NCS funding

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides a subsidy towards childcare costs. In Meadow you record a child's NCS registration, then attach it to their booking plan. Managing NCS needs the programmes.manage permission (owners and managers).

Recording an NCS registration

Open the NCS section from the sidebar and add a registration for a child. You'll record:

• CHICK number — the child's NCS reference.
• Subsidy type — Universal, Income assessed, or Sponsor.
• Hourly rate — the subsidy rate per hour.
• Maximum hours per week — the cap from the NCS award.
• Registered hours per week — the hours your service is registering, which can't exceed the maximum.
• Award dates — the start and end of the NCS award.
• Registration start date — when registration at your service begins. Following the NCS (HIVE) rules, this must be a Monday and must fall within the award period.

A child can have more than one NCS registration — for example where separated parents each hold their own CHICK.

Applying NCS to a plan

On the child's booking plan, choose Add NCS to attach an active registration. The plan's funding allocation then shows the NCS-covered hours. You can remove a registration from the plan at any time.

Ending a registration

When a registration finishes, set its end date and mark it Ended. A registration also ends automatically if its NCS award expires.