Am i being unreasonable..to ask nursery..

[BITCAT]

for my daughter to take in sandwiches for dinner as it is costing too much money to pay for lunch..two lunches a week...2.60 per lunch thats more than a school meal..and theyve said i cant..surely that should be my decision.

Personally, I think it's up to the nursery. If their policy says that lunch is provided for all children, then that is the rule.

When you choose to send your children there, you are, in effect, accepting the rules.

littlefish is right, I'm afraid

Fact is when she first started i was working and i lost my job, she now does funded hours but ive kept her on the 2 full days she was doing as i didnt want to unsettle her. I feel that the lunches are too much for me..im on benefits now and cant afford what they want..ive 3 other children to feed etc. Theve offered me motrnings only but if i do that im gonna be stuck when i go job hunting or get interviews and she goes school in september so dont want to unsettle her now. Looks like im going to have to find the money from somewhere..ive no idea where from?

Do you live locally to the nursery? I know its not ideal but could you pick her up at the end of the morning session then take her back in the afternoon?

I would do mornings only
it won't unsettle her at school and presumably you aren't looking for a job until she's at aschool? does she go in September?

I agree with compo. It probably won't unsettle her to do just mornings.
It may, in fact, help her settle into school as she has the experience of getting up and getting ready for school every day.

yes i agree she should do mornings, if you have any interviews come up, they should ask you when is convenient to come in for the interview, just tell them mornings are convenient for you

No im looking for jobs and have been for a while..trouble is i have to travel by bus and buses round here arent great..id have to pick her up at 11.30am..so getting to and from interviews in time would be a struggle then theres picking up and i have 3 other kids at school too. One bus takes 40mins to get to local centre..and half the time they late or dont turn up at all. Foxy800 it takes about 25mins to walk with dd2..20mins on my own..so thats not gonna walk if i had a car would be pos..but by the time i got home fed her and shes eaten..it just wouldnt work..at her last nursery they didnt charge for meals..house move forced me to move her.

OK, sorry just an idea. It can be tricky cant it? Sorry no other suggestions as other posters have posted all the ones I can think of. Hope you get it sorted.

There are probably very good reasons why you can't take in your own food.

Some children have very severe allergies to food and the whole environment has to be carefully controlled. The nursery would have no control over food brought in from outside.

You may cause a riot amongst the other children if they see your daughter eating something else. Then they would all want to bring in sandwiches and that might be difficult to manage with regards to storage and making sure that children eat healthily.

You will probably offend the cook.
Also, the £2.60 in question probably covers the differnce in times between sessions as well as the food.
In our nursery, the free session is normally 9-11.30 and for the afternoon 1-3.30
If we run them back to back then we charge £2.50 to cover food and the extra hr and a 1/2. Which is a very good deal on your part.

the 2.60 is just dinner..she does 15 hrs spread over 3 days...which is what she is entilled to. My others have all been to nursery and i have never been asked to pay 2.60 for a dinner..the most i have ever paid has been the same as a school meal.
Surely if children are supervised correctly at mealtimes it shouldnt be an issue what are the children going to do when they go to school..there are going to be other children that have sandwiches and those that have dinners..so i dont see the difference..they are all pre schoolers. And i know that my other childrens nursery had a choice of bringing in sandwiches or paying for a school meal.

Its very tricky foxy..i think i am going to have to try and find the money and pay for her meals weekly..its supposed to be monthly..but if they refuse that i dont know what to do. She only has few mths left so would prefer to keep her hours as they are as she knows when she going to nursery and shes in a routine now.

Is this a private nursery? If so, the meals won't be subsidised like they are at school.
I agree that mornings would be best. If you had an interview have you a friend or relative who could pick up and babysit for you?

but the government funding isn't intended to cover lunches. a snack perhaps yes, most places seem to do a snack of fruit, but not a full meal. a lot of places struggle to rpovide what's needed on the funding they are given.

YABU. it's expensive i know but if it's a private nursery then that is most probably to be expected.

I thought DS's fees would go down massively after he was 3 but they have that much as his nursery's full day includes breakfast,lunch and tea. so although 6 hours of the day are funded we still have to pay for 3 1/2 hours and the food. That's just the way it goes. the nursery sets what they want to do and as a parent if i want DS to go there i have to agree to it.

Yanbu.

If you have to pay it then it's included in the fees and they gave you a wrong fee description when you signed up. It should be optional. If you can't opt out, then it's not optional, and they should have told you so at the start. If they did tell you so, then you are up a gum tree.

Im all on my own im afraid.my sisters are all miles away..i havent seen my mum for 14 yrs. And all my friends work and ive not long moved to this area so i dont know anyone well enough..ie neighbours etc that i could trust. I think my best option is to ask them to accept weekly payments for meals..just for a few months until she starts school..i mean its only term time so..no paying during summer hols or half term etc. Hopefully they will let me do that.

I was never actually told how much the meals were and i never checked before cause i was working and it wasnt a problem. There is nothing in the paperwork that says how much lunches are.

Then it should be optional. If you want to have an argument with the nursery then you have good grounds. Obviously you probably don't want to but ya totally nbu.

ps am no lawyer despite the name

natural justice though I feel

i think ill discuss it with them first and see if they will accept weekly payments for now..either until i get a job or until she goes school..if they wont budge on that then i might have to argue about it..but i will avoid it if i can.

thank you probono..and thank you everyone for your advice and comments.

does it say in your paperwork that you can do the hours you have your daughter doing though? you say she's doing full days, 15 hrs over 3 days. but that isn't full days. most nurseries would have you doing either mornings or afternoons OR deducting the funding off your total bill for full days.

so for example if the nursery charges £30 a day, and they get funding for £10 a session (3hrs) then they'd bill you for the £20.

if you were putting two sessions together (£20) you'd pay £10 (£30 full day fee less £20 funding). you're paying £2.60.

hope you sort it, sounds v unfair

She does 9 till 3 on monday and friday..and 830 till 1130 on a wednesday. Its called flexible funding, the council pays them for the 15hrs of care..3 days is the minimum that you can spread it over. So the 2.60 is just for her lunch. And yes it does say i can do them hours and i do not have to pay for her care because she is doing 15hrs a week. It just doesnt tell you that lunch is 2.60..all it says is that lunch is provided and is made on the premises.