For Eligible Working Families
We were delighted to share news of the planned expansion of childcare funding for children of eligible working families in recent months. And now, the latest stage of that free childcare expansion is virtually here! It means that eligible children aged from 9 months to 4 years will be able to access 1140 hours per year of FREE* childcare. The final expansion will be the first time that children aged 9 months to 2 years will be included in the eligible group. It will be available from the 1st of September 2025, and, at the time of writing, that’s just around the corner.
Even closer, though, is the application deadline! Eligible working families have until August 31 to apply for funding for the term starting in September. If you intend to apply but miss the deadline, you will miss out on childcare funding for the whole of that term. Today’s guide explains everything you need to know if you’re an eligible working family and are considering applying for a funded nursery place for your child for this September. The same rules apply whether you are applying to Little Acorns Nursery, Hindley Green, or elsewhere.
Apply by 31st August 2025
to Get Your Childcare Funding Code for September
Childcare providers require a special code from successful applicants in order to provide Government-funded childcare. Without the code, the childcare cannot be provided for free. Families would then need to either pay for their childcare or apply for a subsequent term. Later terms also have their own deadlines, and the same kind of rules apply in each case. From the standpoint of the funding scheme for eligible working families, terms begin on the 1st of the month for September, January, and April. The funding application deadline in each case is the last day of the preceding month. So, for September funding, the application deadline is the 31st of August 2025. For the January term, it’s the 31st of December. Lastly, for the April term, the application deadline is the 31st of March.
Childcare providers require a valid funding code no later than the very start of the term in order to provide the free childcare hours during that term.
The Key Eligibility Factors
Our existing guide explains the key rules for eligibility for childcare funding for working families. The two key rules, though, are that the child’s parent(s) — or the parent and their partner if they have one — must each earn:
- No more than £100,000 per annum for the current tax year;
- No less than the equivalent of 16 hours per week at the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage during the next 3 months.
Click the bold, green link above for much more detail.
How to Quickly Check Your Eligibility
It’s easy to check whether you’re eligible for the childcare funding for working families; simply enter a few details, and this eligibility tool will then check your eligibility for you.
Apply for the Childcare Funding NOW!
As we said above, time is of the essence if you are eligible and would like your child to begin using the free childcare hours from the start of the September term. To apply for the funded hours, you’ll first need a ‘Childcare Account’ on the Gov.uk website if you don’t already have one. Then, you’ll need to enter a few details. Learn more and begin your childcare funding application here.
Remember: you need to apply no later than the 31st of August 2025 if you would like your child to start using their free childcare hours from the beginning of September.
After applying online, most applicants will discover right away whether their application has been approved. However, in some circumstances, it can take as long as a week¹. It’s therefore all the more important to apply as early as you can, so long as your child is at least 23 weeks old when you apply.
1. (Contact the Childcare Service helpline on 0300 123 4097 between 8 am and 6 pm on any working weekday if you have not received your application decision within a week. Call charges may apply.)
Give Your Childcare Provider the All-Important Code
If your application has been approved, you will receive an email confirming that your funding code is available via your Childcare Account. Log in to the account to get this. Give the code to your childcare provider without delay, along with your National Insurance (N.I.) number and the date of birth of your child.
What You’ll Get
If your funding application is successful, your child will be entitled to receive 1140 hours of free childcare each year that they remain eligible. The government funding will be paid directly to your child’s childcare provider — so long, of course, as you/your child remain eligible. Eligibility will need to be reconfirmed via your Childcare Account, on time, every 3 months in order for childcare codes to be valid.
“Eligibility will need to be reconfirmed via your Childcare Account, on time, every 3 months.”
Stretching Funded Childcare Provision
Traditionally, the 1140 childcare hours equate to 30 hours of free childcare per week taken over 38 weeks of the year, with the 38 weeks usually aligning with typical school term-time weeks for your area. However, some childcare providers allow families to ‘stretch’ the free childcare hours over more weeks of the year. This is done simply by using fewer than 30 hours each week, so they can be used over more weeks of the year.
If you are thinking of applying for a nursery place at Little Acorns Nursery and would like to stretch your funded childcare hours, please let us know and we’ll endeavour to accommodate you whenever possible.
Good luck with your application! If you are applying for a nursery place at Little Acorns Nursery in Hindley Green, we look forward to welcoming you and your child to the Little Acorns family very soon!
