If your child goes to a CM, what did you do when they were 3 and you got the vouchers from the government?

[francesrivis]

Did you switch them to nursery full time or did you somehow manage to combine CM with pre-school/nursery/playgroup ... and what on earth is the difference anyway?? I'm really confused .... but I know my dd has a great relationship with her CM and ideally I don't want her to stop going altogether.

Any ideas/experience gratefully received, thanks

i was a childminder and my mindees went to a pre school for 2.5 hours a day and i was paid same and took and collected the children.

I stopped childminding in Aug and both my mindees (aged 3 ) now attend nursery full time which means fees are reduced for 33 weeks a year but the mindees mums tell me that actually per year (due to nursery costing more than CM) they actually are worse off now mindees are in nursery full time.

Its personal choice really. If you want CM to continue care then your DC can access the pre school places but dont expect CM to reduce rates etc.

Thanks bonkerz. Is that usual then, that the CM continues to charge for the hours that the child is at preschool?

francesrivis, I am a CM who can claim the Nursery Grant as I am Acreditted, but if children do go to Nursey (I actually have not had one that has) I have this Policy in polace, which hopefully makes things clear.

UNDER 5?S IN OTHER SETTINGS

A child is counted as an under 5 by Ofsted until they are in full time education i.e. at school for 10 sessions a week.

A child who is at pre school is a under 5 and if they are with a childminder before and after pre school, and require a fulltime space during the holidays they therefore are taking a childminders full time space. As such you are required to pay retainer fee for the time that they are at preschool, as the childminder cannot then fill the part time that they are at pre school.

My CM never charged me for it.......

all childminders i know get paid for when the mindee is at pre school. This is becasue normally the childminder is the one taking and collecting the child and would normally be the person responsible for the child if they cannot attend pre school (hols/sick etc) then the child is using a place at the CM and thus needs ot pay as such!

My son goes to an accredited CM . She would charge if he went to pre-school on her watch as she couldn't fill the place.

when I was CMing I never charged for it either, but I think those of us who don't are few and far between. I can completely understand why CMs would charge though, it suited me to only be part time so I didn't need to charge for the hours the LOs were at preschool, as I worked term time only there was never the availablilty in the holidays dilemma.

You know considering I am one, you would think by now I could spell accredited.

Nope! spell it a different way every time

My childminder didn't charge for it but she wasn't looking to fill the space. Her youngest son was at the same pre-school as DD and her other mindee and that's all she was looking for at the time.
Now her son is at school, she just does before and after school pick ups and works in a creche a couple of mornings a week