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Preschool education

Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

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Original poster

CALLING ALL PARENTS WITH PRE-SCHOOLERS

39 replies

flashharriet · 31/01/2010 22:16

The Govt. apparently intends to increase the number of funded hours for 3 and 4 year olds from 12.5 to 15 per week from September. It will also ensure that these 15 hours are "free at the point of delivery" i.e. the provider will not be able to charge any top-up.

If your child currently does less than 15 hrs pw in total, will you increase them?

And if not, why not?

TIA

(Am involved in a pre-school and we're just trying to get our head round this)

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Original poster

flashharriet · 01/02/2010 13:10

No-one? Wd be really grateful for any input

OP posts:

redskyatnight · 01/02/2010 13:18

My DD starts school in September (which must be true for lots of others already in pre-school) so not affected by this.

But can't imagine that children currently doing 12.5 hours will not increase to 15 - especially as a lot of providers (I imagine) are simply going to change 2.5 hour sessions to 3 hours so the child is still doing the same number of sessions ...

Parents who take more than 12.5 hour already and pay the extra (we fall into this bucket) will just grab the extra free hours

compo · 01/02/2010 13:18

Yes I will increase them

currently our preschool only opens for the reqired 12.5 hours so it will open for longer

Chillohippi · 01/02/2010 13:19

Yes I will increase DS's hours. He is 3 and started a couple of weeks ago, doing 12.5 hours a week. I did have a chat with the teacher about the increase in hours, and she explained that it will cause problems: less time to set up and clear up, increase in hours for nursery nurses, implications for the wrap-around care etc. But, if the time is increased I will take it.

compo · 01/02/2010 13:20

Exactly redsky

ours opens at 9.30 until 12pm

do they have asked us if they want us to open 9.30 - 12.30 OR 9-12pm

I think parent consultation is important

meemar · 01/02/2010 13:21

my ds is starting school in sept, but if he wasn't, yes, i would have increased his hours

bonkerz · 01/02/2010 13:22

my dd already attends for the full 15 hours and it works well for us 9-12. we only pay for lunch club extra which is £2.50.

whoopstheregoesmymerkin · 01/02/2010 13:25

My oldest will be starting school in Sept but we only do 9 hours because I am a SAHM and enjoy (!)the fact that we have time to do stuff together which we won't do when he starts school.

FreakoidOrganisoid · 01/02/2010 13:26

DD started preschool in sept, they have offered 15 hours from then.
9-12
12.30-3.30

Before xmas she only did 3 sessions but since then she has been doing the full 15 hours

reup · 01/02/2010 13:30

My sons playschool does not charge for the top up but they do let people know about the shorfall per session and some parents pay the difference (as they know the preschool could collapse without this extra money)

LuckyJim · 01/02/2010 13:33

We already have 15 hours here (trial area). My dd has never used her full entitlement. She is at nursery (attached to school) which only has morning sessions of 2.5 hours each so she would have to be picked up and taken to another session at the playgroup if she was going to have 15 hours. She used to go to a playgroup that was more flexible. They had 10 2.5 hour sessions and you could pay an extra £2 to cover the lunch hour. Lots of dcs had 3 full days. dd only had 5 morning because I didn't want her to have a full day but if the sessions had been 3 hours then she would have.

A local nursery was strugling with their timings as they had to have some time for their staff to have a lunchbreak and some parents had problems picking dcs up from the infant and junior schools which were on different sites.

littleducks · 01/02/2010 13:47

We already have 15 hours here too, preschool used to run from 9.15 to 11.45 or 12.15 to 2.45 with a 'lunch club' that you could pay £2? ish in between so child could have packed lunch there

Now there are only two sessions 9-12 and 12-3 with no lunch club, only children staying the full day have lunch (loss of revenue for preschool)

We have had to be a bit flexible with drop off etc though, the sessions still doesnt formally start till 9.15, until then its books on carppet time as lots of children are regularly late as they have to drop older siblings off first. This was partly why pick up was made 3 rather than keeping lunch break, as parents have to pick up older ones and there would have been a clash.

In our experience people keep the same number of days/sessions but up the hours.

However come Sept i believe it is all change as we will have to change 'sessions' to more flexible timings, AARGH!

