Anyone Else With A Nursery Who Said It Might Not Be Economical To Open Back Up?

[roses2]

My DS(4) goes to a chain nursery. During lockdown they have been brilliant - they reduced the fees to 20% and have been sending regular updates via email in addition to offering Zoom classes.

After the announcement on Sunday they have said they'd like to bring back all those over age 3 but can only do so if it is economical to do so ie there are enough parents who will pay full fees to send the children back.

I'm not even sure how/why the nursery can state they can only open up if there are enough children. Surely if the government have said they can open up then they will no longer be eligible to furlough their staff? They could also re-instate fees from 1st June, which many childcare providers didn't seem to stop.

I for one will be sending my son back as he is due to start school in September and he needs the transition. He is missing the social interaction and I can see his mood declining.

Just a vent really.

You don’t have to be shut down by the government to furlough staff. My company is still working and I’m furloughed till at least end of May (not a nursery btw).

Nurseries run on really tight margins as it is. Half full classes could run them into the ground.

It's a business, if they don't take in enough money they can't survive.

So why not re-instate fees then?

By not opening back up they increase their risk of going out of business.

The nursery probably will reinstate fees for over 3’s. Are there enough over 3’s to pay wages, bills, sundries? If not, then they’ll close their business. They won’t be the only ones to do this.

Because they know some people can’t afford it and will pull the DCs out. 20% is better than zero. If the rooms aren’t full of kids they won’t make money.

Children aged 3+ get 15 hours of funded education and may qualify for 15 hours of additional funded childcare. This is how it is in England, other countries within the UK may be slightly different.
So are they saying they won't be able to open if parents only use the funded care and not pay for additional hours?
Full fees - what does that mean? Some children will get 15 hours funding and then the remainder will be chargeable. Some will get 30 hours funding and the remainder will be chargeable. I doubt there are any that get no funding at all... don't think it's possible as the 15 hours funded education is not means tested.

Funded only children mean the nursery will be running at a loss - the government funding doesn’t cover the real cost of the outgoings a nursery has. If there are only a few of the children returning then they will be running at a loss.

And not all nurseries have been charging parents over lockdown. We haven’t. My owner has had the headache of fighting for insurance money and loans to keep us going and we have stayed open for keyworker children.

As lockdown is lifted we will see more and more if this.. We are about to go into week 10 where businesses have had no income

A lot won't have anything left in their reserves to cover weeks of outgoings with limited incomes and they will just shut down.

This is going to the way forward for many childcare settings, who have not been earning for weeks now, once open most providers will be charging full fees regardless if you want or are willing to send in child and they can do this as contracts will all be valid again. It will then be down to the parents to decide to pay or give notice and loose there space. Some settings have been charging retainer fees to help keep there provision going and not go out of business others have not charged parents or parents have not supported them ( either through wanting to and not having the money or simple Refused as no service available) They can’t afford to pay staff, rent, bills etc with no income and no income means no business so no childcare for the parents. I am a childminder and one of the local childminders asked parents for a retainer of £50 a month to hold spaces one lady refused and terminated her contract on the spot, then last week re contact the childminder saying so looking forward to seeing you next week as I am now back to work and was very surprised and angry she had no space as it’s been filled.

It is extremely considerate of your nursery charging only 20% of the fee during the lockdown period. Ours London Nursery Schools (LNS Bluebell Cottage, www.londonnurseryschools.co.uk, #LNScommunity) has forced parents to pay 100% of the summer term fees and those, who have already paid would receive nothing back! They even threatened legal action against non-payments or negative reviews online. As for us, we have filed court proceedings against them to recover our deposit and the unprovided summer term. All nurseries and in fact other businesses around the world are facing the difficulty to stand up again after the lockdown.