Prep school offering 6am - 8pm, 51 weeks. How quickly is that going to become common then?

[EBDteacher]

I've just been reading an article in a local 'services for kids' type magazine about at prep school in the area that is going to offer fully integrated care from 8am-6pm 51 weeks of the year, with optional sessions 6am-8am and 6pm-8pm! It's going to be charged monthly at £500pcm (for the whole lot- not just the wraparound) like nursery fees.

The school terms are also going to be different to the state sector so parents can take family holidays outside peak times.

Wouldn't suit us as DH and I are both teachers but I can see it appealing to lots of working families. If a few schools start offering services like that how long before they all will?

Why would a prep school start offering reduced rate fees for a longer school day?

Swed - because it is about to go under, I should think!

There are valid reasons for reducing fees.

A school can, over the years, drift in the wrong direction wrt bursary funding. They may have too many pupils on bursaries and scholarships, with the average fee income being significantly less than 50% of the official level.

When this happens, a correction is required. This means that the headline fee is reduced and all the 20 and 30% discounts eradicated. They can do this without affecting the overall income, and then have the benefit of making the school more attractive to new families.

Yes- a little worrying really if you're about to start them off in Reception!

Our school offer wrap-around care, not 6am-8pm unsurprisingly, and it costs rather more than £500 pcm. Of course they may be factoring in the nursery grant scheme into that which will take some of the cost out of the fees.

What worries me is that I think some people will use it from 6to8. Yes there will always be cases like lairsgub.

However it is very sad that children are left this long in this environment. Surely the main person bringing a child up is a parent not strangers. No one is interested more in your child than a mum or dad.

So working people shouldn't have children?

Not read whole thread

Agree with posts I have seen which says blimey that's cheap!

Of course working people should have children but no not if you have to leave them that long.

This is a case of children go to school and when school is finished they play with their friends. They could do that at home, they could do that somewhere else. I swear the minute after school/holiday clubs are mentioned people envisage children sent up chimneys or forced to do an extra hour of Algebra.

When I was little, and school was over I went out to play - with my friends. I didn't have an hour of Kumon and violin practice. My parents (GPs in my case) didn.'t do quality time. It was play - dinner - bed. What on earth is the difference?

Of course working people should have children but no not if you have to leave them that long.

How long is too long?

6am to 8pm

I read the fees as 'an introductory offer' for children starting in 2012. The fees will I expect rise as they move into the next year group.

Very good question! I went back to work when dd was 5 months old, but between us we limited her hours in nursery/school. We have had lots and lots of quality time. My mother died when I was 4 and had spent much of the 2 previous years in hospital. It was a case of scrabble around and do the best you can. You know what - I don't even remember!

I regret that my mum is not here, but my life has not been ruined by childcare and being looked after people other than my parents. Continuity and security is key - in my eyes.

The are nurseries in every major town that offer care for those hours. Are peope similarly up in arms about them and their users?

I've had several reversals since I had first DC. Obviously there are people who think I should have foreseen them and not had the children.

Can anyone guarantee their personal availability through the child-raising years? I'd like to know how, as clearly I fell so badly short on this that I should not have had them.

Round here I think nurseries offer 8-6

6-8 is quite long hours for a baby. Surely at that point the cost would be so prohibitive you'd look into other options?

A quick browse on our local site shows max offering at nurseries 7.30 - 6.30 around here.

If I knew then what I know now I wouldn't have had kids

But I can't get a refund on them or take them back.

I hate all this reinforcement of Disney families and celebrity motherhood. This whole idea that being a mother is the most brilliant thing ever and that everyone should spend all day playing happy families.

I hate being a mum

Naught I can do about it now though.

But noone is saying the baby DOES 6-8. If you have a shiftworker starting at 7 - childcare with an early start might make the world of difference. That is not to say they would be doing 6-8 every single day.

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2004/feb/25/familyandrelationships.children

Agree this should not be allowed in nurserys either. Indigo have you always felt like this or is it just a difficult time at the moment.

Indigo - depends on what you call "being a mum" . It is not about Disney and cupcakes and bollocks.

To me it is a job that involves training this new lifeform to take their part in the world. Independance, confidence, ability to do stuff for themselves. And other people should have a part to play - neighbours, friends, grrandparents, childcarers, teachers......Whoever invented Quality time should feck off.

interesting but didn't get a licence

I agree that the flexibility could appeal, but have concerns about children in other people's care for so many hours. My fiance was sent to boarding school from 7 to 15 and was not happy there. He still suffers repercussions now in confidence, from bullying he suffered etc and can't talk about things like children's TV programmes he used to watch or playing on the street with his friends...

I know not all boarding experiences are like this, and some people I know absolutely loved it, but I would worry that my child would be unhappy. I don't think the mother in law listened to him when he said for years that he wanted to come home, and I am sure most parents would judge an experience by their child's reactions rather than brushing it under the carpet, but anyway, it has given me first hand experience of a little boy turned man who just wanted his parents more than anything else.

I've always hated being a mum.