Preschool committee is alot of work for volunteers!

misshardbroom · 01/02/2010 15:13

I'm the mother of a preschooler and also an administrator for a preschool.

My son will be in school by September but if he wasn't, then yes I would definitely increase his hours to 15 as it would cover more of my working time for free.

As a preschool administrator, I expect most of our parents will do likewise, largely because we'll go from 2.5 hour sessions to 3 hour ones, so they will just continue to attend on the same days but be picked up slightly later.

2boys2 · 01/02/2010 16:54

i have a question.

My ds pre-school opens for 2.5hr sessions and they have said they are not going to increase to the 15hrs per week. Are they allowed to do this??

Also can i split the entitlement across two childcare settings? he goes to a private nursery and preschool. (4 sessions will be reduced off of my nursery fees)

ruddynorah · 01/02/2010 17:00

our area already does 15hrs. dd's at a private day nursery each morning 8.30 til 11.30 for free, no top up, no obligation do do more hours or attend in school holidays etc. she gets breakfast and a mid morning snack with no extra charge.

NumptyMum · 01/02/2010 17:10

grump grump grump if only we got the 12.5 hours I'd be happy . Glasgow-bloody-city-council manages to avoid giving this entitlement to all children, somehow...

monkeypinkmonkey · 01/02/2010 17:36

DS increased to 15 few months back, I was paying extra so he could stay 9-12.30 but when increase came in the nursery said I could pick him up at 12:00 or pay for the 1/2. I pick him up at 12 now and he still gets lunch as its at 11.30am (but they don't charge me for that??!!)
It's def better than 12.5 hours as it give me more time to mumsnet do house work.

misshardbroom · 01/02/2010 17:42

2boys2, I think they probably are allowed to do it. The stuff that I've read refers a lot to the local authority's responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient preschool provision across its geographical area, but effectively says that individual settings shouldn't be put out of business by the requirement to increase to 15 hours. So if the committee of your preschool don't think it's viable (e.g. for staffing reasons, or because the premises aren't available for 15 hours, or any other valid reason) then they don't have to do it.

If you're still unsure though, it's probably worth calling your local Sure Start office or Children's Information Service.

And yes, you can split your entitlement across two providers.

EdgarAllenSnow · 01/02/2010 17:48

well, also in my area, if you want a place n a free scheme, you have to put their name down @ 18mo

solo · 01/02/2010 17:52

My Dd(3.1) is not in pre school. The one I'd like her to go to has no places, so I'm not sending her. 15 hours would be lovely though...actually, 3 hours would be lovely!

PuppyMonkey · 01/02/2010 17:53

My dd is three on April 6 this year and I thought wwe would be getting the 12.5 hours free straight away... turns out that she had to be born by Marh 31 to get that, she has to wait until September. Grrrr.

I will use the 15 yes, as I work three days a week.

MinkyBorage · 01/02/2010 17:53

DD2 is at nursery atm, and uses 9 hours pw which will be free in April I think, her 3rd b'day was Jan. I won't increase hours because I think 3 afternoons is enough for her, and it still means that I only get two afternoons with her. They're too soon in ft school, and I'm trying to enjoy the last of these precious times with her.

ProfYaffle · 01/02/2010 18:00

dd2 currently does 16hrs pw so we won't change but if she was doing 12.5 I'd up her hours.

MrsJohnDeere · 01/02/2010 18:08

Ds1's pre-school already offers 15 'free' hours to those over 3 years (term after birthday) BUT not all children do the whole 15. Places are limited so priority is given to those in their last academic year before starting reception the following September (almost all of whom do take up the full 15 hours). Those in the year below generally do 6-9 hours (2/3 sessions).

Some children don't do the whole 15 hours because the parents want one day when they're free to do things with their children, or parents work on some days and the children are in full-time nurseries elsewhere.

Sessions are 9-12 every day, 12-3 on a couple of afternoons (7 x 3 hour sessions in total), with optional hour long lunch club (£3) on 2 days a week.

ConnorTraceptive · 01/02/2010 18:09

Our pre school is so over subscribed that few people get their full entitlement as it is so I doubt 15 hours will ever be available to me

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