At Circus Day Nursery we offer an inclusive price for all age groups, which means there are no hidden surprises for you on your invoice. Our fees cover all snacks, meals, nappies, accessories, disposal and baby formula milk. (The only exception is when parents are in receipt of Government Free funding for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. This funding covers only basic childcare costs, so additional drinks, snacks, food, nappies and accessories etc will be charged as extra during your ‘free funded’ period only.) Our pricing structure is defined, offering part time and full time sessions, with the full daily rate discounted and weekly rate discounted even further.

A one off registration fee of £75.00 per child applies, to cover all administration and paperwork associated with new starters.

Childcare Vouchers

We accept most childcare vouchers from employers who offer this benefit to their eligible employees as an e-voucher. Vouchers are non-taxable and exempt from NI contributions for employees, whilst offering NI savings for employers. Both parents are eligible to claim as long as they are both in employment. Further information can be found at www.childcarevouchers.co.uk.

Tax credits

Tax credits are available from HM Revenue and Customs, based on household circumstances. You may be able to access help with the cost of ‘Ofsted approved’ childcare, if you are working for a minimum of 16 hours per week. Check on-line at https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/tax-credits for further information and eligibility.

Government funding

We are pleased to announce from September 2024, we will be accepting government funding for children aged nine months, along with the funding already in place for two-year-olds and three and four-year-olds. As we are open all year round (except a week’s closure in December and bank holidays) and to ensure consistency, the funded hours are stretched over 50 weeks of the year. Funding is the same for the other age groups and commences from the term after the child turns nine months old. The terms start from 1st January, 1st April and 1st September, respectively, (Please note the government only pay funding for 38 weeks of the year) in line with our policies.

As part of this scheme, Circus Day Nursery will receive a basic amount per hour for your child up to a maximum of 15 hours per week. Two and three-year old children will receive the eligible grant funding following the first term after their third birthday. This scheme is outside of Circus Day Nursery’s pricing strategy and is not all-inclusive. (This funding covers basic childcare, and does not include consumables such as drinks, snacks, food, nappies, accessories etc) You will receive further information from the setting when you meet with us. Disadvantaged two-year-old funding is applied for through Gloucestershire County Council as this is subject to individual criteria.

The 30-hour Government Childcare Scheme is optional to each provider and whilst not every setting may accept this funding due to not covering the full cost of delivery, we at Circus offer limited spaces of stretched funding over 50 weeks of the year to parents.

Due to this incentive being in support of working parents, coupled with the fact Circus Day Nursery and Pre School is a private all-year-round setting (not term time only) it would be in parents’ and the setting’s preferred interest and for budgeting purposes to offer stretch funding over the year, not term time only. In this model its best for parents to review this as an annual 1140 hours per child.

The application and verification is applied via the government website to determine eligibility. If you are currently in receipt of tax credits, you may wish to complete an assessment on the government website to ascertain which option will be in your best interests.

If a parent meets the criteria for the funded hours they will be issued a DERN number from the government site, which must then be provided to the setting. The setting will then check availability of sessions and spaces available and notify you accordingly.

Please note the DERN number is only valid for a short period (approx. 3 months) so whilst applying early will give you an idea of eligibility you may also need to re-apply.  The DERN number will need to be applied for throughout the year to ensure ongoing eligibility.