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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want to pay playschool £5 because I have to work?

126 replies

mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 24/04/2008 09:41

My employer has changed my work hours, I used to work 6am til 9am. I now have to work 7am til 11am when ds is at playschool or basically lose my job.
Now I am unable to be a parent helper at playschool and have to pay them £5 when I am on the rota. Am i being unreasonable to not want to pay it?

OP posts:
Original poster
mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 24/04/2008 16:22

bozza - the sessions are 2.5 twice a week.

Luckily dh would get paid parental leave for major things like accidents, so I would then work.

OP posts:
Ripeberry · 24/04/2008 16:45

Most people don't realise that these playschools are run like a charity, they are not there to make a profit. The 2.5hrs a day would only take you from 9am to 11.30am but our playschool goes on until 12.30pm so parents pay the xtra hour in a lump sum each term...around £24.
Should be much easier in September with the 3hr payment, that's if our pre-school is still running.

jingleyjen · 24/04/2008 16:48

Sorry but if these are the playgroup rules then it isn't the playgroups fault that your shifts have changed.

throckenholt · 24/04/2008 18:28

Most people don't realise that these playschools are run like a charity

they ARE charities - they are NOT government playgroups. They are run as cost effectively as they can be - by a bunch of volunteer amateurs. If they have to pay for extra staff to cover the role of the rota parent many would not be able to make ends meet.

If you can't sign up to that then maybe you should not be using the playgroup setting. Either find funded childcare that fits your work, find work that fits your childcare, or stay at home and look after your own children.

Whilst it is a pain for you personally that your work hours have changed - it is no way the fault of the playgroup. If everyone decided they couldn't do the rota parent slot and would not pay the alternative to cover paying someone else then most playgroups would be that much closer to insolvency and end up closing.

It is a crazy way to run childcare - but it is the way it is done at the moment. If you want to change it lobby your mp - don't have a go at the people running playgroup - it is a thankless enough task anyway without people shouting at you about how unfair it is!

Original poster
mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 24/04/2008 18:41

throckenholt -

I have never 'had a go at people running the playgroup', the playgroup ds attends is very friendly and the people who work there do a good job. I know this as I have been a parent helper many times.

When I put my Son's name down for playgroup (I signed up for a few in my area) I had no idea how they worked. I was a first time parent. I thought it was linked to the School and that it was funded like a school. How would I know otherwise?

I know it isn't playschool's fault if my hours have changed, or even that I do work. However I do feel alot of the newsletters I recieve from them and activities that they do aren't aimed ar working parents. I have taken a day off work to help with the summer outing in June as I want to be there.

As I said before, I can't afford private childcare and originally my job didn't affect childcare anyway.

Agree that it is a crazy way to run childcare!

OP posts:
CaptainUnderpants · 24/04/2008 18:48

Off the track slighly here .. but I work in a playgroup which is a registered charity and I would say that the staff are not ' a bunch of volunteer amateurs '.

5 out of 8 staff are NVQ3 or above , another one is currently training. There can be alot of experince at playgropus , please dont put the staff down .

Original poster
mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 24/04/2008 18:49

I did think that actually!

OP posts:
llareggub · 24/04/2008 18:54

Could your partner not help out at the playgroup by taking annual leave?

Original poster
mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 24/04/2008 19:02

Annual leave? He is main bread winner, so no.

OP posts:
YouHaventSeenMe · 24/04/2008 19:03

He still gets annual leave.

Original poster
mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 24/04/2008 19:08

What is it? Take a year off just to help at playschool? Think not.

OP posts:
Original poster
mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 24/04/2008 19:13

Oh I see now. Dh is entitled to 'family time' we use this when ds is ill and for emergencies, not helping at playschool.

OP posts:
throckenholt · 24/04/2008 19:17

Off the track slighly here .. but I work in a playgroup which is a registered charity and I would say that the staff are not ' a bunch of volunteer amateurs 'angry.

not the staff - the committee running it. The staff are definitely trained and paid (albeit paid not enough in my opinion).

To all new parents coming in to playgroups - it really would help if they understood how they are run. Maybe it is the fault of the committee for not telling everyone - but in my experience it is often pointed out but not necessarily heard or taken on board by all parents.

Playgroups in this country are between the devil and the deep blue sea - they are not funded by government, but parents think they are, and ofsted keeps piling on more and more requirements on them.

