Funding
Financial support and financial subsidies
Our ideal is that any child can have access to Waldorf education irrespective of the financial resources of their family. As well as being committed to bursaries, we have looked into a number of sources of subsidy and financial support that may also be available.
Government subsidies and support
There are several ways you may be able to access external funding to cover your childcare costs. These include:
The school qualifies for 2-year-old and 3-4 year old EYF and your pre-school child should be automatically entitled to this.
Cambridge Steiner School Early Years is registered with the Local Authority’s Early Years Free Entitlement (EYFE) through both Cambridge County Council for 3 and 4 year olds, which is applied from the beginning of the term after a child’s 3rd birthday until the end of term in which the child turns 5.
The Early Years Free Entitlement of 15 hours per week can only be taken within specific ‘stand-alone*’ hours and are subject to availability. The Free Entitlement 15 Hours are Monday to Friday 09:00hrs to 12:00hrs. Therefore a child attending 4 days a week will be eligible for 12 hours free entitlement. To be eligible for the full 15 hours funding, a child must be attending 5 days a week.
*Please note that Steiner Waldorf Early Years Education is delivered as a whole curriculum to the child which recommends that all children participate in the full Early Years Session from 08:30hrs to 15:00hrs. The Early Years Free Entitlement is calculated termly and is based on actual weeks/ sessions, therefore the free entitlement hours vary from term to term.
Tax-Free Childcare is a new government scheme to help to work parents with the cost of childcare. Parents of the youngest children can now open an online account, which they can use to pay for childcare from a registered provider. For every £8 a parent pays, the government will pay an extra £2. Parents can receive up to £2,000 per child, per year, towards their childcare costs, or £4,000 for disabled children. The scheme will be available for children under the age of 12, or under 17 for children with disabilities. Read more.