Nursery

You won’t get funded hours until you have got a job as you need to put a start date on it. Best way to do it is ring nurseries around to see the wait list and look for jobs. Have you got any family or friends that could help look after your little one while you job hunt and potentially get a start date?x

Personally I would call nursery’s first as depending on the area you live in waiting times can be 1 year or more

You need to have a job to get the funded hours

Most nurseries have a long waiting list due to the changes in funded hours, it’s worth ringing around and seeing how long their waits are so that you can plan your job search around that, as there’s no point securing a job next month if the waiting list is 6 months for example.

Sooo weirdly I’ve just been in the exact same boat as you regarding nurseries and not working 😅. Sooo my little boy is 16 mo and I wanted to start working part time again. We started looking on our local council for registered nurseries and compared ofsted reports and reviews til we found a few we liked. I rung and asked if they had places for my boy on a 2 day basis and if they had could we arrange a viewing. Some didn’t have spaces for another 6 months. But a few had select days for now. I explained we would be paying privately for the time being until I found and pt job, applied for funding and got given the free hours in sept (as it is on a termly basis). Then it would be with the funding. They all accepted this. Luckily the one we fell in love with had space next month for 2 days and he starts soon. I’m looking now for a pt job to fit on the days he will be in once he’s settled🫶🏼 hope this helps!! xx