Information for Parents

The nursery is open from 7:15am to 6:00pm, Monday to Friday throughout the year, Except a week at Christmas and public holidays.

Full day sessions begin at 8:00am and end at 6:00pm, half day sessions are 8:00am to 1:00pm or 1:00pm to 6pm.

Early drop off begins at 7:15am to 8:00am and late pick up 6:00pm to 6:15pm.

Our Offer

Minimum of 2 days or 4 half days

Funding is available for 15 or 30 hours subject to availability over 38 weeks which is the equivalent of 570 hours or 1140 hours per year.

At Best Friends funding is stretched over 51 weeks of the year. This will give 11.18 hours a week for 15 hours or 22.36 for 30 hours.

Funding can be used from 8am-6pm and can be no more than 10 hours a day.

Funding is accessed from the term after the child's relevant anniversary or birthday.

We ask all parents if they are willing to make a voluntary contribution of £10 on funding days. To cover food. For an am session it will be £3.50 and a pm £3.50. If you choose to opt out of this, you may bring in a packed lunch. Please see the healthy lunch box policy.

What do I do?

Go to the Best Start in Life website and apply for your eligibility code. Codes must be applied for before the end of the term before the funding is to be accessed.

Once you have the code email it to nursery along with your national insurance number and we will check it.

You will be asked to fill in a funding form before the funding starts and update this prior to the start of every term.

You will need to reconfirm your code every 3 months.

3-4 year olds

All 3 and 4-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours universal funding. You do not require a code to access this.

You may also be eligible for 15 hours extended funding which will require an eligibility code

9 months to 3 year olds

Eligible working families with children aged 9 months to 3 years are entitled to up to 30 hours using their eligibility code

Golden Tickets for families in receipt of additional government support

Some parents are entitled to 15 hours funding depending on economic circumstances. To apply for this, you will need to contact your local Children's Centre or apply online via the Cheshire West and Chester Council website. Your eligibility will be checked and a letter will be sent to us confirming your eligibility.

We offer this for 15 hours a week, term time only.

Please note: where parents are eligible for this entitlement as well as the working families entitlement families will receive an additional 15 hours through the working families entitlement to enable them to access a total of 30 hours.

Chargeable extras

You can pay with tax-free childcare.

What is tax-free childcare?

Tax-Free Childcare is a government initiative designed to help working families with the cost of childcare. It's designed to be a easy and convenient way to save on costs

So how does it work?

For every 80p you pay into your Tax-Free Childcare account, the government will add an extra 20p, up to a maximum of £2,000 per child per year, or £4,000 for children with additional needs.

This means that for every £8 you pay in, you'll get £2 back from the government.

What are the benefits?

It helps families save money on childcare costs, by adding government funds to the amount they pay in. This is done automatically, and you are able to use the money when it shows as 'available'.

It's also easy to use and doesn't require complicated forms or extra benefits to be claimed.

To be eligible, you must be employed, self-employed or on a zero-hours contract and earn at least £120 per week, or £6,240 per year.

You also need to have a child under the age of 12, or under the age of 17 if they require additional support.

For more information, visit the 'Apply for tax-free childcare' page on www.gov.uk

You can also pay using universal credits

How childcare costs payments work on Universal Credit

You have to pay for your childcare costs yourself. Then you report them to Universal Credit, and Universal Credit pays some of the money back.

You will only get the money back with Universal Credit after the childcare actually happens

If you do not wish to pay for food, for example because you wish to provide your own, please make your nursery aware so next steps can be discussed

A warm welcome awaits you from Hayley and Wendy as you enter Best Friends. One of them will show you around our lovely nursery and the other will make you a cup of tea or coffee if you want one.

We are fortunate to have a family room, where parents can chat with staff, have coffee mornings, relax if their child is settling-in, train or look for jobs on our computers with free Wi-Fi.

We are a breast feeding friendly building and the family room offers privacy if you need to nurse your little one. We also have a book case for any book lovers to take or swap a book from our library.

To download and view our policy documents, please click on them below: