Funded early education and childcare
Hayley’s Little Explorers offers funded early education and childcare places for eligible children from nine months old until they start school.
Working-parent entitlement
Eligible working families may receive up to 30 funded hours per week for 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their child turns nine months old until they start school.
This provides a maximum entitlement of up to 1,140 funded hours per year.
Eligibility criteria apply, and parents must obtain and regularly reconfirm their working-parent eligibility code.
Funding for eligible two-year-olds
Some two-year-olds may receive up to 15 funded hours per week for 38 weeks of the year through the entitlement for families receiving additional support.
This provides a maximum entitlement of up to 570 funded hours per year.
Eligibility criteria apply.
Universal funding for three- and four-year-olds
All three- and four-year-olds can receive up to 15 funded hours per week for 38 weeks of the year, beginning from the term after their third birthday.
This is known as the universal entitlement and provides up to 570 funded hours per year.
Eligible working families may receive up to 30 funded hours per week, providing a maximum entitlement of up to 1,140 funded hours per year.
Our stretched funding offer
We offer funded childcare on a stretched basis across the year.
Cambridgeshire County Council administers stretched funding using a standard 50-week calculation:
- A 15-hour entitlement is calculated as up to 11.4 hours per week.
- A 30-hour entitlement is calculated as up to 22.8 hours per week.
Our setting is open for 48 weeks of the year. The Council’s 50-week calculation is used to determine the maximum allocation for each funding period. The funded entitlement is then distributed across the child’s booked sessions during the weeks that our setting is open.
The precise funded hours allocated to each session depend on the child’s eligibility, start date, booked attendance pattern and whether their entitlement is shared with another provider.
Where setting holidays or public/bank holidays affect a child’s contracted attendance days, the funded entitlement is reallocated across the child’s remaining booked sessions within that funding period.
When funded hours are available
Funded hours are offered within our normal opening hours:
- Monday to Thursday: 7.30am–5.00pm
- Friday: 8.00am–4.30pm
The days, hours and attendance pattern are agreed with each family and recorded on Cambridgeshire County Council’s Parent/Carer Declaration Form.
All attendance patterns are subject to availability.
Optional meals and snacks
Government funding covers eligible childcare and early education hours. It is not intended to cover meals, snacks or other optional extras.
We offer:
- Home-cooked lunch: £3.50
- Morning snack: £0.50
- Afternoon snack: £0.50
Meals and snacks are optional. Parents may instead provide suitable meals and snacks from home at no additional cost.
Choosing not to purchase optional meals or snacks will not affect a child’s access to their funded place.
Additional childcare hours
Our current private childcare rate is £8.00 per hour.
From 1 September 2026, our private childcare rate will increase to £8.50 per hour.
This rate applies only to childcare hours outside the child’s funded entitlement. Funded hours are provided free of charge.
Parents are not required to purchase additional privately paid childcare hours or optional extras as a condition of accessing their funded entitlement.
Invoices
Our invoices clearly identify:
- Funded childcare hours at a zero or nil charge
- Additional privately paid childcare hours
- The applicable private hourly rate
- Optional meals, snacks or other extras selected by the parent
Applying for a funded place
Parents must complete Cambridgeshire County Council’s Parent/Carer Declaration Form before we can claim funding.
Parents must tell us if:
- Their eligibility changes
- Their child’s attendance pattern changes
- They wish to increase or reduce their funded hours
- Their child accesses funding with another provider
Further information is available from: