Fees and Funding — Bowlers Community Nursery

Bowlers Fees Structure and Free Early Education Funded Hours:

Bowlers Nursery is financially assisted by Islington Council and therefore follows its fees guidelines. You can find out more about fees on Islington’s Councils website.

Bowlers Nursery operates for 49 weeks of the year and is not a term time only provision. We accept families who are eligible for funded childcare hours. For invoicing purposes, funded hours for working families are stretched and allocated across the full 49 weeks operating year.

At Bowlers we offer the following attendance options:

Full-time places: Monday – Friday
Part-time places: Monday – Wednesday or Wednesday – Friday
Two-day places: Two consecutive days at either the beginning or end of the week (Monday-Tuesday or Thursday-Friday).

Families who are not currently working and are eligible for the 15 funded hours (2 and 3 year olds) may be offered a two-day place (Monday/Tuesday or Thursday/Friday) from 8.30am – 4pm.

These are the only places available on a term-time only basis, and availability is limited.

There are 5 days per academic year known as INSET days when settings are closed for staff training. Charges are payable for these 5 days and for Bank Holidays

From September 2025: The full 30 hours for 9 months to school age children (for working parents) will be available.

How working parent entitlement works

Eligibility Check:

You must be a working parent (or couple) earning at least the National Minimum/Living Wage for 16 hours a week (this threshold changes by age).
Application:

Apply online via the GOV.UK website.
Get Your Code:

If eligible, you receive an 11-digit code from HMRC.
Provider:

Give the code to your chosen nursery or registered childminder.
Usage:

You get funded hours from the term after your child turns the eligible age (9 months in this case).

Key Facts:

Start Date: Funding begins the term after your child turns 9 months.

a: Born Jan 1 – Mar 31: Starts in April (Summer term).

b: Born Apr 1 – Aug 31: Starts in September (Autumn term).

c: Born Sep 1 – Dec 31: Starts in January (Spring term).

What’s Not Included: Funding covers early education and care only. It does NOT include consumables such as meals and snacks or additional resources.

To ensure that we continue offering high quality, nutritious food for all our children we have a daily food charge of £4 per day (for children aged 0 - 2 years). This voluntary contribution helps us to maintain our current standards and ensure your child enjoys healthy meals and snacks throughout the day. Please contact the nursery manager to discuss our policy on opting out of voluntary charges in accordance with our guidelines.

Duration: At Bowlers we do what’s called a ‘Stretched Funding Offer’ where your child’s funded hours are spread evenly across the 49 weeks that we operate, rather than being used term-time only.

If your child is entitled to 30 funded hours per week (term-time only), this is normally based on 38 weeks of the year.

30 hours x 38 weeks = 1140 funded hours per year.

1140 divided by 49 weeks = approximately 23 hours per week.

Please note that funded hours cannot be split into minutes, so weekly hours are rounded up or down accordingly. This does not affect your child’s overall funding entitlement. Any hours not able to be claimed with Bowlers (13 hours over the year / 49 weeks) may be claimed at another provision if required.

Reconfirmation: For the working family scheme, HMRC contacts parents directly to remind them to reconfirm their free funding code every three months. It is the parent’s responsibility to ensure their code remains valid, Bowlers is not responsible for issuing reminders.

If you do not reconfirm your code on time, it will become inactive and your child will no longer be eligible for funded hours until the start of the following term.

From September 2025: funding for 2-year-olds in England operates under two distinct schemes:

One for families receiving extra government support and another for working families.

Some families will be eligible for both schemes. In this case parents must complete both eligibility checks and provide evidence of eligibility so that 15 hours can be claimed under both schemes, for a maximum of 30 hours.

Extra help for families who need it

1. Scheme for families receiving extra support / Early Learning for 2 year olds

Entitlement: 15 hours of free childcare per week (570 hours per year).
Eligibility: You qualify if you receive certain benefits, such as:

a: Universal Credit (with a household income of £15,400 or less after tax).

b: Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

c: Tax Credits (with an income of £16,190 or less before tax).

d: Parents must use the additional government support entitlement first eg: parents should claim 15hrs through the additional support, and from September 2025 the 15hrs additional government support and 15hrs through the working parent entitlement - total 30hrs

Non-Financial Criteria: Children also qualify if they have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, receive Disability Living Allowance (DLA), are looked after by a local authority, or have left care.
How to Apply: For free early learning for 2 year olds is www.islington.gov.uk/free2
Contact Islington’s Family Information Service on fis@islington.gov.uk / 020 7527 5959 to check eligibility and for further support.

