CM & wrap-around care (esp for pre-schoolers)

[lechatnoir]

Can anyone explain to me how it works WRT paying a CM for those days that my DS will be at pre-school and later school?
I will be dropping DS & new baby (due now!!) at the CM at 8am and during term time she will drop DS off at the local pre-school for 9:15pm and collect again at 3:15pm and I will them collect both children at 6pm. Obviously I pay for the baby for the full day but what about DS - do I pay the full hourly rate throughout the day regardless of how many hous he's at pre-school?

And if a CM can earn a full day rate without actually minding any children for X hours per day during term time, do many CM just offer wrap-around care & if not why not

Thanks in advance
LCN.

Can't speak for all CM but a previous CM I have used I paid full for the time dd was actually there and paid a lesser rate for the hours she was at preschool as a kind of retainer.
She couldn't offer only wraparound care because obviously during the school holidays she would have had dd full time and had to keep her place open so could net fill the hours she was at pre-school with another child then boot them out in the holidays to let dd have her place so I continually paid to keep her place open.

You have to consider the Ofsted ratios. It is hard for a CM to find another mindee to fit around pre-school hours. Also what will you do in the holidays? There is an Ofsted exception for rising 5s who are in full time reception, in which case they do not count in the under 5s ratio.

Why would a CM 'just offer' wrap around care? What are they supposed to do for the rest of their day? I paid full day rate when ds was at nursery all day (9.30am to 3pm) which was normal where I live. I changed to school wraparound care and holiday club when ds started school at 4.2 as it was a lot cheaper, although of course I have no cover at all if ds is ill.

Sorry wasn't having a go & have had a wonderful CM in the past so wouldn't for one minute underestimate their worth

DS is currently at nursery & I'm keen to go back to using a CM for him and the baby when I start back at work & but it's looking like nursery for 2 works out a LOT cheaper than CM for 2 which I hadn't expected [hmmm].

MollieO - how does school wrap-around care differ?

School wraparound care is usually a breakfast club before school in the school and an after school club again in the school itself.
Where I used to stay the local Gym creche also ran an after school club where fully trained staff did the collections from the 3 closest primary schools, collected childen en masse and took them to a function built part of the leisure centre.

When they are out of preschool and in actual school you do tend to find a few more options open to you.

Lechatnoir, I don't know where you are based but in Surrey my rates for 2 siblings for whole day care is up to £10 cheaper a day than my local nursery, which is 3 doors down. I would charge £5 an hour for the youngest and £4.50 an hour for the eldest. For the times the eldest was at preschool I would then charge half rate. Hope it helps!

I charge while child attends preschool if I drop off and collect this is because

a) would not be able to have another child for the 2.5 hrs
b) I would be contacted in an emergency to collect child therefore I must be able to provide care if needed during the time the child was at pre-school, same applies during school hols, days closed etc.

I do not charge if I don't drop off to pre school, but I would not be available to collect if needed, and care would be charged from when I collected at end of pre-school session.

For children at school full time I charge hourly before and after, not when they are there. I am happy to collect child from school if needed if they are poorly or pop into school to give medication as well, I don't charge extra if I have to do this I class it as part of the service I offer, although it does annoy me when schools won't give meds. For holiday club I charge a daily rate 7 - 6pm or 1/2 day 7 - 12 whch works out cheaper for parents.

So basically if you need your CM to be on call for the whole of pre-school wrap around time you will probably be charged. This tends to be the norm for CM's in our area.

Full charge while at pre school, because they are taking up a full time space. Only charge for hours they are with me for school children, because I could not put a pre school child in a school child's place due to Ofsted ratios. Hope that makes sense.