Using your 15 or 30 funded hours with a childminder in Islington

I've already written a plain guide to what the 15 and 30 hours offers are and who qualifies — start there if you're still working out whether you're eligible. This post is the next bit: how it actually works with a childminder, here in Islington.

Childminders deliver the funded hours too

A common myth: that funded hours are a nursery thing. They're not.

Ofsted-registered childminders deliver the 15 and 30 hours just like nurseries do, on the same government funding. So you don't have to choose between the home setting you want and the funding you're owed. You can have both.

Getting your code, the Islington way

For the working-parent hours you apply through the government's Childcare Choices service, get an eligibility code, and bring it to me.

Islington's Family Information Service is genuinely helpful if you get stuck. They'll talk you through eligibility and the local process, and they keep the list of which providers have funded places.

I reconfirm codes each term, as required. I'll always tell you when yours needs renewing, so a place is never at risk because a code lapsed.

How it sits alongside what you'd otherwise pay

This is the part that confuses people, so plainly: my care is all-inclusive — food, snacks, activities, outings, settling-in.

Funded hours bring down what you pay. They rarely cover a full working-parent week on their own, because a "funded hour" and "a day of childcare" aren't the same thing.

What that means for your bill depends on your days and which offer you're on. So rather than give you a misleading figure here, I'll work out a clear monthly number with you at your visit. No surprises, and no hidden top-ups beyond the consumables every setting charges for.

Term-time vs stretched

Funded hours are a yearly allowance, usually quoted "per week in term time".

Most working families don't want childcare only in term time. So the hours can be stretched across the year — fewer hours a week, but all year round. Which works better depends on your job and your child's days. It's one of the first things we'll sort out together.

What I handle so you don't have to

The paperwork — headcount returns, term reconfirmation, the funding agreement — is mine to manage, not yours.

Your job is the code and telling me your days. Mine is everything after that. Forty years in, the admin holds no fear for me, and no parent should lose a place over a form.

Talk it through

Funding is always clearer in a real conversation than on a page, because it depends on your situation. Send me a message with roughly the days you'd need and which offer you think you're on, and I'll come back with a straight answer. Or book a visit and we'll work it out over a cup of tea. The funding page has the headline numbers if you want them first.