holiday care

[nicola1981]

hi im meeting a parent re holiday care tomorrow for 2 brothers

does anyone have a booking form i could see please?

[mushpea]

I do holiday only care but i dont have a booking form,, the contract between us states school holiday care only and the parent pays for the 13 weeks school holidays wether she uses them or not,, this is because the child is still young enough to be counted in my numbers.

[nicola1981]

sorry i probably should of said i think she only needs me 2 days per week for 3 weeks of the summer hols, should i just write the days care is required on the normal contracts?

[samb]

It depends what you want to do really - is it a one off holiday or continual? Do you need to write off those spaces term time? If so are you ok with only filling them for a short time each year and potentially losing money? Are you going to charge a sort of retainer to keep those spaces open and still earn a bit in term time? I have a booking form - it is literally a grid like a calendar with mon-fri at top then the dates in each box. For summer it is made up of our 6 weeks school holiday dates. At top it says child's name; date agreed; signed by parent and childminder. At bottom there is a key explaining shaded boxes are unavailable due to either no space left that day or my annual leave. If only 1 space left I put (1) next to the date so they know the space is limited. I have 1 that comes each holiday and so he gets form confirmed first then my other ad hoc gets next pick of hours. I have lots of space and don't mind being quiet so it works for me. Once I ok hours, I sign and photocopy and give to parents. This becomes the hours they are liable to pay for even if they chose to not use them - like a contracted hour child. They can add hours on if they are still available. Hope that is some help to you?

[nicola1981]

its just these 3 weeks in aug she needs care for as a one off

i do like the idea of the grid though may use that myself

[mushpea]

in that case I would just hand write a contract putting the exact dates on she needs you but with a clause stating if someone else came along wanting care all year round meaning you dont then have the space for her children that you will not be able to do those particular dates
depending on how well you know the parent I would also ask for the money up front to hold the space.
I have a holiday only child but he fits in nicley with my term time only children so he shares their space and therefore i dont charge for him term time aswell.