Fees | first-steps-day-care

Our fee structure

At First Steps, we aim to provide flexible, affordable childcare for families while maintaining the highest quality of care and education. We accept government funding to help with childcare costs:

30 hours funded childcare - Eligible working families can apply for 30 hours of childcare to use from the term after their child turns 9 months until they reach school age.
15 hours funded childcare - for children aged two years. 15 hours early learning for families in England receiving some additional forms of support.
All children aged 3/4 years are entitled to 15 hours of funded childcare per week, starting from the term after their 3rd birthday
Our funding is applied on a term-time basis (38 weeks per year)
Every family is different, so we offer a flexible way to use your 30 hours funded childcare. Instead of fixed full-day sessions, you can choose how to spread your child’s hours across the week—whether that’s shorter days, longer days, or a mix that fits your routine.
If you’re unsure of your entitlement, please visit Childcare Choices or speak to a member of our team, who will be happy to guide you through the process.
Tax free childcare - Available for working families, including the self employed. For every £8.00 you pay in, the government will add an extra £2.00, up to £2,000 per child, per year.

In line with government guidance, we make a small charge for meals as these are not covered by funded hours.

Our current charges are:

Breakfast – £1.00
Lunch – £3.00
Tea – £3.00

Alternatively, families are welcome to provide a packed lunch at no additional cost inline with our packed lunch policy and the early years foundation stage nutrition guidance.

Voluntary Consumables

Private & Additional Hours

For privately paying parents, or for any hours outside of your funded entitlement, our standard rate is:

£8.50 per hour

Sibling Discount

We are pleased to support families with more than one child attending our nursery, A 10% discount is applied to the eldest child's fees when siblings are enrolled with us as the same time.

Forest School

On Fridays, we are delighted to welcome Jayne from Sylvan Lore, who leads a wonderful, engaging session for our Roaring Lions and
Pre-School children. These sessions are always a highlight of the week, sparking imagination and creativity.

If you would like your child to take part, we kindly ask for a small contribution of £5.00 per session.

All other extra-curricular activities are included within our fees at no additional cost.

First Steps Day Care