       £200.00 part time attendance, refundable on leaving.

                                   £300.00 full time attendance, refundable on leaving.

Late Payment Fee       £25.00 first day and £10.00 each day after.

Late Collection Fees    Please ask Nursery Manager for current late fees for

                                   any child not collected by 18.30pm

Payment Dates

When you register your child you will be asked to set up a monthly standing order. This means that you make timely and regular payments from your bank account on the 28th of each calendar month in advance giving you peace of mind that fees are taken care of automatically. All fees are due monthly in advance prior to the start of the month.

Q. What happens if my child starts nursery, changes their sessions or leaves nursery part-way through the month?

The fee for that particular month will be calculated based on actual sessions booked in the month, then a new monthly average would resume the following month. This is the case even if the number of sessions per week is the same e.g. a child changing from Full Days Mondays,Tuesdays and Wednesdays to Full Days Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays. 

Ad hoc sessions will be added to your next monthly bill.

Q. What if my child is ill or on holiday and therefore doesn’t attend nursery for some of the month?

Fees are based on the reservation of a place for your child, not on actual attendance. Therefore, all fees are payable even if your child does not attend nursery for all their booked sessions.

Q. What happens on Bank Holidays/over Christmas when the nursery is closed?

The nursery is closed on the working days between Christmas Day and New Years Day and all public bank holidays. Your fees are calculated  to exlude a charge for the week between Christmas and New Year, this is why the calculation of your monthly fee shows 51 weeks rather than 52.

No additional deductions shall be made to monthly fees for general public and bank holidays as this has already been factored into the session fees we charge.

Q. What happens if I want to pay via a third party ie Childcare Vouchers?

We are able to accept payment through third party providers. If you wish to pay a contribution to your invoice via this method please  let us know. You will need our Ofsted Registration number to set up your account with the third party company. Please ask the manager to provide you with this.
Please ensure that if you are paying a contribution by this method you fully understand the cut off date they need to receive your contribution by in order to process to clear our account on or before the 28th of the month in order to avoid late payment charges.

Q. Can I benefit from Tax-Free Childcare, how does it work?

Parents are able to set up an online account where they can bank payments for childcare.  For each £8 you pay in, the Government will add an additional  £2 up to a maximum of £2,000 per year per child. Families of disabled children receive help with their childcare costs to a maximum of £4,000 per year.

Tax-Free Childcare is being rolled out gradually and will eventually cover all families with children under 12 if they meet the required work and income criteria. Self-employed can also benefit from this scheme. There is an upper-income limit per parent of £100,000 to qualify, and a minimum weekly income level per parent equivalent to 16 hours worked at the National Living Wage. Note- Tax-Free Childcare is replacing childcare vouchers – you cannot have both!

We strongly advise parents to ensure we have received payments by the 28th of the month by taking account of the lead times needed for the third party to process the payment on their behalf. Late payments will be subject to late payment fees.

Q. My child is now 9 months old – how do I access the Free Early Years Entitlement Funding?

When your child is eligible (from the start of the term after they reach 9 months), you will be asked to provide your funding code supplied by the local authority, the funded hours will then be deducted from your fees automatically every month. Please ask our Nursery Manager to explain if you need more information.

‘Early Education Entitlement’ is funded education for all children over 9 months old paid for by the government.
Starting from the term after they are 9 months old, all children are entitled to 15 hours at nursery per week, 38 weeks of the year, and some children are eligible for the Extended Entitlement of 30 hours, again over 38 weeks of the year, under the following criteria:

• Both parents must be working – or the sole parent is working in a lone parent family

• Each parent earns, on average, a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage

• Each parent must have an annual income of less than £100,000

Here at Rise & Shine we provide funded childcare as part of our sessional care combined with flexible funding arrangements.

There is a minimum attendance level of 2 days a week for 15 hours funding and if you are eligible for 30 hours funding there is a minimum attendance of 3 days a week. If you start with 2 days a week and become eligible for 30 hours funding you will need to increase attendance to 3 days from the same term you receive the additional funding. 

When making use of the 15 & 30 Funded Hours program, we request that you agree to pay an Essentials & Extra's* charge. This Essential & Extra's* covers consumables and non-consumables such as food, snacks, drinks, nappies, wipes, arts and crafts activities, weekly and ad hoc educational visitors and other toiletries. These are not covered by the local authority funded rate, which is usually significantly lower than an Early Educator would charge families with all of the above items included. Unfortunately, we do not have the space or facilities on site to allow packed lunches to be stored safely.

Our Essentials & Extra's* charge is £0.00 for every hour of local authority funding you are entitled to with 2 years and under and £1.83 per funded hour for 3 years onwards. This will be shown on your invoice for reference where applicable..

The difference between the hourly rate that we charge families and the funding rate that the local authority pay to Early Educators for these hours

ensures our early educator staff are well qualified and earn a fair hourly rate for the time they spend looking after your children, all food, extra activies and non-consumable items that are not part of the curriculum.   