Either they should go back to being volunteer parent run (ie no paid staff) PLAY groups like we went to as kids, or they should be local authority run properly funded and resourced early years education. At the moment they are neither and it is a nightmare for the volunteers managing them, and gives poor wages, and lousy job security for the staff working there.

ok - will get off my hobby horse now and go an walk the dogs ! Thankfully I am past all this stage now - but it is recent enough to still bear the scars !

CaptainUnderpants · 24/04/2008 19:28

misunderstanding

llareggub · 24/04/2008 19:34

When I referred to annual leave I was referring to your partner's holiday entitlement. I was suggesting that he might take a day off every now and again to do his turn on the rota, allowing you to work. Or you could to the same. After all, it is hardly an onerous commitment.

Turniphead1 · 24/04/2008 20:25

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

flowerybeanbag · 24/04/2008 20:27

Agree with llareggub, if you don't want to pay, you and your partner take turns to take a day's holiday once a term each to cover the rota.

Original poster
mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 25/04/2008 12:51

It is obvious from this thread I still have a lot to learn about sending your kids to playgroup and school! It is so hard when you start taking your first child to playschool as you don't know 'the rules' and how 'things work', it is bad enough not even being told how to go about finding a playschool. I wanted ds to attend one as his speech was slow and I thought it would help him to mix with other children more. It has helped a lot.
I have been chatting to dh last few days and I think I shall need to rethink my work hours. As for ttc number 2 I can see things being difficult when I go back to work. I am now thinking about continuing with my Sunday but maybe doing one evening a week if possible.
Thanks for the (very) honest replies

OP posts:
throckenholt · 25/04/2008 12:57

being a first time parent is a minefield of unexpected issues. Usually by the time you have your second you have figured ways round a lot of them.

Glad he has done well at playgroup - they are a great social experience for most kids, but they are not reliable enough to be child care for when you are working (in my experience) - especially as they are usually only in term time as well.

Original poster
mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 25/04/2008 13:11

He has done very well. He has gone from hardly saying a word at 2.5 to rambling away at now age 3. He askes to go all the time! He would go every day if he could.
I shall be seriously thinking about my work hours in the next few months. Have had to take 3 weeks holiday in the summer holidays, and will probably have to work evenings for the rest of it. Will have to see what happens! Thanks for the chat.

OP posts:
VanillaPumpkin · 25/04/2008 13:36

Throkenholt has hit the nail on the head!!!
from a jaded Pre-school committee volunteer trustee.

throckenholt · 25/04/2008 16:08

VanillaPumpkin - sad to say most of the people I know who have been on playgroup management committees - especially those who end up as chair or treasurer all seem to be jaded by the whole thing. It is sad because they volunteer to help, but find the whole way it is run frustrating - and they often get whinged at by the other parents because of the way things are run too !

VanillaPumpkin · 25/04/2008 16:29

Oh yes! Our poor chair has tried to resign, but there is no-one to take over from her. I am already treasurer and general dogsbody on a toddler group committee and seem to be taking on staffing and sec duties on the preschool committee as well as volunteering at the school (for my own benefit as I want to do my PGCE) and helping out once a month at the preschool (my dd goes twice a week). Plus I know it is a thankless task .
And the ladies who work at the pre-school are highly qualified and paid a pittance to do a really important job imo .

Anyway to OP, I think YAB slightly U.

The gvt promises us all funded places and yet does very little to provide them imo.

RustyBear · 25/04/2008 16:56

TBH, I think you're actually pretty lucky -between 13 & 17 years ago, my DCs went to two playgroups - one was started by two mums in a church hall, the other was in a bus which was in one location in the morning & another in the afternoon - that one was run by a committee of volunteers, of which I was one. Both employed staff (though the level of training required then was fairly minimal) but both also needed parent helpers, who worked on a rota - and we also paid in full for the sessions as at that time there was no government funding for under fives - and neither of my two started school until the term after their fifth birthday.
The government funding started the term after DD went to school, and so did the burden of excessive paperwork - both playgroups had folded within a few years.

throckenholt · 25/04/2008 17:35

as far as my local area goes - it was only a few years ago that the funded element was introduced - and it to being with I think it was only for the over 4s, extended to the over 3s about 2-3 years ago. And it only amounts to up to 5 2.5 hour sessions per week.