does this type of contract exist? and am I likely to get one?

[gingernutlover]

hi all - I am worrying in advance here but wondered if anyone could answer some general questions?

I am a teacher working 3 days a week and at the moment my dd goes to a day nursery but when she starts school (another year yet) i think we will need to have a childminder.

Do childminders do contracts for term time only? Would I have to pay in the school holidays at all? Would they cover INSET days?

Also, what do most childminders do about their holidays - I am really worried because my friend has a childminder that gave her 1 month notice of going away for 2 weeks holiday in term time - if this happened to me I would be stuffed because I don't get holiday allowance in term time, no matter how much notice I am given. The childminder wants to be paid for the 2 weeks but my friend will have to pay twice for childcare, is that normal?

Hi,there is every type of contract out there childminders can be very flexible.i CM for a teacher but have school age children myself so hols usually happen term time anyway ,i dont charge for school hols as i have other school age children just in hols,i have to make allowances for the inset days but my dad is my assisstant so can work with me on pre agreed inset days,i give 6 months + notice on hols but you can agree any time for notice of hols once agreed it is written into contract.

sorry hols "dont" happen termtime !!!

ah okay, sounds like i just have to find the right childminder for me then

thankyou for the info

I just can't believe she is going to school in a year and everything is going to be so much more complicated. Wish she could just stay at her nursery which is so easy - so inconsiderate isnt she, growing up!

I'm a CM and only do term-time. Mainly because i have young children of my own and the only time that we as a familly can go on holiday is in school holiday time!
Each CM is different, most seem to charge a 'retainer' for the holidays but myself and others don't charge for holidays, only for the time that you actually use.
Why not ring around your local CMs and see what they can offer?

I have a teacher's son as my mindee at the moment and she teaches in another county so around Easter and Xmas the holidays are slightly different but only by one or two days which is easy to accomodate
I just feel really 'mean' to ask someone to pay me for something that i've not worked for IYKWIM?

i use 2 diff cm's at the mo.

one childminder only charges me term time and then during hols its whenever ds goes which is great as i can cut costs down by him staying with families, this cm has not taken time off during ternm time in the 2 years ive used her and gives prob 6 months warnign about her hols.
for bank hols that are term time i dont pay her

dd cm does things diff ... pay same amount all year round - so she goes during hols even when im off sometimes! takes hols in termtime and last time we only had a months notice for a 2 week holiday. she doesnt charge during her hols tho. for her bank hols she charges normal if u dont use her and double if you do.

id be really honest with any cm you speak to about what you want and how you want things to work. if they sy they cant do it like that at least you know where you stand and wont get any shocks in the future.

CM's are all different, I have two mindees with teacher parent, I accomodate when I can for insett days, but occassionally I am full so can't do extra days.

I have TT only contract for these mindees on the understanding that if they need care out of tt I may not be able to provide it, as i also have just holiday club mindees. I don't charge for hols / bank hols or a retainer when they are off. I give my year planner a year in advance so parents know when I am off, just finished 2011, although I do occassionally have to attend courses etc which are just day things and I give as much notice as poss contractually I give 2wks but in reality its more like 2mths.

thankyou ladies, thats all really useful. I have to wait until I know what school dd is going to as one has wrap around care and one doesnt but at least i now know i can ask about all these things without it being seen as unusual or unreasonable

I do term time only contracts. I do not charge when I am on holiday and try and help parents find alternative childcare. You should be able to get what you want.

thanks again, yes feel happier about it now

i have my mum who helps when she can in emergencies but she spends 2 weeks every other month in the south of france, so advance notice of things like holidays and courses will be essential

No thats not normal to have to pay for a term time holiday with 4 weeks notice and its unreasonable aswell. You will find a cm that offers what you want. I advertise for teachers that want a term time only contract as its what suits me. I don't charge a retainer. But cms can offer what they like just make sure what you want and agree to ie term time contract and no time off in the term etc, is written in the contract, that way there can be no misunderstanding.

Im a teacher working three days a week and ds1 starts school this sept. He and ds2 have been in nursery up to now, but I have now found a cm who will drop off and pick up ds1 from school, and will collect him from school for the three weeks he will be part time. Ds2 is staying in nursery at the moment as it is fantastic, but if cm works out I think Ill move him to the schools nursery and the cm. It gets so much more complicated when they are in schhol, but the good news is that term time contracts does make it a bit cheaper!!

yes, i am looking forward to keeping more than half my wages once she doesnt go to nurserry!

And of corse you lose your lovely free holiday tim get to spend quality holiday time with your dd!

Try again as that didnt work, And of course you lose your lovely free holiday time get to spend quality holiday time with your dd

I give up!!