Anybody signed up for 5 days a week but not sending your child every day?

[franch]

The nurseries we're looking at for DD2 for 2009/10 (when she'll be 4 - Sept birthday) all require that they go 5 mornings/afternoons/full days a week. I can only do full days, and really wanted only 3 or 4 a week, but it occurred to me that I would probably not be sent to jail if I kept her off occasionally. Does anybody else do this on a fairly regular basis?

[GivePeasAChance]

This annoys me - we didn't get a nursery place for both DSs and would be very if people took them not actually wanting them.

If you can't commit to the 5 days, don't take the place of someone who would actually want and relish it !

[doggiesayswoof]

Yes franch I was forced to do this with DD

She had a full-time place - it was all I could get - and she only went in 4 days a week. (then after a year I went back to full-time and she needed the 5 days anyway)

Will also do this with ds if we have to. It's a pain paying for the extra time but there was no way round it for us.

It may annoy you Givepeasachance but sometimes you don't have any choice. The only place I could get was full-time and I needed to go back to work to pay the mortgage. Sorry.

[TheBlonde]

The only issue may be with the early years childcare grant
I doubt the nursery will care if you pay but don't attend

[doggiesayswoof]

Should also say that the staff knew that DD would usually not be in on a Friday. (And I must admit it was useful having the Friday place if I needed it - I would send her in for a morning if I wasn't at work but wanted to get shopping done or something)

[GivePeasAChance]

Yes Doggiesaywoof, I work too. And I surprisingly have a mortgage too. Which means I don't appreciate people taking places and not using them. If you take a place knowing you can't actually commit to it, that is completely wrong.

[ForeverOptimistic]

Is it a nursery attached to a school?

I asked the school if ds could attend 3 mornings only but was told he had to attend 5. The nursery staff were okay with us taking our summer holiday during term time although we did receive a letter home from the school informing us that it was unauthorised absence. If you are planning on taking the odd day off I imagine that would fine but not on a regular basis.

[GivePeasAChance]

I am talking nurseries attached to schools. Maybe everyone else isn't !

[doggiesayswoof]

I did use the place. I would have taken a part-time place if it was on offer. It wasn't.

You are directing your anger at the wrong target here - it's not my fault that your area doesn't have enough nursery provision.

Don't see how it would help your situation anyway if I and people in my position had turned down the place. Why am I less deserving because I initially worked part-time?

[witchandchips]

but why is it wrong? If someone was on the waiting list wanting to do the extra day then the op would be allowed just to ask for 4 days (if she is not it is the fault of the nursery's computer + not the op). Are you saying that her need for 4 days childcare is somehow less valid than someones else's need for 5 days?

[doggiesayswoof]

Sorry Givepeas, x-posts. No, I'm talking about a private nursery.

No way could I have got a school nursery place - they are gold dust - and the hours they offered wouldn't have been long enough for us anyway.

[GivePeasAChance]

Quite - do what you like in a private nursery. But the gold dust school nurseries - I stand by what I said - you cannot take a place knowing you will not use it. That is wrong.

[franch]

Oh dear, had no idea I was being contentious. I am talking private, GIvePeas, if that's any help.

[doggiesayswoof]

Well I think you're ok then franch if it's private

[1dilemma]

I think there was some talking at cross purposes here.
If it is a private nursery I don't think they'll care, if you intend to you might just need to make it clear to them that your dc will be in sometimes on her 'non-day.'

It is of course the subject for an entirely separate thread about how much more difficult it is for a child whose parents both work to attend a school nursery. None of dc1s friends with working parents use/used the attached school nursery for younger siblings

[franch]

Well it is a private school nursery. DD2 is at a private nursery at the moment and they wouldn't care much if she did this. But I wondered if at school nurseries there was more continuity, or other reasons that they might be seriously displeased if she stayed at home on a regular basis. Or just what other people's experience, if any, of doing this was.

[badgeroo]

I do this at my DDs (private) nursery. I work fulltime, but not the same hours every day / week. We booked a five-day place, and sometimes use all day every day, and sometimes she is at home with me for part of a day. Yes, we're 'wasting' money in that there are hours of care that we have paid for but don't use, but we need to know that we CAN use them if we need to. The nursery certainly wouldn't let us chop and change each week and pay pro rata. Once she's older I'll probably leave her in longer anyway, but since she's still in the baby room I don't think she's missing out on any planned 'curriculum' activities.
Friends who are teachers have a similar problem - lots of nurseries want payment 52 weeks a year but during school holidays the parents like the idea of kids having time at home, so end up paying for a place they don't use, or sending their LOs off to nursery when mum and dad are not at work.

[AlexanderPandasmum]

I am a teacher and work 3 days per week, but do not work in the school holidays (well most of the time I don't) and so have to pay for the day nursery in the holidays like the previous poster described. I don't see this as wrong, but I do agree if it was a free school nursery place I wouldn't take a full time place and just not use all 5 days, because that is different IMHO.