Exclusive: “Parents Outraged as Nursery ‘Segregates Children’ With New Packages”
Parents whose children attend a South Hornchurch nursery have slammed what they call a “shocking and divisive” plan to introduce a new charging structure — one they say creates a two-tier system among children.
Fledgelings Day Nursery has announced it will introduce two separate packages from January 2026 — an Enhanced Package and a Basic Package — with parents warning the move will “segregate” children and rob some of them of everyday nursery experiences.
One parent told The Havering Daily:
“This will now segregate children at the nursery. Basic package means basic care, so if my child is in that package, they will not receive meals, they will not be allowed to do all activities such as concerts, singing, celebrations of graduations or Christmas. They won’t be allowed to meet guests who visit the children. Meals are to be brought to the nursery between 11:00 and 11:15am — how are we supposed to do that when we are working?”
Families say they are outraged not only by what they see as unfair treatment of children, but also by another round of price hikes after being told there would be no increases until April 2026.
“We were told after the last increase — which went up 50% — that there would not be any more until April 2026. Yet now we’re told prices are rising again in January. It’s all wrong,” said another parent.
What the new policy means for children
Documents seen by The Havering Daily show two very different experiences depending on which package parents choose.
Enhanced Package (£17 per funded day):
- Includes all meals, snacks, wipes, bedding, puddle suits, and sun cream
- Covers outings, events, celebrations, visitors and enrichment sessions (yoga, sing & sign, sports, library trips, Zoolab)
- Includes graduation ceremonies and celebration days
- Parents receive full access to the Famly app for photos and communication
- Guaranteed funded hours each term
Basic Package (Funded-only, no charge):
- Parents must provide all food, wipes, bedding, puddle suits, and sun cream
- Children cannot take part in:
- Trips and outings
- Graduation or Christmas celebrations
- Visitors (police, dentist, fire brigade, etc.)
- Creative and festival crafts
- Sports, yoga, or sing & sign sessions
- Parents only receive verbal handovers — no Famly app access
- Funded hours may change term-to-term depending on space
This means that two children in the same classroom will now have entirely different experiences, with one group excluded from everyday nursery life because their parents cannot afford to pay.
Another parent said:
“This really is the segregation of our children. How can you take some children out of a room and not allow them to do singing or crafts because their parents cannot afford the enhanced package? What will this do to their mental health? How can you justify telling a child their friend can join in but they can’t?”
“All of us parents are rightly outraged”
Parents say they feel let down and trapped, unable to move their children elsewhere with little notice and few alternative placements.
“All us parents are rightly outraged by this,” said one mother. “We have already faced payment increases and late payment charges, and now we have this. It seems they run on minimum staff as it is.”
According to guidance from the Department for Education (DfE), nurseries may charge optional consumable fees, but funded children must still receive the same quality of Early Years education. Excluding children from enrichment activities such as crafts, celebrations and trips could breach the spirit of that rule.
Many parents are now expected to contact Havering Council’s Early Years team to challenge whether the policy is fair or even lawful.
As one parent summed up:
“No child should be left out of a celebration, a song, or a memory because of money. That’s not early years education — that’s exclusion.”
The Havering Daily contacted Fledgelings Day Nursery for comment, no response had been received.
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Pingback:Exclusive: Nurseries Hit Out-Has The Government’s Underfunding Created a Two Tier System For Children In Nurseries? – The Havering Daily
The government don’t pay the nursery enough in funding to make these extra activities financially sustainable! Complain to them instead of berating the nursery for trying to stay open. And £17 a day is minimal! The introduction of free funding for parents has made people so entitled and they want something for nothing 😭
On these entitled parents that want something for nothing!!! You work to earn money, so do child care providers and currently the money paid to us is lower than the cost of the place. Why should a provider take the hit for YOUR child?
Think about being grateful for the reduction in the childcare costs for the child that YOU chose to bring in to this world!!!
In days gone by we paid out of our own pockets and didn’t actually see any of our income until children went to school. I chose to see this as an investment in my future!!
Seriously? The simple fact is that the government funding only covers ‘basic’ educational provision – so please take a little moment to wonder where the money comes from to pay for the rent, heating, lighting, staff training, washing machine, telephone, Legionella testing, business rates, snacks, specialist visitors etc etc! Unless the nursery has a magical money tree in the garden (or a side-hustle) there is no other money stream to pay for these things. They WILL be out of business if they don’t charge consumables and then you will have even less choice. I assume that they will now terminate your contract anyway due to a breakdown in trust.