Inset

[BlessedandLoved]

Hi, I have a term time only agreement with my childminder. The inset day comes a day after school closes, i don't work on inset days as an agency worker hence I'll not need to take my child to the childminder. But my childminder insists that I'll still need to pay her for that day irrespective. Is this right as i only get paid for the days i work. I need your advice please.

The only answer to this is what does your contract say?

It's a term time contract and the INSET is after the term ends?

There are 5 inset days a year-what was arranged when you started the agreement? What have you done with the others?

Inset days are within term times usually - if you look at the school holiday dates on your council website it will likely confirm this

But INSET days are not normally outside of term time. The children are off but it's still a term day.

INSET days are term time. Lots of schools tack them onto holidays, so they don't feel like it, but they are term time.
If they put them in the middle of term you might feel better about paying, so remind yourself you aren't getting short changed, it just feels that way!

Inset days are within term times usually - if you look at the school holiday dates on your council website it will likely confirm this
They're not. 5 inset days for staff are on top of term time.

When my DC were in childcare, the LA would inform the nurseries which weeks were funded and it would always mean one week we had to pay for despite being a term time contract. It was easier for them to put the 5 days together than to deal with different parents having different inset days, different councils etc.

INSET days are term time. So if you've agreed to pay, then you owe for the 5 days.

Ignore my comment, I'm wrong.

INSET are not term time.

Hmmm, I guess it depends on how you define the terms, I guess and that is crucial here because you and the childminder disagree!

Are you saying that if the inset is before or after when the children break up (ie the first/last day of a half term), you don’t want to pay, but you will pay if it’s eg Friday 19th April as that’s ‘within’ term time? She could argue that eg if the children’s last day is Wednesday 27th March, but the 28th is Inset, that’s still term time.

I’d come to an agreement that you are both happy with as otherwise this arrangement will probably soon be terminated!

Lots of teacher friends have term time contract with childcare providers for their children and obviously still need those Inset days as they are still working.

Anyway, you need to define a plan that you are both happy with.

Shinyandnew1
What was the norm in my area is that the nurseries and childminders would do the term dates for the council they were in. Usually our PD days were covered by the term time contract when the children weren't accessing funding. I never had to book extra days because the nursery knew that staff had PD days.

Funded hours are for the 190 days of term times, not the 195 days staff work. Our nursery/LA grouped the 5 inset days into a week and parents on term time contracts paid for nursery that week as it wasn't a funded week. It covered the days that we'd used for inset throughout the year. It worked well.

Funded hours are for the 190 days of term times, not the 195 days staff work. Our nursery/LA grouped the 5 inset days into a week

Interesting-it obviously varies a lot. Our LA’s Insets are spread across the year-at the start/end of terms and often in the middle as well.

It’s only really teachers I know that have a term time only arrangements with their childcare as everyone else needs it year round and they all have the Insets as part of their arrangement.

Interesting-it obviously varies a lot. Our LA’s Insets are spread across the year-at the start/end of terms and often in the middle as well.

It’s only really teachers I know that have a term time only arrangements with their childcare as everyone else needs it year round and they all have the Insets as part of their arrangement.
Most LAs do the same for inset days by spreading them out.

All funded children get the same number of days so nobody is better/worse off.

For example one 3 year old will be in a day nursery for their funded hours and another will be in a school nursery.

Both get the same amount of funded hours.
The child in the school nursery has the day off when the inset days are. They don't attend and there's no funding for them because funding is 190 days.

The child in a day nursery also doesn't get funding for that day, so there's the option for the nursery to refuse to have the child, but most will still take the child because they're open. The funded day has to come off somewhere else though because there's only funding for 190 days.

Both sets of parents have to sort additional paid for childcare for the inset days.
The parent of the child in the school nursery has to find childcare for the insets spread throughout the year on the exact days.
The parent of the child in the day nursery will have to pay for 5 days somewhere else. Often this is a block week somewhere else that isn't covered by funding.

Both families get 190 days of funding.
Both families have to make arrangements for the 5 days inset.

It's not uncommon for the term time contracts with childcare providers to include the inset days, precisely because it's generally school staff wanting those contracts and they need the 195 days. It means that for those who don't have funding (like under 3s) are paying for 195 days.

A term time only contract means you have 13 weeks or a max of 65 days you don't pay for (or pay a retainer for dependent on your contract) ... Unless you specifically discussed and negotiated the additional 5 training days. Schools typically tag training days onto holidays but they are not officially school holidays and staff normally have to work....unless the school trade off evening training

My school nursery don't make up time for afternoon 15 hour children who last year had a shortfall of 11 sessions and 5 less than morning children

There's no contract yet, I'm still waiting on her, we just have a verbal agreement.

My school nursery don't make up time for afternoon 15 hour children who last year had a shortfall of 11 sessions and 5 less than morning children
Why were there 11 fewer afternoon sessions?
At face value that doesn't seem on as they'll be claiming funding for those children for the 190 term days.

INSETS are term time. Just non contact days for teachers.

This is what I think. I don't understand why people think that they are not term time. A school could choose to have five Wednesdays off in November for their INSET days.

Well, you’ll need to come to an arrangement that you are both happy with or find a new childminder,

I would look at what your local authority publishes as term dates and expect to be paying her and using her child care on those days. If you have to pay then definitely send her and have a me day doing errands or treats

She's already loosing 13 weeks money which is the number of school holidays weeks.

I know it's not on they don't open afternoons last days of terms or half terms. They also had a week of consultations with workmen but were open to others plus the days they do staggered starts and home visits. As a provider I have to account for every hour but schools are exempt it seems.