Holidays- do you pay for childcare?

[Aberdeen3]

Hello, I am a teacher, I am due my first baby in October, I plan to go back to work before Easter, but will I have to pay for childcare over the holidays? What is the norm? I understand childcare providers cannot really sustain working the same hours as a teacher, but does it happen? Otherwise I'm not seeing the point in going back!
I'm in the South west if it makes a difference.
Thanks in advance guys x

I have a few teacher friends who have negotiated with childminders and nurseries to not pay holidays. Certainly there are some providers
Out there that offer childcare term time only- this is in the north tho.

We found some childminders with children would do term time only. Or others can take extra older children just in holidays to make up numbers. We ended up having to change childminders and now pay half rate for holidays but spread cost over the year so easier to budget! Make sure you get childcare vouchers too if they accept them makes a big difference as tax free!

You may find a nanny who has own children who may be happy to not work during the holidays. She will probably need to be able to bring her children to work though on the odd days the holidays are different ( as won't be paid for a chunk of the year)

We use a childminder, and she charges half if DD doesn't go in the holidays. And doesn't charge for bank holidays. It's a great compromise because I can choose to send her if I need to. And the 6 week hols are a bit long for little ones to not go I feel. Childminders are generally more flexible than nurseries IME

Thank you, this is all great advice. I suppose it's true that not going at all during the holidays would be a bit long. I just want to get the best option I can, someone advised me that a nursery is better as if there is an ill member of staff it wouldn't mean I had to take day off for baby as I would with an individual childminder.x

Some cms like to work term time only (others don't). You just need to contact the ones in your area. If they don't advertise term time only, still ask, as they might consider it.

Also think about the possibility of spreading costs over the year, as mentioned above. I have some parents who just pay by fixed standing order.

I was going to suggest you try find a term time only CM. Some nurseries do term time only I believe but each has different arrangements.

As a teacher, do you actually get all of your holidays off? Might it be useful just to arrange to cut down to 2 days a week so you can still do your prep/planning etc?

Also, re: illness - CMs tend to have arrangements with other CMs to allow cover for sickness. They tend to buddy up.

oh oh, I didn't realise CMs sometimes buddy up, a lot to think about, I think I will enquire with local CMs and nurseries and see the best option, want the best for baby as well as the best we can afford.
Thanks x

Some people seem to look down on CM, but we've had a fabulous experience with ours. DD is like part of the family - the CM's older sons send home pictures they've drawn for her. So cute.

A good CM will beat a bad nursery, and vice versa. They follow the same curriculum and ours has great facilities and the options of easy trips out to soft play or farms or even just the local pet shop.

Hello, I have two teachers children and I charge them for 39 weeks of the year but spread the cost across 12months. I like being quieter in the holidays and I like knowing that I will have a set amount of money coming in each month. So it is possible to find, you just have to ask!
As someone who used to work in nurseries I do think CM are more flexible and a brilliant option for a younger child. However the best Advice I could give you is to visit lots of different settings and make sure you feel really happy with your choice of childcare, best of luck!

Re: illness, I've found that in my 4yrs of being a childminder I've only had to close once. Often the thought of going to work makes the illness worse, hence why I had more sick days working at school and nursery, working from home means that if I have to have a quiet day in its fine, I'm rarely that ill that I loose ability to care for children

(Maybe just ability to spell!!) ^^ *lose

I'm a a childminder and have one child who comes term time only & just pays for 39 weeks a year (albeit averaged over 12 mths) & there is no space held for her in the holidays which suits us both.
However, I have another child who also comes just 39 weeks a year but I charge her half fee in the holidays (again averaged so she pays the same each month) as she wants the flexibility of having the option of holiday care for inset days/prep & planning/days off!

Oh, and I've been childminding 3.5 years and also had just 1 sick/emergency day off. I managed to juggle so none of my 4 families lost a days work by a combination of cancelling my day off to cover & using another childminder. Don't forget most childminders don't get paid if they're off sick & as another poster said, knowing we can have a quiet day at home makes it a LOT easier than leaving the house to go out to work (plus most of us have to do the school run for our own children so will have to get up & out whether we want to or not!)

I am a Childminder and I specialise in teachers kids! They like me because I am a teachers child myself and a graduate. They also like me because I don't charge for holidays but I do ask for 12 monthly payments spread over the year. I also have holiday care only children so it is swings and roundabouts.

I don't like too many children as that stops us from going on fab days out during the hols - Chester zoo, cadburys world, MOSI to name a few.

Great times

I'm a teacher and we paid term time only over 12 months, in a nursery. As pre-school funding, I believe, only covers term time anyway, the rest of the time was holiday club. We had to sign to say term time or full time. But I did used to drop her into holiday club for a couple of days to have a break of which we paid for extra.

depends on the cm/nursery but I know mine charges 50% of her normal fee to retain place

I'm a CM and I do whichever days parents need during the holidays. E.g. One family use me every day after school in term time, but maybe 2 or 3 full days in the holidays with grandparents doing the other days. It helps me as I get some time with my own DCs and some earning days too.

Tbh, as a CM, the worthwhile money is to be made in holidays, especially when you don't look after little ones so only get 2-3 hours a day the rest of the time, but it would be unrealistic for me to charge for full days during the holidays if the parents don't need it.

And as for sickness, I agree, as a self employed person CMs are less likely to take time off as they don't get paid! They soldier on and if it means a quiet day at home rather than going out, they will still take care of your baby.

The more likely scenario is your child being poorly rather than the CM and your baby is far less likely to catch whatever is going around if they are at a CM than a nursery by sheer force of numbers!

We do one day a week in the holidays, it's nice to keep them in the swing of going and to have time to catch up on jobs. Lots of nurseries were willing to accommodate this, but not all.

Just phone round and see. They let us pay in equal monthly instalments which helps

I'm a child minder, the 4 I mind are all term time only, although I occasionally mind during the Holidays if needed.
I don't particularly want to work during school hols so dont charge retainers etc etc
Just charge for the hours that the children are with me.

I don't look after any teachers children at the moment, but if I did, I would be happy to do it on a term time only contract. It's nice to have quieter times and this means I can spend more time with my own children when they are off school. But teacher friends do seem to spend a lot of time planning and doing school work in the holidays, so you might need the option to end your child during the holidays to get some work done.

DH and I are childminders and we've always been very flexible for teachers.

We do termtime only with up to 6 free days in the holidays for classroom preparation days. We also spread invoices over 12 equal payments.

Shoulder to cry on when OFSTED is imminent is also thrown in for free

That's 6 free days over the year, by the way - we're not that generous

Look at sure start/children's centre nurseries. They are charity's and not looking to make a profit and so don't charge for when a child isn't in attendance. They are usually pretty good nurserys too!

I'm not sure where you get your information, but Surestart is a Government initiative introduced by the last Labour Government: Childrens Centres are not charities - some of them are now privately owned, having been sold off to prIvate nursery chains.

They are supposed to be self-funding so the childcare element is usually around the same charge as the local nurseries.

They have been underfunded and closed down by the Coalition Government and I expect to see that policy continued under the Conservatives.