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Original poster

Nursery fees

23 replies

Handy83 · 04/05/2018 17:32

Hi all
Just a question regarding nursery fees. We are currently looking at registering for 2019 as there is an excellent nursery just next to the train station and as we commute to work would like to ensure we have a spot secured. The question is how are nursery fees calculated. I naively thought it was you just paid each month for what you had used but am beginning to see thats not the case.

I understand you also have to pay for bank holidays and training days

I also believe you may also still have to pay for any time your child does not attend. I understand fair enough if they are sick, it's unplanned and not fair on the nursery but do you also have to pay for when you are on holiday yourself

My partner and I both get 5 weeks holiday a year so other than when we actually go away somewhere on an holiday we would have looked at splitting the other 3 weeks we both have to save on nursery fees

Would we still have to pay for all 10 weeks the child is not attending nursery?

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Marmite27 · 04/05/2018 17:36

We pay for 52 weeks a year which is divided over 12 months equal payment.

We pay for days off, holidays, sickness and bank holidays.

Jfw82 · 04/05/2018 17:37

At our nursery you pay the same whether you are on holiday or now. They work out weekly cost based on number of days and sessions, calculate cost for 52 weeks and divide by 12 for our monthly fee. They can't give his space to someone else just because we are on holiday so we have to still pay for it. They are closed bank holidays and half a day each for Christmas Eve and NYE if they fall on a weekday.

angelopal · 04/05/2018 17:38

You are paying for a space. They will not be able to fill it when you are on holiday so you will still have to pay.

PotteringAlong · 04/05/2018 17:38

Yes, you will have to pay when they’re not there. I’ve got a term time only nursery contract and my bill is just divided by 12 so I pay the same in August as I do any other month.

Oogle · 04/05/2018 17:39

We pay for 51 weeks of the year - they close for 1 week at Christmas so we don’t pay for that. Yes we still have to pay if we take him out for the day/on holiday for a week.

liquidrevolution · 04/05/2018 17:45

52 weeks a year here. All bank hols and hols and sick days. My advice if you dobt want to suck it up and pay, is find a term time nursery and pay for the extra weeks during school holidays. We nearly switched DD to the term time branch of her nursery for this reason but we didnt like the facilities as much as the main nursery.

AreWeDoingThisNow · 04/05/2018 17:46

We pay monthly for the days she's 'booked in', so Feb is cheaper than March. We pay for the month ahead by the 8th of that month.

We don't pay for days they are closed (bank hols). We pay if we're on holiday to hold her space (though I always tell them in advance where I can so they can possibly double book and make some extra money - they are awesome so no grudge there).

umizoomi · 04/05/2018 17:46

It does depend on the Nursery in my experience.

We had to pay for 51 weeks as they closed completely Christmas week, but they just refunded a weeks worth at Christmas which was quite nice.

You will have to pay for holidays and sick - they cannot sell your space elsewhere.

The bank hols were always a bone of contention at our Nursery. Essentially, if your child was normally in on a Monday you paid. So, for kids in there Mon & Tues for example, bank hols paid by that parent, children only on wed/Thur never paid for any.

A friend's DC went to a nursery where they calculated the cost of staff wages for the 8 bank holidays and added it to the daily rate, so while her daily rate was slightly higher than ours, the bank holidays weren't billed. Much fairer IMO.

Ours charged if you wanted to swap a day (assuming they have availability) but others don't. You will need to ask

Xmasbaby11 · 04/05/2018 17:48

You pay the whole year. No discount for when you decide to take them out. At our nursery we didn't pay for bank hols or their training days (when it closed) so that saved a bit.

Original poster
Handy83 · 04/05/2018 18:46

Oh right. I understand the bank holidays thing and sick but feel a bit put out by having to pay for 8 weeks which is essentially 2 months of the year we don't need it. Do childminders work on the same basis?

OP posts:
PotteringAlong · 04/05/2018 21:20

Yes, because you’re taking a place. They can’t fill it with another child randomly when you’re not there so if you want the place you need to pay for it.

Thewindsofchange · 04/05/2018 21:35

Our nursery is term time only so we pay for term times (including bank holidays) whether they are there or not but school holidays are optional, you just pay extra for whatever you book (a few weeks in advance).

I've used childminders before. They generally closed for between 4 and 6 weeks a year and didn't charge for that but they chose the dates they were closed, although they have lots of notice.

Hobnobsarenotfordunking · 04/05/2018 21:38

Childminders may be more flexible as they sometimes take their own holidays.

I’m a teacher and didn’t want to pay for 13 weeks nursery fees that I didn’t need so I chose a term time only childminder.

HSMMaCM · 05/05/2018 08:23

I'm a childminder. You'd pay for your holidays, but not mine, so parents often book the same weeks as us. All CMs set their own terms though. As others have said, you're paying for the space.

insancerre · 05/05/2018 08:26

As others have said you pay for the space whether you use it or not
Look at it as a monthly fee, like your broadband or gym membership
You pay the same whether you use them or not
You don't expect to get money off your gym membership or your subscription to Netflix if you don't use it

Xmasbaby11 · 05/05/2018 08:29

Tbh most people I know take time off work and leave their kids in nursery sometimes just to get stuff done. It's easy enough to get housework done with a baby, but not so much with a boisterous toddler who needs constant monitoring. I used to take at least a week a year to do house jobs, Xmas shopping, or just do things like get my hair done. So it can be a godsend having year round nursery!

Fondantfancypant · 05/05/2018 08:39

We pay for 49 weeks of the year as they shut for 2 weeks in August and 1 week at christmas. However we did have the option of term time only. Have you looked into tax free childcare?
We don't pay for bank holidays and days the nursery is shut.

insancerre · 05/05/2018 08:46

You usually find that the nurseries that don't charge for bank holidays and shut down weeks have a higher daily rate than those that do charge, so the costs work out much the same

BrutusMcDogface · 05/05/2018 08:51

Perhaps find a term time only nursery, and take your weeks off work in the school holidays?

beckik01 · 16/05/2018 23:41

It really is each nursery to their own. The nursery I use offer term time only contracts and don't charge. They also don't charge for bank holidays, the week they close in August and the week over Christmas.

You do have to pay for your child if they are poorly as they have still had to work to ratio for the staff Rota.

Look at at many nurseries as you can until you find the right one 🙂

Cranb0rne · 18/05/2018 19:40

I don't pay for bank holidays. I would not be happy paying for a day that the nursery is closed.

LemonadePockets · 18/05/2018 19:45

We pay 50wks of the year, the only close for 2weeks at Christmas, they open all bank holidays.

Blaablaablaa · 18/05/2018 19:45

We pay the same amount every month regardless.... That's just how it works.

Our nursery was shut for nearly a week because of snow earlier in the year. We still had to pay.

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