Childminders - will I have to pay a retainer during the school holidays?

[SpinningEm]

Hi
I realise that my childminder has to charge me for my daughter whilst she's at pre-school to retain her space for that day but as my new job is in a school & I won't need childcare during the school holidays - do childminders generally charge a retainer fee for the holidays?

Depends on the cm - I think most cm's treat teachers / those who work term-time only differently to other parents.

In theory some cms would charge you all year round, but if I was taking a child of a teacher I'd charge half-rate for the holidays.

You won't get away with paying nothing during holidays - as it's still an under-five space, unless you find a very special cm!

Once your child is in full-time school I think most cms don't charge during holidays.

I have a term time contract only with my cm as she wants that time (summer, half terms etc) with her own children. works out well for us. I only pay for the 40 or so weeks during the school year. My kids aren't yet school age that she looks after.

Some do, some don't. My BF who CMs doesn't because she prefers termtime only mindees, and it's a bit unfair to charge someone for a 'place' she actually doesn't want to fill

I offer term-time-only contracts and do not charge anything during school holidays as a retainer, both for under and over 5s. I currently have 3 families who take advantage of this (mums are teachers).

I tend to take on more ad hoc work during the school holidays, which can often be schoolchildren.

I have term time only contracts and don't charge

hth

Thanks guys this has really helped!