If my 7 year old DD is in childcare only in holidays do I need to pay childcare when she's in school

[Alicew00]

Do I need to pay every week even if she's not there and in school?

I'm confused. I have never done this before.

Well, it depends on the type of childcare and your contract with them. There is no one answer to your question. Is it holiday club, a childminder, or what?

What childcare she in? Usually no is the answer but refer to your contract for confirmation.

Can’t you do holiday clubs/camps for a 7YO? And then you only pay for what you need. Are you talking about keeping a childminder on retainer?

Its my first time so I met with a childminder last week and she's just text me something about cutting payment in half when not in whole place.
I've never heard of holiday clubs?
I'll have to look into that

Yes, if you are wanting them to hold a place there will be some retainer.

What did you specifically ask the childminder to provide? It sounds like you have wires crossed. The childminder maybe isn’t offering holiday only childcare, so that means that she’s “holding” a space for you during term time as well, a space she can’t give to another child, so she’s asking for payment for that too.

You need to ask the CM if she does a school holidays only contract.

Childminders set their own terms and conditions. Some offer holiday only care, some only have FT places so if you want the place open for holidays you'll have to pay something for it year round.

There are usually holiday clubs and camps for school-aged children which are school holidays only.

Is she on standby for termtime ie .inset days or strikes?

You need to ask the childminder if they will do a school holidays only contract. If they don’t do that then it’s probably not the best option for you. Essentially the childminder could take a baby or toddler full time, all year round, and be paid accordingly. But they can’t do that if they’re holding a space for your DD every school holiday. So they might have decided that financially it doesn’t make sense for them to take her unless you’re paying something e.g. half the usual fee.

Regardless I’d really recommend holiday clubs over a childminder for a 7YO. At the childminder’s she’s likely to be with toddlers. But if you’re in a densely populated area there should be lots of club options so you can pick ones tailored to her interests and/or talk to other school parents to coordinate so she’ll have friends there. You can probably find the info on your local council’s website or if there’s a class parents WhatsApp group then ask on there.

I'd ask for clarification it could be a holiday only contract, wrap around and holiday.....she might be saying if child is booked in during holidays it's full rate but if you book a few days off it's half rate ...lots of possibilities.

I take school children in the holidays we do den building, pond dipping, crafts, bowling, cinema, zoos and more. They don't impact on my 3 under 5 as one is term time only the other 2 just join in....the eldest is almost 11

It sounds like she is keeping a place for your daughter meaning she can't fill it during term time, though this seems odd and expensive. Are you expecting her to be available all the time at short notice?

Ideally she'd have a couple of term time only children that could swap in and out with some school holiday children.