A Weekday Childcare Service in Hindley Green, Near Wigan
Nursery Places for Babies, Toddlers, & Children Under Five
We hope you found the information above useful and look forward to welcoming new families to our Hindley Green nursery and preschool in the very near future. Whether you are privately funding your childcare or are eligible for government childcare funding, we’d love to welcome you and your child aboard. Why not come and see us — bring your child along! It’s a lovely home-from-home environment with great facilities and a fabulous team that will nurture every child. We’ll really bring out the best in each child and help prepare them well for their onward journey as they head towards school age.
Get in touch with Little Acorns Nursery today. We’ll be delighted to show you and your child around, see how they fit in, and answer any questions that you may have:
As a high-quality nursery located in Hindley Green, we may also suit local families in Bickershaw, Leigh, Atherton, Westhoughton, Ince-in-Makerfield, Platt Bridge, Tyldesley, Bolton and Greater Manchester.
* Please note: Government-funded childcare, including free hours for children of eligible working families, does not usually cover extras including the cost of outings, meals, consumables and any additional childcare hours over and above the funded hours.
With World Bee Day arriving on the 20th of May and National Children’s Gardening Week arriving on the 24th, it’s an excellent time for a flower-growing activity for children — including under-fives. More specifically, the growing of bee-friendly flowers — from seeds — will be an excellent way to celebrate World Bee Day and support these adorable little creatures. Bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are incredibly important for the world, being largely responsible for pollinating the crops, including nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables, that we rely on for food. Yet they are under threat with numbers dwindling severely in recent years. Without bees and other pollinators, the world’s animals, plants, trees, and flowers would be in real danger. Today’s bee-friendly flower-growing activity is therefore an incredibly worthwhile one for children to get involved in. It’s fun, highly educational for little ones, and will help to make the world a better place! Little ones, let’s get growing!
Unless seeds are available from friends and family or harvests from previous years, parents of under-fives will need to source them. However, that’s easy and can be incredibly inexpensive. Most supermarkets sell seed packets and, if not, there is a whole range of online stores to choose from (
If children are going with our recommended second option, they will first need to read packets to ensure their timing is right. For seed trays, they can use inexpensive, commercially available seed trays or use smaller options like flower pots. Another free alternative is to use repurposed margarine tubs, yoghurt pots, or similar. Whichever option they choose will need drainage holes added underneath by supervising parents plus a drip tray of some kind. Whether that’s a commercial one or something as simple as a saucer is up to families.
Once the soil is layered into the seed trays or pots, to a level an inch or so below the top, children can indent the soil/compost for the seeds to go into. Seeds can be manually spaced out into these indents so that, once they grow, the individual plants will be easily separated. We suggest scattering a shallow layer of sieved soil or compost over the seeds once placed into the indents and given a sprinkling of water.
Children should continue to water the seedlings regularly, when needed, and may also have to thin out any ‘clumps’ or plants that are too close together, otherwise, several plants may get tangled and have to compete with one another unnecessarily.
Once flowers appear, children can expect pollinators like honey bees, bumblebees, butterflies, and hoverflies to appear. It’s going to be magical for children when that day first arrives! Bees and the other pollinators truly are delightful and adorable. Children should look but not touch*, after all, bees have important work to do!
This activity will raise awareness of bees and pollinators in children of all ages. It’s not only a wonderful way to introduce children to these adorable creatures, but also a great opportunity to raise awareness of the plight bees and pollinators are facing. They are under severe pressure from habitat loss, global warming, the use of harmful pesticides/weedkillers, pollution, invasive predators, and many other threats that have made their populations plummet in recent years.
World Book Day is a special charitable event, celebrated globally, that encourages children of all ages to discover the joy of reading. Why? Because reading has the power to substantially improve children’s lives. Schools, nurseries, and libraries across the nation make the day extra special for children through storytelling sessions, fancy dress, and book-related activities.
Find time for your little one to read.
Dress up as a favourite character! There’s no need for elaborate costumes; a simple hat, crown, or themed outfit inspired by a beloved book character can bring your child’s favourite stories to life.
Since September 2024, the number of free childcare hours available for eligible children aged 9 months to 2 years (inclusive) is 570 per year. This is usually taken as 15 hours per week over 38 term-time weeks of the year*. In further good news, the allocation is set to double to 1140 hours per year from September 2025, thereby aligning with what eligible 3 and 4-year-olds are already entitled to (see below).
Meanwhile, a total of 1140 hours of free childcare is currently available for eligible children aged 3 and 4 each year. This is usually taken as 30 hours per week over 38 term-time weeks of the year*.
Draw up a short list of possible settings for your child, having first whittled down the choices by 
If your child already has a friend or neighbour of a similar age who will also attend your chosen nursery, it can be very useful. Both children will then have a friendly face to play with from Day 1. If not, it should be easy enough to ask around to find out about other local children who will start at the nursery when your child does. Arranging play dates for them in the weeks running up to the start date will help each child familiarise themselves with one another, so they each have a friend or two at the nursery right from the start. It’s a great way of settling them in.
