£90 per term 'voluntary' payment

[Eve4Walle]

Need some advice. DS is to start pre-threes at nursery in October. The nursery is in our village and charges £14 per session. He won't get any funding until next April. To begin with, he'll be doing 1 session a week with me and then perhaps two on his own after Christmas, depending on how he gets on.

The thing is, the nursery have sent a letter saying that due to the cuts in funding and the increased funding for over-threes, they feel the need to ask each family to pay a 'voluntary' £90 per term. Now, I cannot afford this on top of the fees I'll pay before April, and although they make it clear that it is at my discretion, as I live in the village, it might be a bit awkward and embarrassing if I don't. Also, I don't want it to affect they way DS gets treated.

What would you do? Just after some advice and opinions really.

Voluntary. Say no. They will be aware it will be out of the realm for some people. Don't give it a second thought.

I would personally be tempted to give in a (brief) letter to the nursery head stating that you won't be paying the voluntary contribution this term & that you assume this info will be kept totally confidential- that way you won't get anyone casually reminding you about it at pick ups/etc.
It's voluntary, there will always be people who can't/don't pay (esp if it's sprung on them as this one has been) - so I'm sure you'll be one of many. And they certainly wouldn't treat your son any differently because of it - I'd be surprised if anyone working with your son will even know

This sounds very odd - is it a private nursery or a committee led pre-school? I would find out exactly how it is organised; many pre-schools do fund raising but this does seem strange.

£90 voluntary sounds a bit steep - so it is instead of fees basically? We had discussions at DS preschool about a £10 voluntary contribution on top of fees (though only the under 3s pay fees, but older ones pay for special lessons - French/IT and the like). So it would have been £30 per year.

It's Private pre-school but they take the funding for 3 year olds.

If it's a voluntary payment and you can't afford it I would say so and think no more of it. They are not allowed to charge top-ups in this way.

Are you sure it's not a committee led voluntary pre-school? Sounds more like the kind of action they'd take.

Just to put the other side of the arguement - I am chair of a committee run pre-school, and I am getting worn down baking cakes, recycling ink cartridges, arranging rag collections, organising fund raising events hardly anyone comes to, to make up the shortfall between what it actually costs to have a child at pre-school and the money provided by the government. We are a registered charity and are non profit making aiming for balanced books at the end of our financial year.
I am aware that people work and have money worries, but the burden of the worry falls on to a few. We have let parents /carers know our finanacial position this year but there has been little response. Just so they know next year we are going to let them know what the shortfall is for an average child attending so they get why we keep pestering them for funds. We also considered a 'pass' costing, say £30 for a year, to exempt you from cake baking and attending fund raisers!!
I doubt that they would have taken this step without good reason. Speak to the committee / manager and find out what the situation is, and what other measures they have put in place to manage their budget. Good luck.

If the fees don't cover the costs, then why not just up the fees. It all seems very simple to me. No need for cake bakes and extra levys. Just a 'this is what it costs' charging system. Shouldn't be too hard.

Sofus - a private pre-school exists to make a profit for its owners so do consider if you want to make a donation.

ivebeenupsince6 - really appreciate what you say, I have been involved in committee run pre-schools for years and understand how hard it is to raise funds; however I really object when private pre-schools ask for extra money.

This year I'm treasurer of a committee run pre-school (having been Chair previous years). I don't think we're unusual but we are finding that the EYES funding covers our costs well, and the fundraising pays for bigger projects like the garden overhaul.

Agree it's frustrating trying to make ends meet. Have applied for all the grants that are available. The Graduate Leadership Fund has been invaluable to us as it's enabled us to do training this year that we wouldn't have been able to afford. In addition we have some corporate funding from committee members who work for large corporates. The bigger fundraisers are the evening dos and discos. Cake sales are OK but our week long event raised £30 when we can make £200+ on a parents quiz night (yes, it's mainly the committee and their friends!).

Are you in an area where the Single Funding Formula applies? If so, have you maximised your funding by increasing flexibility and/or staff qualifications?

Could you add a lunch or breakfast club option?

Hope some of this helps!