CM CLUB - Those that do after school care - contracts??

[LoveMyGirls]

its quite likely i'll be getting a phonecall about an after schooler tomorrow so can i please have some advice on contracts, what do you write about holidays? what if they don't want to book for you for the whole hols? (only want to do 3 days one week and 4 the next etc, how do you keep it consistant?)

If they are under 8 and in your minded numbers then I think you need to be sensible

If they want different days each week I think they need to pay for a minimum amount whether or not they use it & then pay for the rest on the days they use

Similar for the hols I would say

I do a contract for term-time which states that they pay for their afterschool care whether they come or not (sometimes get invited to tea with a friend, or granny collects etc.)

I am happy not to have schoolchildren in the school holidays, so my contract states words to the effect that you pay for whatever hours/days you want.

If you want something a bit more permanent (which I used to!), can you ask parents what they are likely to want. For instance, if they definitely want at least 3 days, perhaps do a contract for those days, assuming that they are the same 3 days. (If they use less days one week, you charge full fee, half-fee or whatever it is you agree). If they want an occasional extra day, you accommodate them if you can but obviously might not have a space?

As Katymac says, if they want different days each week, then perhaps you have to decide what the minimum is that you'd accept.

Do you know what other local minders would do - you don't want to ask for too much and end up losing the business.

afaik the child is 7 and his mum usually struggles with collecting on time and holiday cover. my dd is also 7 so would be nice for her to have someone her own age to play with. what do you do about homework? do your mindee's do it with you?

i remember when my dd1 was at kids club and i found it hard/ impossible for her to do her homework when she got home because she wasn't being picked up til 5.30 then dinner then she was too tired and wanted to wind down ready for bed. so as they are the same age with similar homework i thought they could do it together.

eg.
3.30 snack
3.45 homework
4.15 play
5pm dinner
6pm pick up

im getting ahead of myself now but i guess if i want this to be my career then i will get some after schoolers at some point (i hope!) so i should think it through properly.

any other help/ advice is welcome.

In my contracts i usually go for what they think they will use and that is what they pay for regardless of use. so will just do the same but do i do 2 contracts, one for term time and one for hols? or just write it on somewhere about holidays.

sorry first bit sounds like im slating her, she does run late but its because they close quite early and she can't get there in time due to traffic which is why she wants to change.