Funding crisis at pre school

[NigellaTufnel]

Short version of long story. Our local authority has decided that pre schools cannot charge any top up fees whatsoever. No loop holes etc.

This means that there is a real risk of our church run pre school closing. Has anyone else had any experience of this?

All parents are putting heads together, so far no brilliant ideas have surfaced as yet.

I don't have much advice for you but I'm watching with interest as you aren't alone, unfortunately a growing number of pre-schools are facing this as it is a national thing. If closure is imminent you could perhaps ask your LA for a discretionary grant to tide you over until you can get a plan together.

I think that there are so many pre schools in this position that the LA would refuse.

It is very frustrating as the pre school is not run for profit, but is a great service in the community, and I suspect that there is some quiet help for those who cannot afford the full fees at the discretion of the church.

Is it run to capacity or are there spaces? For obvious reasons the capacity pre-schools can manage a little better so if you're not then is there scope for some kind of merger with another local pre-school?

Maybe even a partial merger where you can share some of the admin costs and some of the more expensive resources you could loan to each other.

Contact your business support officer at your local council. They should be able to help you look at your income/expenditure.

Is the pre-school run entirely independently (i.e. reports its own profit and loss) or does it have a closer link to the church?

Please make a fuss with the LA about this. Maybe see if there are any other preschools in the same position and go to the LA together. Are you a member of the PLA? They might be able to help - although in our area they are basically the same people as the LA so not much help at all.

The LA need to know the pressure and problems that all the funding cuts are causing. If you are very brave, maybe even get the press involved. "Big society preschool going out of business" that type of thing.

I know your situation. We don't charge tops up but have to raise £500 each term to cover basic costs. The continual fundraising is a real chore especially as many families refuse to get involved at all. We aim for one big fund raiser each term and a couple if smslln

Sorry pressed button too early!
Couple of small ones such as selling plants.

The thing I worry about fundraising is that although the parents who are there ar the moment would be happy to fundraise, in the future, people who have not started their kid there won't want to take on a burden.

It is an amazing pre school. The best start I could wish for our dcs and I, and many others, would be gutted if it had to close because of some woolly minded policy makeing.

Sadly, this is a national thing, so I don't think that protesting is going to do much, there's been a fair bit in the industry press, Guardian education and so on about it already.

Is there any chance you could get a grant / donation from the church / diocese?

I'd second what other people have said about approaching your local Sure Start Partnership and asking about sustainability grants.

It might also be worth looking at a Children in Need grant, apparently there's money to be awarded there, although it's likely to be a one-off thing rather than regular income.

I'm assuming you've already looked at every way possible to cut costs?

I'm the business manager for a charity that runs two community preschools, and we're very fortunate that we're able to manage without charging any top-ups. I'd be happy to bounce ideas around with you if you think it would help to discuss it with someone outside of the immediate situation.

Oh - just another thought.

This happened with schools years and years ago, remember when they suddenly weren't allowed to charge for trips any more, it all had to become 'voluntary contributions'??

What would happen if you wrote to parents and said:

"Recent changes in legislation mean that we are no longer permitted to charge for any additional services. Therefore we are asking all parents to make a voluntary contribution of £x per term towards the cost of [whatever - craft activities, replacement of toys, books, etc]. We would stress that this is not compulsory, but we do rely on your generosity to ensure there is no deterioration in the quality of provision we can offer to your children".

I suspect you'd get away with that (although I might be inclined to check with your Sure Start development manager or someone!)

Lots of (school) parents I know say that they'd prefer to just stump up a tenner each term than be asked constantly to bake for a cake sale, or do a sponsored walk, or sell raffle tickets.

This is not new here, top-ups have not been permitted here for years. By signing up to receive the EYES funding, the pre-school/nursery agrees that top-ups of ANY kind are not requested. That includes compulsory uniform purchase, any enrollment fees, any fee for attending pre-school functions (i.e. Teddy Bears Picnics). They state very clearly that the pre-school MUST be free to attend at the point of use and there should be no financial barrier to accessing funded hours.

The thing that's screwed us financially is a local school opening a nursery unit and pinching about 10 children from us.

My dds preschool say they do not charge top ups, but they have recently lengthened the sessions (she used to do 3 hours a day, but it is now 3.5 hrs a day). Most parents do pay the extra for the extra half hour a day (so we pay for 2.5 hours a week and they get 15 hours free). I think that if a parent really cannot make the payment for the extra .5 hr they are allowed to pick up early, but as far as I know no one does.
But I have no idea whether this is an accepted way around the rules, or whether DDs pre school will run into problems with it eventually.