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Amyathome
07-08-2011, 08:03 PM
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for reading this - I hope you can help me. I've been registered nearly two months and have had a lovely 3 year old over the summer along with my 1 and 3 year old. Unfortunately for me she is going to nursery full time in September.
I've had a couple of queries for individual days one mum who is also pregnant wants a tuesday and another wants a thursday. Obviously I want the work and money is tight at the moment but a bit concerned about taking these on as then can't take on any consecutive days. Id love your views on what you would do - do you find work slots into your free spaces?

Amy

Amyathome
07-08-2011, 08:06 PM
Sorry didn't think my previous post worked as computer crashed in the middle!

balijay
07-08-2011, 09:06 PM
Hi Amy I would say go for it. In my experience a few hours here and there quite often turns into more hours/days. My under 5s (6 of them altogether) are all part time - 2 days here, 3 days there - they all slot in together and it means I have a different mix of children each day which I like. I have never actually had an enquiry for a full timer in 2 years!
Also bear in mind that work usually comes via word of mouth, so if you take on these children and their parents like what you do, they will likely recommend you to all their friends!

Good luck :)

yvie14
07-08-2011, 09:15 PM
hi Amy,
i thought the same when i first started, but now i have a few little ones, all scattered through the week. if you had a full timer and they left....where would you be? if you have 1/2/3 little ones a day here and there and 1 leaves, you are ok! in the current economic climate you need to take what you can get, not in a desperate way but to be practical.
good luck
Y.x

boxtree7
07-08-2011, 09:16 PM
I am currently full but I have various children on differenct days ... some monday to friday, some not on a wednesday, some after 3 oclock 2 days a week and some 3 days. It can work - I like having different mixture of children 5 days a week - I also have parents who fit in when i can have the children.

ChocolateChip
07-08-2011, 09:33 PM
I've never had a full timer yet, all mine are 2,3 or 4 days a week, a couple started off with just one day and it gradually picked up.
Sometimes it's better to be earning from lots of different families, not having all your eggs in one basket, so to speak, I would go for it hun, I like the variety of having different lo's through the week.
Good luck! :thumbsup:

blue bear
08-08-2011, 01:39 AM
Mine are all part time, it's great you have different children and days are never the same, if one leaves it's only a small portion of income, I find part timers easier to replace. Down side is it's not easy to get out and about if they only come for an afternoon/ morning and you end up doing more learning journeys/ obs etc than if you have only 3 full timers, I've got 10 in the eyfs.

The Juggler
08-08-2011, 05:41 AM
it can be a good and bad thing. as someone said it's not a big hole in the income if one leaves but on the other hand it's sometimes hard to fill a vacancy. For instance I had two children leave before leaving me with a vacancy on tuesdays and fridays. all last year I had 2 vacancies on a friday but that's been my longest ever vacancy. One year I had 6 eyfs children - all part time and I only work 4 days per week.

I'd rather take it - seems a lot of parents now work these type of hours or they work f-time but have family/husbands on shifts and then only need a days' care to cover the hours they can't do.

I'd go for it if work is quiet hon.:)

pinkbutterfly
08-08-2011, 06:41 PM
I think what she is worried about is that she has just one space for an under 5 as 2 of hers are in that age group. I'm in the same boat ... my little ones are 3 and 2 and I currently managed to fill the space with 2 children. It fits well. I have had a few enquiries which I did not take on due to the fact that the parent wanted me 2 hours one day and 3 hours another and to be honest 5 hours of work a week wasn't going to get me anywhere after I've paid my tax (I have another job that takes me over the tax free amount so I pay tax on every single penny I earn from childminding) and taken off the expenses. You have to ask youself if the enquiry you've had is going to be enough if you get nothing else due to that child blocking the space. Obviously you have to be realistic because full time children are not that frequent and if you're just waiting for one child 5 full days a week you may end up waiting forever.

mummyMia
08-08-2011, 08:21 PM
I had the same problem too. I had an enquiry for a child for 1 day a week for only 6 hours. I didn't have any mindees then and couldn't decide if I should take it or not. In the end I decided that it was too few hours for me. A few weeks later I got an enquiry for 3 full days and have just received a deposit from mum today. She wanted the same day as the first mum so I would have had to turn her away. I have now decided that I won't take any under fives for less than 2 full days per week. Ideally I would have preferred a full timer but am happy to go with the 3 days.

jane5
08-08-2011, 10:32 PM
I have a 3 yr old dd and mind my nephew 4 days and I was also nervous of taking part timers. I have a lo 2 full days, and a couple of shift workers and they all slot in great. I have turned away a few full timers because I dont have the space but I like the variety of part timers. Mine pay for either a full or half day, I wont do 10 - 2 unless they are paying a full day. I think that is where you could end up losing money.

I actually earn more with my shift workers and part timers than I would with a full timer because they pay more for part time because my full day rate is cheaper than my hourly rate. I have a variation for one of my shift workers and my newest lo uses all my left over hours and family fill the hours I can not do.

I say a bird in the hand is worth more than 2 in the bush.