Childminder wants to close at 1pm for the rest of the week

Even if the children were younger, I’d find ways to keep safe. And how she expect to be paid when she is not fulfilling the conditions of the contract ? It’s mad !

No way! That’s ridiculous. You have to be at work, she has to be a childminder. I lived in Spain for years and the schools and nurseries are generally not air conditioned. They just take measures to keep young children relaxed and not overheated. It works!

So you can look after your children safely then? In which case you should absolutely provide your service. But bear in mind not all childminders have air con units or just 3 3 year olds

The childminder is being so ridiculous ! I am a childminder and it’s expected to be 36 degrees where I am. We go out in the morning in shady places then the afternoon we stay in. They play calmly, we watch a bit of TV and drink lots of water. In 2022, I have invested in aircon unit and it’s the best thing I have done. The temperature was 20 degrees in the living room all day. I only have 3 x 3 years old to look after. Couldn’t imagine letting down the parents like that. Don’t put all childminders in same bag !

''Your husband should take dependent's leave since you're a week into a new job.''

''That probably won’t be paid either. Plus once it’s used up it’s gone, it should be used for something illness / accidents not my childminder feels a bit sweaty.''

OP, you really don't seem to have any respect for childminders and the valuable service they provide.
Or the extreme weather guidelines they have to follow.

Please don't be THAT PARENT, who disregards the 1pm requested pickup and rocks up at 5pm regardless, because you feel your job is far more important than that of your childminder.

What county is it? Struggling to believe this

Don’t understand all the “how is their house different to yours”

Your house probably isn’t filled with as many kids

There is a red weather warning in place - I wouldn’t want to be a childminder responsible for keeping so many children cool. I’m sure you are aware at this age they struggle to regulate their body temp?

Yes it’s inconvenient but the child is your responsibility not the childminders - whether you use your funded hours or not

All our local schools have closed from 12pm / 1pm today until Friday.

Sick of all this heat hysteria

You are having a laugh, right? The childminder can't get in the bath with the kids!! Also childminders often have 4/ 5 kids, especially with older ones being off too. They can't fit them all in the bath.

Ofsted are really clamping down on safe aleep at the moment so the reason a lot of places are asking to collect by 1pm is to make sure they nap at home under parental supervision

When I have my son at home on a 30 degree day we just get in the bath at about 2pm and get nice and cool in there, then play in the dark and shady parts of the house.

Any reason why she couldn't use an ounce of gumption rather than skive her job?

My nursery just gets the kids out early then set up lots of wet/ice play. It's different in a school where there are more kids, bad classrooms and they're supposed to learn.

Is she reducing your bill this week too?

My kids nursery is shutting 1pm wed & Thurs with 35c forecast

Heat can be very dangerous to young children and I expect that she doesn’t want to be responsible for them becoming ill if she can’t mitigate the heat. This is not only perfectly reasonable imo it is also very sensible. It is also not her fault your partner hasn’t left any contingency/ emergency annual leave or that you’ve just started a new job.

We have air conditioning units and can't get it to that temperature ATM! 😂

But to achieve what?
The OP sues her childminder, has no childcare, and no other local childminder will ever touch her?

Breach of contract?
unless she has an “extreme weather caviat”?

How is legal advice going to help?

I’d say I’m assuming you won’t be claiming my funded hours then and I will use those another time - but yes so hard when you are at work.
my childminder used a converted double garage and has air con thankfully 😅

It's understandable that she might want to do that but does that exonerate her from blame?

Unless there is something drastically different about her home that makes it dangerous in these conditions then yes, she can be blamed.

She has dropped a client with no notice, for no good reason, knowing that she will face difficulty. Not on.

I would be keep my powder dry @SweatySpider321 but immediately begin looking for someone else.

Is she still expecting to be paid?

I remember your post on this. I'm not sure why you're still using her? I wouldn't trust someone dishonest and lying about my own child's health with my children.

We’re in a red area and it’s only saying 32/33 for the next few days here.

What the fuck is wrong with people! It’s hot for a few days! The world doesn’t stop, people just have to work as usual! Snowflakes.