Nursery closed, am I entitled to anything.

[Opalfeet]

So if bubble and year group in nursery closed am I entitled to getting extra hours. I think I know the answer is probably no. It's just I was wondering given the nursery receive fudding for his place if they them can't provide those 15 hours can I ask for them back. I'm just thinking as if I was paying privately I'd get my money back

No, they will be using the funding to pay thei rent and staff and keep the nursery going while closed.

And if you were paying privately you wouldn’t get the money back, parents all round the country are paying for nursery they can’t use due to isolation

Sorry it sucks

Yes if you pay privately they get their money back

If you follow this through- Are you suggesting that staff don’t get paid whilst it’s shut?

No, I'd expect them to get paid. I'd also like my son to be accommodated for the hours he has missed. It's just an idea. I'm sure they are not at the exact adult: child ratio every day of the week so there potentially could be some flexibility

Yes if you pay privately they get their money back

Not in any of the nurseries round here you don’t, whether hours are private or funded. I’d rather not have a refund or hours compensated and know that nursery will reopen again. The rent needs to have been paid and staff need to be looked after, as without those things happening, there wouldn’t be a nursery much longer and then it would be a real inconvenience.

I'm sure they are not at the exact adult: child ratio every day of the week so there potentially could be some flexibility

They can’t treat you as a special case though, they’d have to do it for all the parents. Imagine what an absolute nightmare that would be. Just be grateful your sons nursery is still going; lots aren’t.

You do here. I'm asking a question about my own individual circumstances and whether it would be possible. People are refunded here if nurseries close. I wasn't debating or making any political point about nurseries, but if course I should have expected some snarky remarks by asking a general question.

Yes I imagine they could accommodate quite a lot of the parents as the room that had to close is relatively small and so spread over different days and weeks it likely would be possible to give those hours back.

I wasn’t being snarky, I was being realistic. We don’t know if it’s possible, because we don’t know their payment/funding/hours policy, but you’re just basically being told it’s very unlikely. But as you don’t like that response, try this simple one:

Ask the nursery.

Yes that's what I was thinking of doing, but I thought I'd ask here because I wondered if anyone had been in a similar position and whether it would be a possibility

Government guidance is that funded hours not attended due to COVID closures cannot be accrued to be used at another time.

Even if they are offering refunds for private payments, it’s still very unlikely that they would give hours in lieu for missed funded hours. Lots of nurseries and schools are facing closure after closure as bubbles burst and staff are needing to isolate due to covid, if they carried forward all the hours missed for each child, compensating for them could carry on for months. Also, staff have other jobs to catch up on (paperwork etc.) that they often do when numbers are lower than the ratio; when else should they do those jobs? At home, unpaid? Because that’s what they’ll have to do if they’re constantly at full capacity. There are so many more things to take into consideration than you getting your hours back. It seems very unlikely to me that any nursery would offer funded hours back, it wouldn’t be beneficial for them at all. Perhaps policies differ elsewhere in the country though.

Thank you @Snozzlemaid was looking for govt guidance but couldn't find anything specifically on this.

@QueenAdreena there you go again. 🙄Sorry you find it offensive I asked the q

Where did I seem offended? Your OP states ‘I think I know the answer is probably no’ and I have agreed that it is ‘very unlikely’ and explained the reasons why.

Thankfully snozzlemaid answered my question without the need to think I was attacking nursery staff and their pay and conditions, which I wasn't. I still can't find the govt guidance though and that's why I asked on here.

No one has said that you’re attacking nursery staff or their pay or conditions, but the vey fact you asked what you did in the OP does indicate a lack of understanding of the pressures that they’re under at the moment. Hence posters explaining what the funded hours payments will be used for and why those payments are still made, even with forced absences due to covid and why its unlikely that hours would be able to be accrued (or as Snozzlemaid stated, definitely not possible due to government legislation).

I appreciate parents are under a lot of pressure and it’s shit when you lose out on things you’re usually entitled to, but when you say ‘I imagine they could accommodate quite a lot of the parents as the room that had to close is relatively small and so spread over different days and weeks it likely would be possible to give those hours back’, people will explain to you why it just isn’t that easy from the nurseries point of view.

they wouldn't be able to
mix bubbles either so your suggestion is crazy

And if you were paying privately you wouldn’t get the money back,

sorry, this is wrong, I did.

One of the workers had a positive lateral flow test so DC needed ten days of isolation. That week the whole under twos room was shut and every had the week credited in the next month.

There is no obligation on nurseries to offer extra hours to make up for funded hours not used for whatever reason
You can’t accrue funded hours or carry them forward

@FTEngineerM thanks this is how it works round here so my reasoning was that the nursery receives money for my son just through the govt instead of directly from me.

In response to the previous posts, yes I do understand the pressures, you have no idea about my own place of work for instance!

I was merely trying to find out what the policy was. But yeah, I get that it's a way for some people to attack the op, it always happens on Mumsnet.

No I'm not suggesting any bubbles be broken at all, but on quieter days when staff are not up to adult:child ratio children who lost out on hours could use the spaces available to regain any hours missed in their original bubble. Nowhere did I say bubbles should be broken 🙄

I think despite your protestations you will find the answer is no.

Just because it’s govt funded does not make it actually free. The funding covers more that just your dc’s attendance. It is used for a whole range of things and spread very very thinly. Do you not have to top up the funding for snacks etc? That part should be refunded only at the discretion of the NM.

@Opalfeet

Yes if you pay privately they get their money back

They really don't. All the fixed costs remain the same, whether your child's bubble attend or not.

@Apandemicyousay

If you follow this through- Are you suggesting that staff don’t get paid whilst it’s shut?

Isn't this what furlough is for? The staff would get paid from the furlough scheme surely?

Not protesting, I'm asking what the policy was/is. I have my answer, I just don't see the need for the critique that's all. Was asking a straightforward q. @GreyhoundG1rl yes people who pay privately get their money back- that's a fact, I'm not sure why you are disputing this.