Nursery now charging for days not open

[EdPops]

My 2 x DS's attend nursery Mon–Fri and in the few years they've been there it's been policy for the nursery to charge for all bank holidays in a year even though they are closed. I've seen this topic discussed elsewhere and i know a lot of people find this policy frustrating, me included.

However we've just been told that as of April this year our nursery will also be charging for the 2 weeks they close over xmas. On top of this they're introducing 3 additional closure days across the year which we will also be charged to allow the nursery to 'provide critical training and well-being support to our staffing team'.

The letter begins by claiming 'it is common practice for nursery settings to charge for closure periods'.

So, what are your experiences with nurseries, are you charged for closure dates?

I assume there's little to be done if we still want our children to attend? Fees are approximately £70 per child per day, they're both in full-time so it's no insubstantial amount.

“I'd be really annoyed with that, also i just told my partner about this thread he said if they are claiming the 15/30hr funding while they're closed this could be classes as a fraudulent claim!”

It’s very unlikely that they are. Aren’t those term time amounts - i would expect the closures are Xmas and Easter or Xmas and summer.

“It's not "common practice" at all I'd report this to offstead”

It’s common enough that several on this thread have it. I really don’t think ofsted would have an issue. As long as the policy is in the contract, and OP has had notice of the change so she can opt not to sign the new contract.

I don't think it's common practice but the nurseries are taking the money from somewhere...our nursery has raised its fees by around 12%. Fees at our nursery are now over 2K for one child full time and there's no available places at this one or at any local (established) nurseries. I tried to cut down days previously and really struggled to get them back. The most important thing for us is that our kids are happy at this nursery and well looked after. We are gritting our teeth until we are done with the nursery fees (and we have two in full time = ouch x 2)...I'm also thinking about how I'm going to have to save for my grandkids nursery fees 😂

Our nursery charges for bank holidays but this is a recent change. We don't pay for the week they are closed for Christmas or for training days. Other nurseries in the area charge for all of these things though.

Bank Holidays and Training days are very common to be charged

But 2 week closure during Christmas and New Year
This would put me off even going there in the beginning

My nursery was open depending on days they fall on , Christmas Eve till 4pm
27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st. And then 2nd Jan (Only Closed if it fell on a Bank Holiday)

Why do they close for 2 weeks, thats a long time

BBC headline news this morning, not an isolated issue at all then I guess...

Childcare: Full-time nursery for under-twos nearly £15k a year, says report www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-64865602

This seems ridiculous, surely this should just be built into operating costs? I would probably look for another one if that isn't the norm in the area you're in. It would really annoy me

There's a 2 year waiting list for nursery places in our area (inner London). I guess having seen the bbc news article this morning I should count myself lucky we have a place at all.

Can you imagine if Tesco used their club card info to say 'oh you normally spend £150 on a Friday, we're shut for xmas on Friday this year, so please give us £150.

It sounds like these places are all starting to take advantage 😕

I guess our nursery closing 2 weeks over Christmas suits me anyway as my work also closes then & the fact they don’t charge for it is a bonus since we have so many birthdays then too it’s an expensive time of year lol. I wouldn’t like it if they charged for those two weeks though!

same for the summer closure, I always take a chunk off around the same time, and again they don’t charge then. I am lucky that I get a lot of leave and it’s pretty flexible out with Christmas , so I still have ole ty to play around with. I can see it will be annoying for people who don’t get a lot of leave and find it difficult to get the time off work. We knew this before hand but with long waiting lists some wouldn’t have much choice. Most other nurseries we saw were open 51 or 52 weeks

A full time place at £15k works out at about (roughly) £56 a day. I don't think that's taking advantage at all.

A full time place for an under 2 at our old nursery was £1700 a month so over £20k a year. It is a huge amount of money but not when worked out on an hourly rate.

What is the answer? Government property fund nurseries and pay them their actual hourly rates or open state nurseries for everyone that are 'free'?

Not for profit nurseries would be a start.

I honestly don't understand how you can charge for something if you are closed

@TheTeenageYears then it needs to be run by a charity or the state.

Also just wondering about the nurseries charging when they are closed for a week or two, are they also increasing fees?
our nursery has increased fees twice since we signed up and we haven’t even started yet. But it seems all the other ones are too. Same as the other one we were considering.

so I wonder if that’s why mine doesn’t charge for closures.

our nursery also while providing snacks and milk , doesn’t provide lunch for under 3’s.
it’s fine for us because LO eats whatever we eat so can just put some in a pot while cooking dinner and that’s simple enough. I guess could be annoying for those that have to prepare something totally different. Some nurseries provide all the food & cater to allergies which is good. My nursery is small so maybe it’s not that cost effective to provide food for the younger ones who are all at different stages etc.
they did send us an email recently about rising costs and we’re pretty transparent about how they will tackle this etc
But I guess they all have different ways of keeping costs down?

@Bagsundermyeyestoday my childminder used to do the same. She did 2 weeks paid and 2 weeks unpaid but others I spoke to wanted 4 weeks paid.

Roll on 3 year old funding lol

Based on some threads here there is a huge misunderstanding about what the 30 hours does in terms of reducing your fees. It contributes to them, doesn't cover them all.

My full time fees were £1500 a month. 30 hours free reduced them to £1040.

oh food for thought…
ive had nanny jobs and got paid all holidays.

its all confusing knowing what’s fair and right etc. Maybe they see it as you’re still paying to keep the service etc and so still pay holidays like you would for a nanny etc… I don’t know I’m just thinking out loud…

Oh that doesn’t seem like a massive reduction! Still expensive :/
our nursery sent a fee structure for all ages including the 3 year old funded section & what it will cost with funded space starting at half day. For example 2.5 days is free and you start paying at 3 days ( so you just pay half a day.,,)
I don’t know why they show what it costs before 3 days when it’s 3 day minimum for funded space lol , maybe so you can see what you get for free. Now I’m worried there will be costs u don’t know about yet… it’s all so confusing :/

One childminder I approached wanted me to pay £4k to keep a place over the summer - before I went back to work - even though the place wasn't free until after the summer. That royally pissed me off.

Childminders do really charge extremely low rates. I know they have numerous children but our DD was the only full time child with our childminder so it wasn't like she was making £18 per hour every day.

We ended up going to full time nursery when DD was just over 2 and although the fees were expensive, it was such a good place and I wouldn't have wanted her to be anywhere else.

Leaving nursery and starting school definitely made a huge difference finances wise.

Of course it's fair to charge for bank holidays and training. My employer still pays me for them - I don't go wandering in saying "oh, don't worry about paying me for Monday - I'm not going to be working then".

Our nursery charges for 51 weeks a year, and the previous one charged for 50. I find it useful that the invoice is the same every month, and I'm happy that paying for bank holidays and training mean that the staff looking after my kids are supported as well as the nursery can.

The cost of childcare is heartbreaking. But it's neither a complete unknown, nor something you couldn't reasonably expect to increase over time.

Ours has just gone up by £100/month for 3 days/week. I shan't pretend we won't miss that £1200, but don't think the nursery itself is at fault.

What? £4K to keep a space?

That’s crazy lol. Nurseries don’t even do that.

The most I knew a nursery to charge was £200. Half you get back if you don’t go with the nursery and if you do keep the nursery it covers settle in days. The cheapest was £50.

nursery is expensive but I hope it’s worth it too. And husband and I figure if we can make it through nursery years, that after life will fee so much easier financially lol.

and that when LO starts school I can still keep a day off :)

ok then roll on primary school lol (and then it will be wrap around care/ after school clubs lol)