Preschool threatening to charge for late arrival

[KurtRussel]

I'm interested to know what people's thoughts are on the below message I received from my boys preschool (he is 3).

I've recently started maternity leave and not in a rush to leave the house in the morning as I've got the chance to spend a bit more time with my 3 year old. Once I have both kids ready we then take a walk to school which I couldn't do previously as I needed to get to work. We often arrive at school between 9/9.30.

Good Morning,
Just a reminder about session times.
Breakfast club is 7.30am-8.35am
Morning session 8.35am-11.35am
Lunch 11.35am -12.15pm
Afternoon session 12.15pm-3.15pm
Afterschool club 3.15pm-6pm.
We follow a routine and start learning straight away through circle times and play. This is key part of your child's education and starting early is a key opportunity.
Please ensure your child is dropped off and collected at the correct times. If you are late this will affect your child's attendance at school and you may incur a late charge. We follow the same procedure as if your child was of school age. Also just to make you aware that if you are continuously late or absent then this may affect your child's funding and the council may stop it this will then mean you will be charged for the sessions.
Many Thanks

I completely get it from your point of view. My little one was in a private nursery just before school when my new baby turned up. And I would arrive around 9:30/10am but I checked beforehand and it was okay. Also our trip there was 45 min long by public transport so was finding the get up and go in the morning difficult.

The new private nursery my baby goes to has a policy you can't drop off after 9:30. Up until then is fine but if they go full day you can't drop them off until 1pm. I do find it annoying but I also get it from there point of view

There are limited places, I was refused place for both my dc.

id be unhappy knowing you turned up late

if you want a chilled morning then drop a session and let someone else have it, not arriving until 9/9.30 when it starts at 8.35 is disrespectful

Why is it ok to arrive upto an hour late, without explanation or apology? It's not fair on another child who didn't get the place who could be sitting there from 8.35.
If you want to spend more time with kid then you can ask to join the afternoon/second session only? But they may not want that either.
Or just withdraw him from there while you're on mat leave and place him in school when you're working again.
But being late regularly isn't really acceptable for any group activity, especially not education.

The message is clear and perfectly polite.
You are out of order for routinely turning up late and disrupting their routine and the education of the other children.
Perhaps the afternoon session would be more suited to you?

How self centred. You disrupt an entire class of children so you can have a 'slow morning'. The teacher will have to stop what she is doing, greet your child, settle them in then spend time showing them what to do as they missed it the first time. How can you not see that?

Just send them in for lunch and the afternoon session if you can't be bothered to get them there on time.

So you think it’s ok to turn up when you fancy when they might be in the middle of something and disturb the entire group?

I despair

Honestly they are right. You need to drop off at the right time or remove them.

I agree it is a fairly early start and I totally understand you wanting to spend a little longer with DS and not rushing but I do not think the pre- school is completely reasonable here.

They will have a routine. The routine is important and will mirror / set the foundation for his reception / primary routine. Often they do the most important / fun / engaging activities first thing as they tend to be more engaged then - before they flag! - so maybe they see that he's actually missing out.

For instance, in reception we always start the day with carpet time and phonics. Hugely important. The ones who are always late are definitely missing out.

And I'd imagine the late arrival is disruptive / taking staff away from the activities.

It doesn't read like they want to fine you. The emphasis is on routine and DS missing out. I think that's fair enough.

It's a very early start but at the same time you knew that when you signed up. Maybe do the afternoon session instead?

They have a point. How disruptive to the other kids if parents turn up when they want.

Even in our nursery setting they have a specific time they want kids to be dropped off by at the latest, because of the plans they have for the day.

How annoying would it be if one kid kept turning up so much later! Either keep him off fully or put him in on time like everybody else.

You are massively out of order.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that this is your first time using the pre-school system and you haven't realised that it doesn't work the same way as private nursery/playgroups.

I'm pretty sure the pre-school at my childrens school would have been far less polite and probably would have denied admission to the session after the first couple of times you rocked up late for no apparent reason.

The funding will be withdrawn if your child is consistently not taking up the session (which when you arrive late they will already have been marked absent). I can't see them allowing it even if you were paying privately either - so disruptive!

Gosh it's pretty ruthless on here isn't it.

I can make the 8.35am drop off that's fine, I said I hadn't been in a rush about it because I was unaware and was just soaking up my mornings with the boy. I just wondered if it was normal practice. He has been going since September and this was a public post so yes I was a little surprised as they had not mentioned it before.

He had gone to a private nursery previously and they were very flexible so all new to me. Plus their policy on this refers to school age children.

Thanks for all the kind words though, appreciate it!

We've used both a private nursery and a local authority early years setting and neither would have had an issue with late drop-offs because the first part of each session was free-flow play, so I don't think this is universally an issue. However, they have clearly communicated that it is an issue for their setting and I don't think they are unreasonable to set those expectations.

You need to view this less like a stay and play and more like a swimming or ballet class. You can't just rock up late, you miss the (social) warm up, your child then isn't settled.

Drove to preschool early, take them to nearby park for a play and quality time then drop them off on-time instead of the walk.

I was similarly pulled up as being late when DD first started school and I went off the 'Registers close' time as the point you had to be at school as she was my only and I didn't realize.

You may be spending an awful lot more time with your 3 year old if you carrry on like this. If you don't like the rules, then withdraw your child.

If this is a funded place, timings claimed for are audited by the LA. Regularly coming 30mins late means the pre school will have to change their claim and lose the funding for those half hours.

How can you possibly be so oblivious?

I think it’s pretty normal. Our drop off window is 8.15-8.45. During that is free play, sorting bags etc. then at 8.45 it’s circle time and structured activities begin at 9 so it makes sense that they want all the kids in by a set time, otherwise it’s pretty disruptive for the rest of the class. If you want slow mornings to lounge around in PJs, which I get if you’ve just had another baby, then why not see if you can switch to the afternoon session?

Im with you OP, with our nursery I didn’t always drop off my LO at the same time esp if we had a rough night. It wouldn’t have crossed my mind that being late was an issue for a service I paid for. I did normally call and say we would be later than normal.

I have learnt something new!

This is a school based pre-school setting not a private nursery though and the OP isn't paying for it by the sounds of things but using government funded preschool education.

I'd look for a childminder!
Whilst I can understand their reasoning, personally I'd want somewhere more flexible. My dc went to a lovely Montessori preschool, the only day we had to arrive before 9:15 was on Forrest school day, otherwise drop offs and pickups were anytime between 8:45-9:45 and pick up anytime between 14:30-15:30.
But that was over a decade ago so maybe things have changed!

I totally agree with them. It's rude and disrespectful and disruptive.

The other children's parents have made the effort to get them there on time, to start activities and learning. Every time a child wanders in late, whether that's five minutes or an hour, a member of staff has to stop what they are doing and get your child settled, taking the attention away from the other children who are trying to do activities with the staff. They'll have organised the children into activities depending on the number of children who are there from the start and it can throw everything out.

It can also be pretty embarrassing for some kids to be the late one, as everyone turns to look at them.

Either get your child there on time or give up the place for someone else.

If you want the flexibility of a nursery, send him to a nursery.
If you want him in preschool, follow their timetable same as you'll have to when he starts primary school.

arriving late for the wrap-around care sessions should be fine. Those are more akin to child care. The core learning blocks of the day that count as actual preschool need to be respected. It is disruptive for a child to arrive late or leave early so that needs to be reserved for special circumstances like medical appointments.