Opening times, sessions and Fees

Lake Street Nursery runs term time only, and is open for 190 days of education and care per year, broadly in line with Oxfordshire regular term times. There are a few variations to allow for staff to attend 3 INSET days per year – these are additional days to the 190 for the children.

We are considering offering some holiday provision and in 2025-26 are surveying the local community to see whether this is something families need from us, and whether they would like us to extend our day for the children to support working parents further.

Flexible schedule options

We offer childcare and education divided into three sessions a day: which can be combined in different ways:

Our main, and funded sessions are:
Mornings 8:45 – 11:45
Afternoons 11:45 – 14:45 (includes bringing a pack lunch)

In addition, for a fee we offer:
Staying for Tea, an extended day running from: 14:45 – 17:15 on Tue, Wed, Thurs

Some children stay for the day, some come for just the mornings, or just the afternoons. Some stay whole days or a combination.

Staying for Tea runs is run on a 1:4 ratio for up to 8 children. It is a lovely session managed by two experienced team members. There is lots of time for free play, some organised games or art and craft, and a light tea is provided. The children often help with the preparation and cooking for tea.

Our minimum session requirement is now three sessions in a week over at least two days e.g. one and half days, or as three separate sessions (not including Staying for Tea.

Once your child is entitled to 15 hours funded education we require families to take up the 15 hours in total across the week e.g. two and half days, or five mornings or afternoons.

Children settle better, and get more out of Nursery if they attend regularly per week as the team can get to know them well and they don’t miss out so much on what is on offer. We want each child to develop a good sense of attachment and belonging to the Nursery family

Staying for Tea is a fee paying only addition to our Nursery week and is not included in 15 or 30 hour funded places: However, it is flexible and can be taken as part of a whole day or combined with afternoon sessions. This cost is in order to finance the sessions at a gentler pace with the 1:4 ratios and provide some food.

It is possible to buy ad hoc sessions for Staying for Tea at a slightly higher cost than booking for a term in advance.

Get in touch to discuss the schedule that suits your family best.

Affordable fees

Our fees are reviewed annually and we do our best to update as soon as we can – any Fee increases usually come into effect each September .

Lake Street Nursery is a community group, and registered charity: we try to keep our fees reasonable while remaining financial viable. Nursery faces increasing overheads and utility costs, and we want our dedicated team to receive a fair wage. Fundraising, donations and grants are used for provision of resources for the children and for large purchases such as equipment and refurbishment.

Morning and afternoon sessions are charged at £9.00  per hour – booking for a whole session (either morning or afternoon – or both) is required with fixed drop off and pick up times.

You may be eligible for tax-free childcare or childcare vouchers. Please get in touch and we would be happy to help you access these options.

The fees for our extended sessions, known as ‘Staying for Tea are £9.50 per hour and booking for a whole session is required

Staying for Tea is fee paying only and funded places cannot be used. This is to ensure that we can continue to offer this provision for a small number of children.

Government Funded places: Nursery offers government-funded places of up to 30 hours per week during term time.

There are a number of government funding options that could help cover the cost of nursery and the government funded offer is expanding.

All 3-4 year-olds are eligible to 15 hours a week free childcare, and some 2-4-year-olds are eligible for up to 30 hours a week funded childcare.  We also have spaces for children under 3 in receipt of vulnerable funding.

Get in touch, with Ellilsha, our Nursery Administrator and discuss the best option for your family.  You can reach her on 01865-727939 or office@lakestreetnursery.org.uk every weekday morning between 9.00 and 12.00

Did you know we are a registered charity?

For each free place we offer a child, we receive some government funding. This pays for salaries for our fantastic staff, as well as electricity, and water, and basic cleaning supplies…

Everything else is extra! 

We rely entirely on fundraising for paints and chalk and playdough for creative play, books for dreaming and learning, dolls and trains and dinosaurs for imaginary adventures, bikes and hoops and climbing equipment for outdoor antics, seeds and spades and watering cans to grow things in our garden… all the extras that we think make Lake Street a great place for our little people to thrive.

When your child takes up a government-funded place, would you consider making a small donation per term toward resources?