Please be aware that we are committed to providing every child in attendance with balanced, nutritional food and special dietry requirements where needed at approprtiate breaks in the day. We do not have the facilities on site to cook, heat or provide refridgerated storage should parents/carers wish to provide packed lunches.

Please note we do not charge by the hour, our rates are for sessions inclusive of the funded hours that are provided to you free. As the free funded hours are not classed as a subsidy the Local Authority requires us to show only the number of free hours on your invoice and we are unable to apply a monetary value to them.

IMPORTANT- YOU ARE REQUIRED TO BE IN ATTENDANCE FOR THE FUNDED HOURS CLAIMED.

* ESSENTIALS & EXTRA'S CHOICES EXPLAINED

Rise and Shine Day nursery and Preschool is open 51 weeks a year, in which the 38-week funding is stretched over the 51 weeks we are open.

Funding does not cover the cost of meals and snacks, non-food consumables, extracurricular activities, or additional hours. To cover costs not included in the Early Years Funding we request parents pay a non-mandatory Essentials and Extras fee for every funded hour booked.

We charge an Essentials and Extras fee of £1.83 per hour (2025/26 educational year) for each OVER 2 YEAR OLDS funded hour to ensure that our costs are covered for your childcare place. This is in addition to any extra days/hours you may book with us outside of your contract.

The Government requires us to breakdown this fee into 3 components:This fee is broken down into the following:

1. Food Charges £1.40 ph.
2. Non-food consumable £0.20 ph.
3. Activities and Events £0.23 ph.

Food charges (including but not limited to)

All meals and snacks whilst your child is in attendance with us comprising of:

Breakfast – two courses, choice of cereals and toast.

Mid-morning healthy snack – a variety of fresh fruit offered.

Lunch – two courses of home cooked meals with vegetables for example sliced BBQ chicken breast, onion, garlic, butternut squash, pineapple, peppers, tomato, coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, red wine vinegar, stock and rice flour served with white rice accompaniment, braised cinnamon, pears and vanilla crème fraiche.

Afternoon tea – three items with examples of soft flour tortilla wrap with tuna, chive and crème fraiche, grated courgette & carrot followed by sweet potato and apricot oaty bar.

And any other food related consumables that are not directly related or necessary for the effective delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework

Non-Food Consumables (including but not limited to)

Nappies, Formula milk, wipes, facecloths, bibs and bedding (washed in-house in our laundry).

And other non-food consumables that are not directly related or necessary for the effective delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework.

Activities and Events (including but not limited to)

 We have several parties and events throughout the year which are included within your consumable charge and any additional childcare for these sessions are at no extra cost, for example:

Easter events such as Gifts, Easter egg hunt and Easter sports event special.

Graduation (school leavers) party includes graduation gifts for your child, an entertainer for the children and Parents/carers, additional party food and drinks.

Christmas Party/Concert/Sing-along – includes a visit from Santa and a personal gift.

Trips and visits outside the nursery such as forest walks, fire station visits or emergency services visitors.

Special Guests, Visitors and events- such as Additional Sensory class, character visits, sports activities, any specialist tuition etc.

And any other activities that are not directly related or necessary for the effective delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework

 Opting-Out

Should you choose not to pay our Essentials & Extra's charge you will need to provide the following daily items, clearly labelled and packaged:

Food

As Parent/carers you will need to provide all meals and snacks for your child’s session, following guidance from the Healthy Food Policy and Allergen list. (Please see section below), and ensure all food is labelled and professionally packaged to comply with this policy.

We are unable to provide refrigerated storage and ask that you provide items with a freezer pack. Due to Food Standards Agency compliance and limited on site facilities, we are unable to reheat pre-prepared meals from home.

Non-Food Consumables

Please provide all nappies, wipes, bibs (please confirm with nursery which products can be useed on the permises to comply with Health & Safety/OFSTED requirements) .

Activities and Events

Activities and events provided will incur a weekly/annual charge.

 Due to administrative and practical reasons, we are unable to deliver these on an “as and when required” pick and mix basis. The additional items above must be provided daily.  If items are forgotten/not provided, we will issue two warnings after which we will assume the Essentials and Extras are required and will be applied in full for the remainder of your child’s place at Rise and Shine nursery.

Healthy Eating Policy and Allergens List

The nursery is committed to playing a key role in promoting healthy eating, following all current legislation and guidelines. 

Children’s diet is central to their overall health and development, and mealtimes provide valuable opportunities for social interaction and learning experiences. 

At nursery, through our food children are exposed to a wide variety of tastes within a nutritionally balanced menu, avoiding the use of salt, additives, pre-packed and convenience foods, keeping the added sugar content to a minimum and ensuring that children can eat 5 portions of fresh fruit and vegetables every day. 

