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View Full Version : private school term time only contract and giving notice , help please!



mushpea
30-09-2012, 03:41 PM
normaly when I do a termtime only contract it goes by the term dates the local authority set out but tomoro I have a lady coming to see me who works in a private school and the term dates are different, do any of you work for private school teachers and if so what do you put on their contracts regarding term time only
I was thinking of asking her for a copy of the school news letter with the term time dates on for this year and stapling that to the contract then putting on the contract term time only as per dates for xxxx school . then each year we just staple a different letter to the contract.
she has emailed me today wanting me to start this week :eek:, my problem with this is I also have to give notice to another child, I have a 4yrold mindee who was suppose to start school in september but for varioius reasons hasnt, mum dosent work so I can offer mum different hours based around the new ones or give her notice, I was going to do a letter giving her the choice, would you ring her on the monday and tell her over the phone or wait until the next time the child comes which is tuesday and talk to her face to face, the other awkard bit is dad drops off and mum picks up but its mum thats 'in charge' with childcare.
aaarrrggghh why do people spring things on us
oh and mum already understands she may have to shift days or be given notice as they are due to move soon and I have explained I cant turn work away knowing they are leaving me at some point this term.

QualityCare
30-09-2012, 04:00 PM
When l had children whose mum worked in a private school l just put term time only on the contracts l didn't stipulate dates, mum would give me the dates and l wrote them on my calender.
As regards the other child, if mum was expecting changes l would ring and tell her explaining that child is starting earlier than you thought and offer her the days you have available.

littletreasures
30-09-2012, 04:16 PM
I have private and state school.

I put on their contract term time only dates for whichever school they are at.

This year is a bad year as the Mum who teaches at the private school has 2 weeks half term in October and they are 2 weeks before her children's half term. Her partner works for a state school so will have the children. This means I have 3 weeks at half fee instead of just one.

I do lose out a bit as she has longer holidays, but it means I don't have to do school runs for a while.

appleblossom
30-09-2012, 04:52 PM
I used to mind siblings whose mother was a teacher at a private school. I only allowed the normal LA 13 weeks holidays at no charge. All other time she had off was a minimum of half fees. However the mindees were at the local state school and they tended to still come to me when they were in school and Mum was off as it gave her chance to do necessary school stuff and her gardening whilst they were with me or in school. So they mostly only had the 13 weeks unpaid.

mushpea
30-09-2012, 05:16 PM
so how much holiday time do private schools normaly get then? I thought it was only 2 or 3 weeks more?

littletreasures
30-09-2012, 06:01 PM
I've tried to work it out. I think my parent is getting 18/19 weeks so about 5 weeks difference!!

Mouse
30-09-2012, 06:08 PM
so how much holiday time do private schools normaly get then? I thought it was only 2 or 3 weeks more?

Do you know which school it is? Could you look on the website and see if it says?

mushpea
30-09-2012, 06:21 PM
Do you know which school it is? Could you look on the website and see if it says?

No i dont as yet just the town its in but I should find out more tomoro although by that time she will want to know my charges,, I dont normally charge for holidays if they want term time only but if its 5 weeks thats a big difference.
I would be tempted to say half fee for more than the ususal 13 weeks but work is so thin on the ground and so many of us arent full at the moment I am almost scared to say this incase I put her off. Plus in September I will loose one to school so have more spaces so I could write my last current space off as being part time and just part of the year, oohh what to do.

Mouse
30-09-2012, 06:38 PM
No i dont as yet just the town its in but I should find out more tomoro although by that time she will want to know my charges,, I dont normally charge for holidays if they want term time only but if its 5 weeks thats a big difference.
I would be tempted to say half fee for more than the ususal 13 weeks but work is so thin on the ground and so many of us arent full at the moment I am almost scared to say this incase I put her off. Plus in September I will loose one to school so have more spaces so I could write my last current space off as being part time and just part of the year, oohh what to do.

If I were you I would work out some possible figures so you're prepared. Work it out assuming it's 18 weeks holiday. Cost it at 13 weeks no fee, 13 weeks no fee and 5 weeks half fee, and 18 weeks no fee. Look for a figure that you're happy with. Does she know what your daily rate is? Could you do a higher daily rate, but charge for less weeks?

