Early Years pupil premium information for parents

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Nurseries, pre-schools, childminders and other childcare providers can claim extra funding through the Early Years Pupil Premium to support children’s development, learning and care.

The form has 3 pages and will take 2 to 3 minutes to complete.

What it does

The Early Years Pupil Premium is part of the Best Start in Life strategy and provides an extra amount of money for up to 15 hours per week (up to 570 hours per year) to the early years setting for early years entitlement funded children aged 9 months plus whose parents are in receipt of certain qualifying benefits or children who have been adopted or are in care.

The provider can use the funding in any way they chose to improve the quality of the early years’ education that they provide for the children. This could include:

• additional training for staff on early language
• investing in partnership working with colleagues to further their expertise
• supporting staff working on specialised areas such as speech and language

It is well documented that high quality early education can influence how well a child does at both primary and secondary school. A pupil premium has been available for school age children and it has given a real boost to the children receiving the funding.

Qualifying

The child must attend and claim funding at a setting in Somerset.

Parents and carers who receive any of the following will qualify for The Early Years Pupil Premium:

• Universal Credit with an annual income of less than £7,400
• Income Support
• Employment and Support Allowance (Income Related) – not Contribution related
• Income-based Job Seekers Allowance – not Contribution based
• Guaranteed Element of State Pension Credit
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Child Tax Credit, providing you do not also receive Working Tax Credit, with an annual taxable income (as assessed by HMRC) of less than £16,190
• children that have been adopted, or who have left care through special guardianship or child arrangement orders
• children who are Looked After by Somerset Council

More information

The childcare provider will be paid The Early Years Pupil Premium directly. The amount paid will depend on the number of universal hours of Early Years Entitlement (EYPP) that is claimed for the child. If the child is under 3 and only qualifies for the working family entitlement, EYPP will be paid on the first 15 hours claimed (up to 570 per year). If the child care provider does not claim the Early Years Entitlement, they will not receive Early Years Pupil Premium.

Please talk to the childcare provider to find out how the funding is being spent.

If you apply for Early Years Pupil Premium and are not eligible you won’t receive any notification. If you believe you are eligible and haven’t been notified after 4 weeks of submitting the application, please contact the Entitlements Team by emailing fsm@somerset.gov.uk to discuss. Eligibility to Early Years Pupil Premium does not impact your Early Years Entitlement or working family claims.

Early Years Pupil Premium application form

PDF, 121 KB