Nursery- service charge to bring a packed lunch

[strongagain1985]

AIBU to be surprised that the nursery (attached to a primary school) my 4 year old dd attends, charges £1.75 for children to bring a packed lunch in? If the child has a school dinner then it's £2.75. What do you make of this?

[PedlarsSpanner]

Awful

on the make I think, squeezing extra ££

Shitty really

[NinjaBunny]

WTF??

You've misheard, surely?

[strongagain1985]

I'm glad it's not just me then.

[SilasGreenback]

Well most nursery children I know of don't stay for lunch, so I think you are paying for the supervision/room/cleaning.

[hwjm1945]

i would question the legality of this - are they saying child cannot eat on premsies unless pay for it?

[strongagain1985]

She gets 15 hours free so she does two days, 9:00am-3:25pm. They charge the same for the kids in the primary school

[BikeRunSki]

Surely that is the supervision cost of him bring there over lunch time, ie: between sessions?

[BillyNotQuiteNoMates]

Surprising in some ways, but when you think that school meals cost less than a £1 for the actual food and the rest pays for the lunchtime staff maybe they aren't so far off the mark. Children taking a packed lunch still benefit from the staff in the playground (obviously, not the kitchen staff). I actually think £1 is fair. I'd hate to pay it, but I don't really see why other parents should have to pay more to cover my DCs lunchtime cover. The more children who take a packed lunch, the more subsidy that needs to be covered.

[BikeRunSki]

Sorry, her, not him.

[strongagain1985]

I wondered regarding the legality, how would I go about trying to find out?

[Sirzy]

The sessions won't run over dinner therefore you are paying for the staff to look after more than anything.

[Sirzy]

Perfectly legal. They can charge for things above the normal free hours.

[strongagain1985]

I thought dinner ladies were paid wages to do their job

[BingoWingsBeGone]

We paid £1.50 for the lunchtime 1/2hr as 9-12 and 12-3.30 were the funded sessions.

All packed lunches as no kitchen

[moogy1a]

They are NOT allowed to do this under the early years funding agreement. They MUST give you the option of bringing in a lunch for no extra charge.
This is very clear in the legislation for all councils brought in. In september

[BingoWingsBeGone]

Sorry 12.30-3.30 that should read

[FizzyMakeFeelNice]

Can you not use the remainder of the free 15 hours to pay for it? As you only use 12.5?

[strongagain1985]

It's not above the normal free hours, the 1/2 lunch time is included in the free hours. She only uses13 hours out of the 15 including lunch

[YouStayClassySanDiego]

Are you not paying for the 'care'.

I work in a setting where £2 is charged if the child brings a packed lunch to lunch club.

[Sirzy]

You can't use the full 15 hours over just 2 days, it has to be at least 3 (I think)

[goldenlula]

You are paying for the supervision for the dinner hour, vouchers do not cover this hour.

[moogy1a]

Pull them up on it. Get a copy of the funding agreement from your council

[moogy1a]

sirzy.
Yes you can. As long as the session is longer than 10 hours.

[JabberJabberJay]

Unless you've been specifically informed that this surcharge is to cover lunchtime supervision, I think it's outrageous.

At my DCs nursery, those that do only funded hours have the option of either paying extra for a hot lunch or bringing in a packed lunch for no extra charge.

[goldenlula]

Or half hour in your case, plus I believe you can only use 12 hrs over 2 days, 15 hrs over a minimum of 3 days.