When she gets there, quote her the 13 weeks with no fee, then if she quibbles about it tell her you will have to work out some figures, so will get back to her. Don't agree to anything on the spot. Just tell her how you would love to work with her and her child (assuming you would), so will get back to her asap with a figure you feel is fair to both of you :thumbsup:

Stapleton83
30-09-2012, 06:41 PM
Hi,

I have a private school teacher and from what she has told me the amount of holiday they get depends on how long their school day is as that is what allows them to have longer hols!

I charge her for a normal term time e.g. 13 weeks hols which she pays but that said if I was in a situation where work was thin on the ground I would be tempted to go with her hols. At the end of the day remember she wants you and is clearly already committed as she is asking you to start this week. Give yourself some credited, see what she says to you when she comes but I would probably work out a couple of pricing structures before she comes and then depending on what she says choose which I was going to ask for - if that makes sense.

Re the other child I would wait until you have seen the teacher and then if she signs phone the mum as you have given her fair warning plus you'll only fret about it until Tuesday if you don't.

Good luck.

Sam x

mushpea
30-09-2012, 07:01 PM
Thanks mouse but i dont think getting back to her is an option, she said in her email that if little one seems happy she will want her to start this week so i think its come in the morning, if shes happy she will sign there and then,, the problem for her is that the hours are all over the place so 2 days will be 6hrs and 2 days will be 2.5hrs then 1 day is 3.5hrs, days and hours that prehaps another minder wont take but that her parents have offered to help out with if needed
do you know I have just workd out the difference, if I gave her the 18 weeks free based on me orginaly giving her 13 weeks free then charging her half fee for the other 5 weeks I would only miss out on £175 a year, so its not worth loosing a contract over . do you see what I mean? so by lettin her have 18weeks free a year Im only missing out on £175 a year. might aswell accept the contract and loose a small amount of cash, keeps the tax man at bay too

Mouse
30-09-2012, 08:07 PM
Thanks mouse but i dont think getting back to her is an option, she said in her email that if little one seems happy she will want her to start this week so i think its come in the morning, if shes happy she will sign there and then,, the problem for her is that the hours are all over the place so 2 days will be 6hrs and 2 days will be 2.5hrs then 1 day is 3.5hrs, days and hours that prehaps another minder wont take but that her parents have offered to help out with if needed
do you know I have just workd out the difference, if I gave her the 18 weeks free based on me orginaly giving her 13 weeks free then charging her half fee for the other 5 weeks I would only miss out on £175 a year, so its not worth loosing a contract over . do you see what I mean? so by lettin her have 18weeks free a year Im only missing out on £175 a year. might aswell accept the contract and loose a small amount of cash, keeps the tax man at bay too

That's what I always do - work out how much I'll be losing out on. If it's not a massive amount I sometimes think I'd be better off taking the contract at a lower rate than having no contract at all! What I would do though is write in an annual fee review. That way you're making it clear there may be an increase in fees in the future :thumbsup:

JCrakers
30-09-2012, 08:42 PM
I live right on the border of my county and some half term dates are different to others.
From instance leics half term is 22nd oct where as northants it the week after. So I just go by what dates they give me

I have a parent who works in northants so her half term is different to her children's so I just swap the days. She's term time only so instead of having the children at home with her on week of 22nd she will have them at home with her the week after

The Juggler
30-09-2012, 09:08 PM
firstly, when it comes to t-time only contracts, I work to my schools and my boroughs dates.

this doesn't mean I won't work to help them out if it doesn't match but they are aware that it will be extra if they want me to work on days that would normally be my days off (i.e. my school hols). So I would tell her the days/weeks that are payment free (give her your school calendar). Tell her it's a max of 13 weeks per year (as private schools have more holiday than we do).

On the other issue. Mum that doesn' t work, yes give notice. Her dd will start school at some point so give notice. New private school mum will have to understand that she will have to wait until end of notice period. :)

Mummits
01-10-2012, 10:15 AM
I also work to local state school's calendar for my tto contracts. I have two private school teachers and if they are off extra days/weeks they still pay (in fact in practice tend to send their children anyway at least some of the time). If they want days that are my school holidays, they pay extra for those. It works for me and keeps things simple.

nipper
01-10-2012, 10:20 AM
You should be able to access the term dates from their website if you can find out which school it is. My parents work 39 weeks per year so I calculate the weekly cost x 39 and then divide by 12 months to get a monthly rate. This way their monthly invoice is a little less but I get paid every month which is better for me (term time only). Any 'extras' are paid for separately in cash or via cheque.