15 free hours question

[HollieES]

My son will be 3 in December and is currently going to Magic Moments creche 2 mornings a week. After a slightly shaky start, he now loves it there, and I'm thinking of upping him to 3 mornings come September. As I understand it, he'll be entitled to the 15 free hours of childcare from January, but Magic Moments aren't part of this scheme. My dilemna is, do I keep paying for him to go to MM (it's only ?10 a session), or do I take him out and try and settle him into a new nursery for the sake of getting the 15 hours (this will only be for 9 months until he starts at a school nursery next September)?

I'd be interested to know what other people have done, and also how you are actually allowed to take these 15 hours. I am keen to keep with the morning/afternoon sessions rather than him being somewhere for a whole day - but are you flexible to use the 15 hours like this? Does it vary from nursery to nursery? Also, with waiting lists being as bonkers as they are, will I be too late to get him into a good nursery in January?

Apologies for the onslaught of questions there. I'm confused.

Thanks in advance, Hollie x

[Pickle]

Mine went to Magic Moments, and we ended up just keeping them there until they started school nursery as they loved it, and to me it didn't make sense to put them somewhere else for a relatively short time. I'm planning to do the same with my youngest too.

[espelli]

He will only become eligible for the 15 hours the term after he turns three, which will be in January. Some school nurseries may take children in January as well as September so it may be worth checking with your nearest schools to see if this is an option for this January so that you only need to move him once.

[Fuschia]

Although school nurseries do offer 15h totally free, most intake only in sept

It seems that most private nurseries manage to impose top up fees one way or another (illegally)

It would be worth investigating though

And try amott rd, etc?

But my littlest is at mm and if we were not moving away, I would be leaving there from Jan 2014 until entry to school nursery in sept, rather than move him just to get the 15h