Aside from the initial guided tours undertaken, we schedule 2 formal settling-in visits for children once a place has been offered. These hour-long settling-in sessions usually occur in the week before children are due to start at the nursery formally. They are both free of charge. Here’s how they are approached:
Reassuring your child will also help them settle into nursery – so communication is key. This is true both before they start and once they attend, particularly at the beginning. Before starting, it’s important to ensure they know that changes will soon happen, what to expect when the time comes, and that it’s going to be a big adventure with lots of fun! Encourage questions and answer them sensitively. They also need to be reassured that you will always be there, behind the scenes, looking out for their best interests. And, of course, it’s crucial for them to know you’ll be there to pick them up at home time (don’t be late!).
As we said previously in our 
Encourage children by celebrating their successes at the nursery. Whether it’s the successful completion of their first day, the first tear-free day, the making of a new friend or any other accomplishment, ensure you congratulate your child. This will give them a sense of achievement, reassure them that they’re doing well, and encourage them to keep attending and building on their progress.
With children sometimes taking as many as 2, 3, or even 4 weeks to fully settle into a new nursery, it’s also important for staff to closely monitor and nurture them. That’s indeed exactly what we do at Little Acorns Nursery in Hindley Green. We ensure the setting is a home-from-home environment for children as much as possible. Children will feel valued, loved, listened to, and well cared for at Little Acorns. We’ll reassure them when they need it, communicate well with parents/carers, discuss any challenges and work to address them speedily and in the most effective ways. We have children’s best interests at heart, so parents can rest assured that their little ones are kept safe, happy and well and, even if not immediately, they’ll grow to love being at the nursery. A couple of recent testimonials prove the point beautifully (hover over them to pause):
We’ve got lovely reviews and 5-star ratings online and, at the time of writing, have scored top marks across the board. The following is a typical review illustrating the type of lovely comments that parents have been publishing online about Little Acorns Nursery, Hindley Green:
Little Acorns staff are fastidious about the welfare and safety of babies and children under their care. As even the Ofsted inspector reported in our last inspection, “Leaders have ensured that staff are well trained and knowledgeable about matters relating to child protection. They have provided clear procedures for staff to report any concerns that they may have about children’s welfare.” Your child is in safe hands at Little Acorns Nursery.
During the first half of 2024, the nursery underwent a significant refurbishment and the results really speak for themselves. It’s a real facelift that includes beautiful new flooring, refreshed paintwork, re-plastered walls, renewed skirting, lovely bright downlighters, new storage areas, new bathrooms, new hallway carpet, and a modern, spacious feel. There are some lovely new interior design touches too, which spark new life into the nursery and preschool areas. New furniture, resources and enhancements are also included to make this a more exciting, stimulating, and engaging place for children to spend time. These include details like new bifold doors to allow free-flow access from indoors to the outdoor areas when appropriate. You can 
Few childcare nurseries and preschools can claim to have as large an outdoor space as Little Acorns Nursery in Hindley Green. Our extensive outdoor space is a wonderful area for children to explore, discover, play, and learn. Including both undercover areas and open areas, there are nature zones, sensory areas, a variety of exciting play areas, counting areas, and a stimulating array of equipment. This includes construction toys and equipment, creative activities, sand play, water play, bicycles and scooters, play houses and, of course, more standard climbing frames, slides, and suchlike. Children can benefit here from both structured and free play in a safe but exciting outdoor environment.
Little Acorns Nursery employs high-calibre childcare staff who are caring, experienced and skilled. Naturals with the children, they are also qualified as a minimum when they start in paediatric first aid, safeguarding, and basic food hygiene although many have qualifications that far exceed that baseline. Staff also have the support of a CPD programme, for continuous professional development, which includes access to training courses and tools that will further their skill set. That’s a win-win-win as the staff, the nursery and the children will all benefit. The Ofsted inspector also commented on the quality of staff at the most recent inspection:
Little Acorns is also one of only a few Hygge-inspired childcare nurseries and this facet helps make the setting even more of a home-from-home for little ones. Hygge (pronounced “Hue-gah”) is a Danish and Norwegian word that describes the kind of lifestyle that has cosiness, contentment, and well-being at its centre. A Hygge-style environment will therefore be one that appreciates natural materials like wood and warm, homely, child-friendly, decor like rugs and cushions. Hygge also encourages a real appreciation of nature amongst both staff and children. Put simply, Hygge makes Little Acorns Nursery a better place to be. 
