Fees and application forms — Sam Morris Nursery

Fees and Places

Sam Morris Nursery is a community nursery offer both community places for Islington residents only and marketed places for families who reside outside of the borough. Nursery places are offered over 2, 3, 4 or 5 consecutive days either at the beginning or ending of the week.

To be eligible for a community place, subsidised by Islington Council, you must live in Islington. Community place fees follow Islington’s recommendations which are frequently updated. There are different income bands which are based on household income, proof of which must be provided. (Please click here for fee structure.) A limited number of fully-funded places are offered for parents eligible for the 15 or 30 hour entitlements which can be allocated over a strectched offer of 49 weeks at £0. The governmenent funding only covers the cost of childcare; it is not intended to cover extra curricular activities, trips or food. Therefore, we charge a voluntary fee of £3 for food for our over 3’s. If parents choose not to pay this volunatry contribution then it could lead to fees being increased to cover this overhead. We do not charge for our extra ciricular activities such as Sports school and Wild fang sessions.

Fees must be paid by Standing Order and payment must be received on the 1st of each month in advance. We will ask you for a deposit of four weeks’ fees when you accept a place and this will only be refunded provided you give us one month’s notice before your child leaves (deposits are not required for fully funded places). A place is only secure once all paperwork is completed and a deposit is paid.

The Nursery is open for 49 weeks each year. It is closed on bank holidays, for 5 days over Christmas and for two weeks in the summer, usually the last two weeks in August. Fees are payable for all bank holidays and the Christmas closure, but not for the summer break. However, the cost is spread out over 52 weeks.

We have an admissions policy which forms a part of our Certificate of Registration and which is freely available for you to see.

You can download the application forms here. Alternatively, please contact the Nursery Manager.

The nursery fees

Please contact the nursery for fee related queries.

Tax-Free Childcare and Free Education for Working Parents

Tax-Free Childcare enables eligible parents to receive up to £2000 per chid per year towards their childcare costs, or up to £4000 for disabled children. Parents set up an online account, and for every £8 they pay in to this account, the government contributes an additional £2.

30 hours funded childcare support

You may also be eligible for 30 hours funded childcare support from the term after your child turns 9 months old, until the start school. The 30 hour entitlement is applied for 38 weeks of the year, totally a maximum of 1140 hours.

15 hours Nursery Education Grant (NEG)

If you are not entitled to the working parent offer, don’t worry as you are still eligible to receive the 15 hour entitlement for all 3 and 4 year olds from the term after your child’s 3rd birthday until they start school, irrespective of your income level, benefit status, or family circumstances.

15 hours Early Learning for 2 year olds

If you or your child are in receipt of some additional forms of support, you might be eligible for 15 hours early learning for 2 year olds under a separate scheme. Please speak to your local council and/or provider in the first instance. If you are eligible, you should still apply for the working parent entitlement, where you will receive 15 hours from each scheme (up to a maximum of 30 hours in total.) Please click on the link for full information and to check eligibility. https://beststartinife.gov.uk/

Our fee structure and charging policy provide detailed information on how funded hours are allocated, along with examples of how fees are calculated.