Children are not served snack of sweets, high salt food such as crisps etc.

Children have access to drinking water all the time. We do not serve any juice, cordial or fizzy drinks. Nursery will provide all children with fresh drinking water throughout the day .

Allergens List

Peanuts, Tree nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts) Milk, Eggs, Fish, Shellfish, Soy, Wheat, Sesame seeds, Mustard, Celery, Lupin, Molluscs (e.g., clams, oysters) and Gluten.

OPTING OUT

If you choose to opt out, packed lunches/food items brought from home for consumption at nursery should meet the terms of our nursery Healthy Eating Policy and Allergens List and should not include the foods that are not served at nursery as listed above.

Parent/Carers must ensure that their child’s food is packed together in a lunch bag or box, clearly labelled with their child’s name and date which cannot be wiped off, is in secure packaging with no plastic bags or wrappers, is packed with a freezer block and that their child is able to open and eat the food easily. We do not have the facility to heat up food or store food from home in the fridge.  Food must be suitable for keeping until needed. For children attending a full day Breakfast, Mid-morning snack, lunch and afternoon tea will need to be provided.

Parents MUST label lunch boxes that contain any of the food stuffs in the Allergens List.

Nuts and peanuts must not be included in packed lunches in any form.

NURSERY WILL MONITOR THE CONTENT OF PACKED LUNCHES CAREFULLY TO PROTECT ALL CHILDREN IN THE SETTING. From time to time the list of foods excluded maybe be changed to accommodate individual allergies present at any time in the setting. All allergens in food must be clearly labelled on outside of any packaging.

In the rare instance a child with severe allergies is attending nursery we reserve the right not to allow pack lunches to be brought in if they may present a risk to this or any other child. We also reserve the right to stop packed lunches being brought in if parents fail to label food correctly or provide foods that are not served in nursery or may present a risk to the safety of other children thorough potential allergic reaction, choking hazard etc. 

Food prepared by parents at home cannot be served to other children in nursery e.g. birthday cakes etc.  Children are not allowed to share their lunch with others. Parents must ensure they are aware of how to prepare food to reduce the risk of choking. For example,  no popcorn or sultanas/dried fruit should be included.  No sweets or chocolate are allowed to be included.

Each day packed lunches should include at a minimum: 

• one portion of fruit and one portion of veg every day 
• one portion of meat, fish or other source of non-dairy protein in each meal
• a starch/carbohydrate food such as bread, pasta, rice, cous-cous, noodles 
• Dairy or dairy substitute food such as cheese, yoghurt, fromage frais etc 
• Wholemeal food at least once per week

Please see Early Years Food Choking Hazard list or visit the website Food standards Agency food.gov.uk

Any packed lunches not meeting the above will not be allowed to be left at nursery.

The nursery reserves the right to change Essential and Extra fees and policy with a months notice.

Details of the government guidelines can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67f8e61c04146682e61bc84c/Nutrition_guidance_for_early_years_providers.pdf

Funding Periods

Funding then continues at Rise & Shine  until your child starts Reception Class at school, in the year they turn 5.

How Do The Funded Hours Appear On My Bills?

As your child attends all year round, funding is spread evenly throughout the year, giving you an  equal amount to pay each month. The yearly entitlement paid for by the government is:
• 15 hours x 38 weeks (term time) = 570 total hours per year. This stretched over the whole year (divided by 51 weeks) = 11 hours per week, to be deducted from each monthly bill at the hourly rate.
OR
• 30 hours x 38 weeks = 1140 total hours per year. This stretched over the whole year (divided by 51 weeks) = 22 hours per week, to be deducted from each monthly bill at the hourly rate.
The sessions/hours over and above your funding  will continue to be worked out as a monthly average to spread the costs evenly over the year; Weekly Fee x 51 / 12 = Monthly Fee inclusive of funded hours.
 

What Do I Have To Do To Access The Early Years Funding Entitlement?

Everyone is entitled to 15 hours a week termly funding the term after they turn three. For 30 hours funding, the term before your child turns three, you should check the Government website to confirm your eligibility.

Around the beginning of each term, you will be asked to sign a Parent Declaration Form, setting out the agreed hours and pattern of access to the funding. Your entitlement may be split with another one or two providers if you wish – if you decide to access your funded hours at more than one provider you will be asked to sign a parent declaration at all settings. Signing the parent declaration commits parents and the nursery to a termly contract.

Due to the rules set down by the Local Authority, it is not possible to change the pattern of your funded hours or change to a different provider during that term, except at half terms or under exceptional circumstances and with the agreement of the Local Authority

What Happens If My Child Already Attends Rise & Shine?

If your child already attends Rise & Shine, once you are eligible for funding we will assume you want to continue your pattern of attendance unless you tell us otherwise, and we will automatically convert some of your childcare hours to funded hours. You will be asked to sign a Parental Declaration Form each term.