​

Sessions & Charges

Once a child has been added, you can configure their attendance sessions and apply extra charges from the child’s profile.

​

Sessions

The Sessions tab allows you to manage the child’s attendance schedule and is essential for configuring the child’s regular attendance pattern and understanding the associated costs. The tab shows the configured sessions, the total hours and funding hours allocated, and the pricing applied. You can add a new session or edit an existing session by clicking the edit button. This shows the edit session dialog where you can configure all aspects of a child’s attendance session. The following options are available:

• Frequency — Choose how often the session occurs (Regular or One Off).
• Start Date / End Date — Set the date range for when the session is active. Use the calendar picker to select dates.
• School holidays only — For a regular session, makes it apply only during the school holidays. See Term time and holiday patterns. Not shown if your setting is term time only.
• Session — Select the type of session from a dropdown list (e.g., Morning, Afternoon, Full Day). This determines the session’s structure and timing.
• Start Time / End Time — Specify the session’s start and end times if they differ from the session defaults.
• Pricing — Choose the applicable price for the session from the available options. This will affect the cost calculation.
• Days of the Week — Toggle the days (Mon—Sun) on which the session should occur. Only the selected days will be included in the schedule.
• Funded Hours — For each weekday, enter the number of funded hours (if any) that apply. Use the up/down controls to adjust hours and minutes for each day.
• Add Session Entry — Click this button to add another configured session entry to the list.

This dialog ensures you can flexibly configure sessions to match each child’s attendance pattern, pricing, and funding requirements.

​

Term time and holiday patterns

Some children come on different days during the school holidays. For example, they might attend mornings in term time and full days in the holidays. To set this up:

1. Add the child’s term-time pattern as a normal regular session, with no end date.
2. Add a second regular session with the holiday pattern and turn on School holidays only. You can also leave this session’s end date empty.

During the school holidays, Pigeonhole uses the holiday session in place of the normal one. This applies to invoices, the register, the occupancy tracker and the child’s calendar. The normal session applies the rest of the time. You don’t need to update dates after each holiday. A few things to know:

• School holidays come from your term dates. A school holiday is any gap between one term ending and the next one starting. That includes half terms.
• Add next year’s term dates in good time. Pigeonhole can’t tell where the summer holiday ends until the next term is entered. So after the last term you’ve entered, the normal session carries on and the holiday session doesn’t apply. From March, the dashboard reminds you if next year’s term dates are missing and any children have holiday sessions.
• The holiday session replaces the normal one for the whole day pattern. If it only has Monday and Tuesday ticked, the child isn’t booked on Wednesday to Friday during the holidays.
• Closures still apply. Holidays and closure dates you’ve entered close the nursery whichever session is in use.
• Funded hours on a holiday session are used on invoices, but funding forms use the term-time pattern.
• Term-time-only children have no holiday pattern, so a holiday session has no effect for them.
• Charges don’t follow the holiday session automatically. To charge on different days in the holidays, see Different days in school holidays.
• Both sessions show in the list. The holiday one carries a School holidays label, and neither shows as Overridden by the other.
• On the child’s calendar, school holiday days are lightly shaded and labelled School holiday, so you can see where the holiday pattern takes over.

​

Copying Sessions

Pigeonhole allows you to easily create new sessions for children. To create a new session for a child, you can click the copy button on an existing session. This will create a new session based on the old one which you can make amendments to. Alternatively for new children, you can easily copy the schedule for an existing child. On the sessions tab you can select the child to copy. That child’s session will then be copied to the current child.

​

Charges

The Charges tab allows you to manage additional charges that apply to a child, such as nappies, meals, or other extra services. This section is essential for tracking and billing any recurring or ad hoc charges beyond standard session fees. The tab displays a list of all configured charges for the child, including:

• Charge — The name of the extra charge (e.g., Nappies).
• Start Date / End Date — The date range during which the charge is active.
• Quantity — The number of units for the charge (e.g., 1 per day).
• Schedule/Cost — The days the charge applies (e.g., Wed—Fri) and the calculated cost for the period.

You can add a new charge by clicking the Add New Charge button, or edit/delete an existing charge using the pencil (edit) or bin (delete) icons. When adding or editing a charge, the edit dialog allows you to configure the following options:

• Frequency — Select how often the charge is applied (Regular or One Off).
• Start Date / End Date — Set the date range for when the charge is active.
• Extra Charge — Choose the type of extra charge from a dropdown list (e.g., Nappies, Meals). This determines the charge and pricing applied.
• Quantity — Enter the number of units for the charge. For example, if the charge is per item, specify how many items per day.
• Charge Days — Toggle the days of the week (Mon—Sun) on which the charge should be applied. Only the selected days will be included in the schedule.
• Different days in school holidays — Optionally charge on different days during the school holidays. See below.

This dialog ensures you can flexibly configure extra charges to match each child’s needs and attendance pattern.

​

Different days in school holidays

If a child has a term time and holiday pattern, their charges usually need to change in the holidays too. For example, a child who has lunch three days a week in term time and four days in the holidays. You don’t need a second charge for this:

1. Edit the child’s regular charge and turn on Different days in school holidays.
2. Tick the days the charge applies during the school holidays.

During the school holidays, Pigeonhole charges on the holiday days instead of the normal ones. The rest of the time it uses the normal days. The dates and quantity are the same for both. Invoices, the register and income projections all follow this.

• School holidays are the gaps between your term dates, the same as for holiday sessions.
• Tick no holiday days to stop the charge during the school holidays.
• Funding forms use the normal (term-time) days.
• Term-time-only children have no school holidays, so the option isn’t shown for them.
• The list shows the holiday days under the normal ones.
• On the charges calendar, school holiday days are lightly shaded and labelled School holiday.