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?

Of course itmisn,t. If you feel you are doing the right thing you should never feel guilty. It depends solely upon what you consider the role of a parent to be not a mother but a parent. I wouldn't leave a child that long it would just not occur to me to do that.

being mum & parent isn't compromised by ft work,nor is it compromised by child being in 8-6 nursery or school

Pmsl @ Xenia and her housewives. Simplistic. And as for her 'knowing her kids do better'. I think she thinks everyone will just swallow here statement as fact with no data just because she is who she is. What bollocks.

that's a mn truism everyone asserts their kids do great
Christ the housewife precious moments crew cite biddulph and shitsville uni "research" as if it's irrefutable proof of achievement. so in fairness mn is full of posters who swear their kids do great

Well it is just my opinion that it is too long and too exhausting for a young child. My mum worked long hours and we all would have preferred her home all4 o us. She also wishes she had done things differently. Horses for courses

opine away by all means
your view isn't universally shared
and I'm proud to work ft and be good role model,and discuss with dc what I do when I'm out house

conversely,this isn't what another parent may chose

Where did I say I don.t work? opine away?pmsl if you felt good about what you do you wouldn't feel the need to be insulting. All opinions count.

way off mark I've not commented on your work status

8 - 6 are often the hours father delegate to a wife.
8 - 6 are the hours we delegate to a nanny
8 - 5 are the hours secondary children are delegated by housewives to school including travel time
8 - 6 of good care is absolutely fine and no reason a man, woman or anyone should feel "guilty".

What is this guilt thing? Most of us know we do pretty well. Guilt is something supposedly heaped on women. It was heaped on us in the Bible where it say in the garden of Eden we tempted Adam and caused the fall of man.

Ditch the guilt and be joyful and all is often well. Always remember that this guilt this is used as a tool to keep women down and is rarely applied to men.

Pre school and secondary are not the same. You are the only person bleating on about guilt.

I agree Xenia,guilt is an assumption women are presumed to have
never heard anyone opine a working dad felt guilty going to work,and never met a man who was guilty.
this mummy martyr thing is a nonsense,it's not a giving things up competition

8 - 6 are often the hours father delegate to a wife.

sorry I don't understand what all this delegation is

God sm do you live in a little basket by xenias desk

Xenia is a v capable professional woman, I'm sure I'd enjoy her company.she's a great raconteur

I completely agree with Xenia about guilt!

I work ft oth and have NEVER felt guilty. My children have a fab life!

You shouldn't feel guilty. If you would feel guilty then you think what you are doing is somehow having a detrimental effect on your children and that will haunt you. I wouldn't work those sort of hours when a child was pre school because imo it is better to have a parent there at that age. If you don't feel like this then FT work should be a breeze.

work ft,kids at ft nursery at 6mth.guilt free
why would I be guilty about providing for family, being good role model and solvent
don't make me laugh

Exactly you are exactly the right sort of person to work FT and put your kids in FT nursery because you think its a good thing. I couldn't because i think its wrong so it would affect me. So I made other choices so that dp and I were always there. It is choice. Not guilt. Its like smacking I think its wrong so don't do it and know I would feel terrible if I ever did as my inner feeling is that its damaging. Someone who thinks smacking is ok wouldn't feel guilty like I would because they obviously consider it fine.

bad analogy
you might want to try again
something that makes sense

of course it makes sense. parenting choices are all based on what you as an individual consider right and good for your child. If you deviate from this and deliberately do something that your gut tells you is wrong then you will feel guilt.

Hmm, yes, but smacking IS basically wrong whereas a woman having a full time job isn't wrong at all. I can promise there would be no difference between my children and a stay at home mums kids at 16! (except my daughters will have seen the huge benefits having a mum who works brings )

dreadful analogy
work is an economic,social,personal choice.financial and career ramifications
smacking is a mode of discipline, no financial ramifications

guilt is an emotive state that we all experience differently.it's not a universal state

there is an assumption that working mum=guilt. as you can see it's being disputed

As with most things it's about balance and compromise isn't it? If fathers were (allowed to) feel more involved in parenting and the workplace was better at accommodating working PARENTS rather than specifically working mothers then mothers and fathers would be able to manage a better balance of work outside the home and inside the home. As with so many things, Scandinavia follows this model. It really is extraordinary that in the 21st century we still have such fixed and outdated ideas about parenting, working and gender.