The fact that the schools are slightly out of the metro area will have no bearing in price (I have a vague idea where you live)...if the schools are Anglican/Uniting or considered Independant then that will be why there is an increase in price...schools of that "genre" are more expensive then other private or catholic schools.

or ask something like what money is put back in to the school etc?
I think that that is a good question to ask - chances are their reply will be along the lines of paying teachers and resources but you never know you may even get a more specific answer then that.

So in essence the increase for 2- 2.5 days per week has been set down by the government, in an attempt to increase literacy and numeracy rates in early childhood as we are really lacking in this respect.
There we go that seems to answer both our questions as to what the mimimum hours required is - thanks Ali. Anything above that is additional and like I mentioned is more along the lines of a "daycare" facility for children, trying to keep it all in-house really.

If you want to pm me the name of the schools you are enrolling in - one of my good friends had her children enrolled in a K-12 school down your way with similar fees and recently removed all 3 of her children from the school as she wasnt happy with it.