We’re open from 8:00am to 6:00pm, Monday to Friday, and offer flexible scheduling to suit your family’s needs.
You can choose from the following start and finish times:
Start times: 8:00am, 8:30am or 1:00pm
Finish times: 1:00pm, 4:30pm or 6:00pm
To ensure your child gets the most from their time with us, we ask that they attend a minimum of either 3 half-day sessions or 1.5 full days per week. Find out more about our fees in “Funding and Rates.”
From September 2025, depending on your child’s age and your circumstances, you may be eligible for:
These hours are funded for 38 weeks of the year (school term-time). Because we provide childcare for 51 weeks per year, we spread your funded hours across the whole year, so your weekly funded hours will reduce accordingly. We do have a very limited number of places for just the school term-time (38 weeks of the year) and if this is all you are looking for, then do get in touch to see if we can fit you in or pop you on the waitlist.
What funding covers: Government funding covers your child’s care during funded hours. It does not cover meals, snacks, nappies, or enrichment activities like our much-loved Forest School, Yoga, Dance classes and other enrichment sessions. The elements that are not covered by the funding are charged separately as part of our enrichment fee. You have the right to opt out of these additional goods and services for your child.
Tax-free Childcare Scheme
The government also supports your childcare costs with the Taxfree Childcare scheme which follows the same criteria as the 30 Hours Funding Entitlement. The Taxfree Childcare programme will cover 20% of your private childcare fees.
To learn more about whether you might be eligible, click here.
Learn more about how Government Funding works in our “Government Funding Guide.”
At Sunshine Montessori, we’re committed to providing the highest quality care alongside rich, engaging learning experiences. As a Montessori nursery, we nurture each child’s natural curiosity by giving them the freedom to explore, choose activities, and learn at their own pace—within a carefully prepared environment that encourages independence, creativity, and a love of learning.
We believe education extends far beyond the classroom. That’s why we offer a rich programme of enrichment activities—including Yoga, Dance, and Forest School—that nurture the whole child. These experiences are carefully designed to support physical development, emotional wellbeing, and a deeper connection to the world around them. Whether children are building strength and mindfulness in yoga, expressing themselves through movement and rhythm in dance, or learning about nature first-hand at Forest School, each activity builds confidence, curiosity, and resilience in a joyful and engaging way.
These enrichment sessions are delivered by specialist instructors and require additional resources, equipment, and staffing to ensure they are of the highest quality. For this reason, they are offered at an additional cost and are not included within the government’s funding subsidy, which only covers core childcare hours. You have the option to opt out of these additional experiences and services for your child.
We understand that every family has different childcare needs. We are set up best to support working families as we are open 51 weeks per year up to 10 hours per day (from 8am-6pm). However we try to offer flexible sessions to support as many families as possible.
Here’s how your funded hours can be used at Sunshine Montessori:
Fees from 1 April 2025
Standard Day Rate - £81 (8am-6pm), Half Day Rate - £45.50 (8am-1pm or 1pm-6pm)
Early drop-off: 7.30am-8.00am - £5 (48 hrs notice is required)
Hourly rate for ad hoc sessions - £11 (subject to availability)
Fees include all meals, drinks and snacks.
| Number Of Days | 0-5 Years: No Funding | 9M-2 Years: Funding | Weekly Free Entitlement Hours | 3-5 Year Universal Entitlement Funding | Weekly Free Entitlement Hours | 3-5 Year Extended Entitlement Funding | Weekly Free Entitlement Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Time | £1,549.13 | £1,202.85 | 11.18 | £1,343.10 | 11.18 | £1,137.08 | 22.35 |
| 4 Full Days | £1,377.00 | £992.25 | 11.18 | £1,132.50 | 11.18 | £888.00 | 22.35 |
| 3 Full Days | £1,032.75 | £648.00 | 11.18 | £788.25 | 11.18 | £543.85 | 22.35 |
| 2 Full Days | £688.50 | £303.75 | 11.18 | £444.00 | 11.18 | £187.00 | 20.00 |
| 5 AM/PM | £966.88 | £534.63 | 11.18 | £674.88 | 11.18 | £336.13 | 22.35 |
| 4 AM/PM | £733.50 | £341.25 | 11.18 | £481.50 | 11.18 | £187.00 | 20.00 |
| 3 AM/PM | £580.13 | £147.88 | 11.18 | £288.13 | 11.18 | £288.13 | 11.18 |
Extra session (nil funding): Full day £81, AM/PM £45.50
Minimum attendance pattern of 2 days
Standard session 8am-6pm (open 7.30am-6pm) Monday to Friday 51 Weeks per year excluding inset days, public holidays and Christmas week fees are annualised over 51 weeks including periods of absence.
Funding is annualised over 51 weeks and an enrichment fee of £11 is charged per funded session for 3Year + UE and EE funding April-August 2025, and for all funded children from September 2025
All 3- and 4-year-olds in England are eligible for 15 hours of free childcare per week during term-time. Eligible working families may receive up to 30 funded hours if they meet the criteria (earning at least the National Minimum Wage equivalent of 16 hours/week and under £100,000 annually) with children 9 months to 4 years old. You can read the full details here.
The funding covers the cost of your child's care during funded hours. Meals, snacks, nappies, and enrichment activities (Forest School, Yoga, etc.) are not covered and will be charged separately.
Yes! You can choose to 'stretch' your funded hours across 51 weeks, which means your weekly funded hours will reduce (e.g., 30 hours becomes 22 hours/week across 51 weeks). See the table above for my information on your costs.
You can apply online through the government website and will receive an eligibility code to share with us. We can support you through this process if you need assistance. Check the website for application deadlines.
You can easily add extra hours beyond your funded entitlement. An additional hours will be charged at £11/hour.
Most families use their funded hours as part of a longer nursery day or full week, and simply pay for any extra hours they need on top. We’re happy to help you work out a schedule that fits your family.
First of all check if you can also qualify for Taxfree Childcare, which most working families do. It is additional government support for childcare where the government will cover 20% of your private childcare fees. You can learn more about this on https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare Secondly, check with your employer to see if they are signed up to any childcare voucher schemes as we support all of these schemes as a nursery and can help you with this.
If you are still concerned about the fees please get in touch. We offer additional support for families who need financial assistance to ensure every child can access quality early education at Sunshine Montessori.
Ready to learn more?
If you have any questions about how funding could work for your family or would like to discuss fees, please contact us. We’re here to help every step of the way.
All 3- and 4-year-olds in England are eligible for 15 hours of free childcare per week during term-time. Eligible working families may receive up to 30 funded hours if they meet the criteria (earning at least the National Minimum Wage equivalent of 16 hours/week and under £100,000 annually) with children 9 months to 4 years old. You can read the full details here.
The funding covers the cost of your child's care during funded hours. Meals, snacks, nappies, and enrichment activities (Forest School, Yoga, etc.) are not covered and will be charged separately.
Yes! You can choose to 'stretch' your funded hours across 51 weeks, which means your weekly funded hours will reduce (e.g., 30 hours becomes 22 hours/week across 51 weeks). See the table above for my information on your costs.
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Here can be a brief but clear response to the question, giving customers a quick answer without unnecessary details.
Here can be a brief but clear response to the question, giving customers a quick answer without unnecessary details.
