ANYONE OFFERING NEG FUNDING - ADVICE PLEASE

[The Juggler]

just receive the t&c's for this and need some advice based on what i have understood. just checking I've understood correctly.

i cannot offer NEG for hours I mind for periods such as school runs, lunchtimes unless they are planned for activiites with a learning purpose - I hate this the most because we do soooo much learning on school run and at lunch :angry:

even being creative with invoices I cannot charge parents in advance and refund them when the grant comes through? So I have to be out of pocket for 4 weeks? In addition, I know we can't 'top up' but LA have said you can charge what you want for the other hours of the day so I'm guessing the correct way to do this with the parents is to invoice a higher hourly rate for the non-funded hours and then show zero for the funded hours (my parents are fully aware they will be charged the same as now per month less the 15 funded hours per week at £3.62 per hour).

thirdly, I'm guessing that each LA operates differently depending on who does the visits but.... our t&c's offer no paperwork guidance. Am guessing, when checks are done, that you have detailed daily planning sheets for every activity/resource you have out for each day/session you offer the funded hours?

I'm les and less inclined to go down this route - but it's only 12 weeks so parents can access the funding before they go to school nursery in september.

I really want to help them out financially but don't want to be out of pocket for less money

[jumpinjen]

I only know a little about how it runs around our way but they are going to be 'making' minders use the nursery paperwork (ridiculous) and have a visit from an EY teacher every 8 weeks - I argued that our present paperwork is much better suited to the individual child but got no where so I suggest you go with what you have now and as long as you can show progress and matching activities/resources to the child's starting points etc then you are covered. You can invoice for the 'top-up' ahead of time but guess you will have to wait for the funding - can you use some from a deposit held until it comes through? Sorry not much help but just considering how it will impact me around here before I jump into it - I hadn't realised you could increase your charges for the other hours - here the funding is £2.74/hour:eek:

Jen x

[tashaleee]

PM sent :thumbsup:

[blue bear]

Sounds like your la runs like ours used to, no topping up so you work out weekly/monthly charge and deduct la contribution, you then divide that by hours and that's your hourly fee.
We were only allowed to offer neg funding in blocks of 2.5 hours not over lunches etc

We now offer neg flexibly so any time between 8-6. We get paid monthly in advance, no topping up but you can charge extra for snacks, meals and outings.
must be over minimum of 3 days with maximum of 12.5 over two days.

We have always run with normal planning and paper work you would do for any child you care for just need to do a summative assessment threes times a year (spring summer and autumn terms that was)

[littletreasures]

Juggler - when my friend and I discussed this with a certain someone, we were told we could charge an enhanced rate for the other hours eg £8/9 per hour. We laughed because no parent is going to pay that!!!!!

[loocyloo]

different areas do it differently. i can offer funded sessions for up to 15 hours a week, spread over 3 days. my hours can be whatever i ( or mum ) want them to be. my sessions are 9.30-2.30, including lunch and snacks. i can't charge for food, but could ask mum to provide a packed lunch.

i get paid every 2 months, a bit in arrears and a bit in advance.

i don't have any extra planning/forms to do, except a summative assesment each term. ,my DO visits about once a term.

[The Juggler]

Sounds like your la runs like ours used to, no topping up so you work out weekly/monthly charge and deduct la contribution, you then divide that by hours and that's your hourly fee. that's what I was thinking I could do - only not sure exactly how many huors I can offer if school runs cannot be included nor presumably if I go to toddler group/children's centre - as it has to be planned sessions in the settin - liking this less and less.
We were only allowed to offer neg funding in blocks of 2.5 hours not over lunches etc

We now offer neg flexibly so any time between 8-6. We get paid monthly in advance, no topping up but you can charge extra for snacks, meals and outings.
must be over minimum of 3 days with maximum of 12.5 over two days. yes that's the same as ours, I'm thinking I can offer 0900-1200 every day reasonably so will not be able to offer 15 hours due to school runs/snack times, naptimes, etc. etc.

We have always run with normal planning and paper work you would do for any child you care for just need to do a summative assessment threes times a year (spring summer and autumn terms that was) thats cool. My paperwork (I think) is tight. I already do next steps every half term and have planning related to these through the month which is flexible but I don't want writing down planning for daily sessions and explaining why I've got everything out each day - though this is covered in the monthly planning and I rotate it - will depend on the opinions of the advisor who visits I guess:(

thanks hon, that's helpful. Also was looking at how to invoice this morning - what happens if there is a bank holiday in term-time. Is that deducted from the amount of NEG hours you are offering? It seems obvious it is don't know why I'm asking really :laughing: Really need to speak to the coordinator to see how many hours I can offer so I can work out what the parents discount will be so I can produce the invoices.:(