Help with childcare costs for working families

2. Scheme for working families

Entitlement: 30 hours of free childcare per week (1,140 hours per year).
Eligibility: This expanded entitlement applies if:

a: Both parents (or a lone parent) are working.

b: Each parent earns at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum / Living Wage, but less than £100,000 a year.

How to Apply: Apply online through the GOV.UK Childcare Service. If successful, you will receive an 11-digit eligibility code to give to your provider.

Key Facts for Both Schemes:

Start Date: Funding begins the term after your child turns 2.

a: Born Jan 1 – Mar 31: Starts in April (Summer term).

b: Born Apr 1 – Aug 31: Starts in September (Autumn term).

c: Born Sep 1 – Dec 31: Starts in January (Spring term).

Duration: At Bowlers we do what’s called a ‘Stretched Funding Offer’ where your child’s funded hours are spread evenly across the 49 weeks that we operate, rather than being used term-time only.

If your child is entitled to 30 funded hours per week (term-time only), this is normally based on 38 weeks of the year.

30 hours x 38 weeks = 1140 funded hours per year.

1140 divided by 49 weeks = approximately 23 hours per week.

Please note that funded hours cannot be split into minutes, so weekly hours are rounded up or down accordingly. This does not affect your child’s overall funding entitlement. Any hours not able to be claimed with Bowlers (13 hours over the year / 49 weeks) may be claimed at another provision if required.

What’s Not Included: Funding covers early education and care only. It does NOT include consumables such as meals and snacks or additional resources.

To ensure that we continue offering high quality, nutritious food for all our children we have a daily food charge of £5 per day (for all 2 years old and above). This voluntary contribution helps us to maintain our current standards and ensure your child enjoys healthy meals and snacks throughout the day. Please contact the nursery manager to discuss our policy on opting out of voluntary charges in accordance with our guidelines.

Reconfirmation: For the working family scheme, HMRC contacts parents directly to remind them to reconfirm their free funding code every three months. It is the parent’s responsibility to ensure their code remains valid, Bowlers is not responsible for issuing reminders.

If you do not reconfirm your code on time, it will become inactive and your child will no longer be eligible for funded hours until the start of the following term.

Universal 15 Hours: (for all 3 and 4 year olds)

Eligibility: Any child in England aged three or four is eligible, regardless of parent’s income or employment status.
When it Starts: You can claim from the start of the school term following your child’s third birthday.
How Much: It’s 15 hours per week for 38 weeks a year (term-time), totalling 570 hours over 38 weeks (Bowlers offer)
How it Works: You apply directly with a registered childcare provider nursery / childminder and the provider claims the money from the local authority.

Extended 30 Hours (For Working Parents)

Eligibility: Working families in England may get 30 hours (an extra 15) if both parents (or a single parent) earn at least the National Minimum/Living Wage for 16 hours a week, up to £100,000 income.
How to Apply: Apply online via the GOV.UK website to get an eligibility code.
How it Works: You give this code to your provider, who validates it with the local authority to receive the funding.

Wraparound Care

All working parents that are using the wrap around care are required to pay a four-week deposit within two weeks of accepting a place.

The deposit secures the child's place and also protects Bowlers in the event that a child leaves with outstanding fees.

The deposit is held by Bowlers and will be returned once the correct four weeks written notice has been given and all fees are fully paid.

Parents will be required to provide proof of income in the form of their two most recent payslips. For families that reside in the London Borough of Islington, there are 11 income bands. Please note that the banding is based on gross household income, not net pay.

If you are currently not working, you will need to provide proof of your status, such as confirmation of Universal Credits, student status (e.g university enrolment) or other relevant documentation.

Families that reside outside the London Borough of Islington will be charged the Marketed Rate as Bowlers is an Islington based Community Nursery and receives financial support from the council. Please also note that priority for places is given to families who live within Islington.

All families must provide proof of address. We request a copy of your annual Council Tax Bill and a utility bill as verification.

Fees and registration

Registration of your child is free of charge and is the best way to ensure your child is considered for a place.

Child Admissions Form

Bowlers offer a 25% discount on fees for a second child attending at the same time.

A 30% discount is available for twins attending concurrently.

Key Points:

Providers: Claim the funding directly from the government, reducing your costs.
Extras: Funding covers early education and care only. It does NOT include consumables such as meals and snacks or additional resources.
To ensure that we continue offering high quality, nutritious food for all our children we have a daily food charge of £5 per day (for all 2 years old and above). This voluntary contribution helps us to maintain our current standards and ensure your child enjoys healthy meals and snacks throughout the day. Please contact the nursery manager to discuss our policy on opting out of voluntary charges in accordance with our guidelines.
School: Funding stops once your child starts Reception class