Admission & Fees

Registration for September 2026 admissions will open on January 12th 2026 at 10am.

We do not have a waiting list and allocate places on a first come first serve basis after 12th January. Priority is given to children who are 3 years old by the 1st September of that year, and to siblings.

Timings and fees for the various sessions are as follows: 

Breakfast Club: 8.15am to 9.30am - £15 per session

Early Start: 9.00am to 9.30am  - £6 per session 

Morning session (half day) 

9.30am to 12.30pm 

£5 per hour voluntary 

Afternoon session (half day) 

12.30pm to 3.30pm 

£5 per hour voluntary 

Standard session (full day) 

9.30am to 3.30pm 

£5 per hour voluntary 

Late Finish 3.30pm to 4.00pm £6 per hour 

Extended Hours* 

4.00pm to 4.30pm 

£6 per session 

Please note: 
Sessions in bold highlight hours that are eligible as funded hours. 

Non-funded core hours (9.30-3.30) - £12 per hour

 *Extended hours will be offered on certain days until 4.30pm subject to demand. 

Session Times 

A standard day at Acorns is 9.30am to 3.30pm.  

We do also offer half day sessions (mornings or afternoons) and we also offer wrap around sessions (Monday – Friday),

Please also note - wrap around sessions (e.g. Breakfast Club, Early Start, Late Finish and Extended Hours) can be booked and paid for in advance at the start of each month. .  

 

 

Funding 

As you may know, recent changes in the Department for Education’s (DfE) funding rules mean that early years settings like ours are no longer permitted to charge mandatory top-up fees alongside the government funded hours for 3 and 4-year-olds. 

 

While we fully support the aim of accessible childcare, the government funding unfortunately does not cover the true cost of providing the high-quality care, learning and enrichment that your children receive at Acorns. 

 

To sustain our standards and ethos, we are asking families to support us by paying a voluntary contribution of £5 per funded hour. 

Your support will help us to: 

  • Maintain our small group sizes and low 5:1 child-to-staff ratios  

  • Continue offering our unique Forest School experience 

  • Provide up to 6 flexible funded hours per day 

  • Welcome children eligible for the 30-hour scheme without restriction 

  • Ensure we can operate sustainably as an independent, not-for-profit setting 

We trust you feel able to support with this contribution, which helps us protect everything that makes Acorns special. If we are unable to raise enough voluntary contributions in this intake, we will unfortunately need to review our funding model which may mean reducing or restructuring funded places. 

Wrap around care will be charged at £6 per session or £12 per hour, please see ‘routine of the day’ for more information on wrap around care at Acorns.

 

We look forward to receiving your application! 

If you would like to find out more please email office@widcombeacorns.co.uk.