Holiday club
Thanks Thanks:  0
Likes Likes:  5
Dislikes Dislikes:  0
Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Holiday club

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Posts
    4
    Registered Childminder since
    pre-reg
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default Holiday club

    Hi,

    I am just in the process of setting up. I am planning on boosting my earnings during the school holidays by running a holiday club for school age children (only a couple a day, possibly elder siblings of my EY children). I will be charging £32.50 per day all inclusive for EY children (which is about average around here) and was thinking of charging £25 per day for the holiday club children.

    Do you feel in your experience that this sounds about right? I am struggling to find prices on line for all day care for school age children.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Cheshire
    Posts
    37,504
    Registered Childminder since
    1994
    Latest Inspection Grade
    Outstanding
    Post Thanks / Like
    Blog Entries
    21

    Default

    Are there any clubs in your local area? What they charge will give you a better idea of how to pitch it...

    I hope it goes well

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    at my computer, of course
    Posts
    4,986
    Registered Childminder since
    Nov 11
    Latest Inspection Grade
    Outstanding
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    I'm no expert, but your charges strike me as a bit AAF.

    IME schoolies eat way more than EY children, consume vast amounts of expendables (such as craft materials), need far more attention (having largely lost the ability to play on their own initiative- I think this is one of school's first "deskilling" lessons) and they break stuff too.

    How long is your 'day'? If it's any more than eight hours then I'd gladly sub-contract my minders to you or the holidays and still keep a tidy profit!

    And why charge according to the local average? How does that relate to your costs and the quality of the service you're offering? No offence, but if you're only interested in the average then you're inadvertently sending out a message that you're an 'average' childcare service.

  4. Likes Dragonfly, Mouse liked this post
  5. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    2,868
    Registered Childminder since
    Nov 10
    Latest Inspection Grade
    Outstanding
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    I agree, school holiday care is very demanding.
    School age children (and their parents) expect crafts/exiting outings/sports/forest school/swimming/activities etc every day. Look at what your local holiday clubs are offering- and their prices. Look at it from a parent's point of view and see what you can beat them on: can you offer a quieter setting for children who don't like the busy holiday clubs? Can you take them to the beach or somewhere special (but free) regularly? How about the meals you offer- can you beat them on home cooked food (but as Bunjip also raised, they can eat adult sized portions and they can also be very fussy with food), Maybe packed lunches could keep your cost down!
    Looking locally here, a full day of school holiday club is cheaper than a full day of EYFS childminding. BUT they are working at massively different ratios. I could not compete, so I do not offer it.
    If your EYFS children have older siblings, won't they be with you anyway if you're taking them to/from school? That is the usual set up, and then the school sibling + the EYFS sibling all have the holidays with their CMer. I wouldn't call that a holiday club, just your contractual agreement for the children (term time before/after school and school holiday care). The advantage for the family is that you are their usual CMer, children are happy and settled with you, both siblings can be there together, so they are happy to pay more for that.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Posts
    482
    Registered Childminder since
    1993
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    *****mind through the holidays but agree with the comments about older ones being more needy and expensive.
    I provide Ofsted registered, qualified, experienced Childminding I don't try to compete with other settings or be like them.
    I think you may find you will stumble business wise trying to please all. Be confident to be a brilliant childminder!!!
    In my area "holiday clubs" are either one or two weeks long run by church or youth group for a very low fee or full day care usually run by large companies using school facilities and offering 101 daily activities, no food provided other than snack shop(fizzy drink and chocolate/sugar) costing £50 plus a day! Adult ratio 1 -8 or higher.
    My last family who had previously used a busy action packed club came back to me because child got hurt several times and no one helped/reported it to parents and after 4 sessions child was over stimulated and couldn't behave/sleep.
    Be brave, be individual, be you!!! Xx

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Somerset
    Posts
    4,247
    Registered Childminder since
    may 05
    Latest Inspection Grade
    Outstanding
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    I only normally have EY children but offered places to siblings for half term last week (not to be helpful but I was trying to recoup some money for not working bank holiday Monday and I'm having a week's holiday next week so again no income). I completely agree with other people's comments about older children being hard work -
    a) they don't know my rules as I haven't looked after them since babies and "trained" them my way - so I was constantly saying "walk, don't run", "sit on the sofa properly", "take your shoes off"
    b) agree with comments about them having shorter concentration span - they wanted to change activities every 5 mins (there are a lot of 5 mins in an 8 hour day)!
    c) They were fussy eaters so I gave into oven chips, fish fingers and baked beans as I knew that I would be fighting a losing battle with anything healthy like their younger siblings eat normally.
    d) They did masses of craft getting through packs of pom poms, stickers, glittery shapes, paper, glue, paint

    Because I was a little greedy in having 5 or 6 children each day (including my normal EY children) I couldn't take them out in the car as I only have a 5 seater - luckily the weather was fine and they could play in the garden and one day we walked to the park.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    By the sea
    Posts
    9,334
    Latest Inspection Grade
    Outstanding
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    I would think carefully about marketing yourself as a holiday club, especially if it's only for a couple of children, possibly siblings of your younger children.

    A holiday club is usually seen as a cheap alternative for parents during the holidays. Holiday clubs here are often a football club, a dance club, a church run club etc. They're cheap because they have fewer overheads and can take on a lot of children.

    As a childminder you can offer a longer day than a holiday club, you can keep siblings together (easier for parents to drop off and collect in one place), you can provide activities specifically suited to the children you look after, you can provide the food they like etc etc.

    If you call yourself a holiday club parents will expect holiday club activities for a holiday club fee. Sell yourself as a childminder offering school holiday places and you can charge a much more appropriate fee. Don't sell yourself sort by trying to match the fees of a holiday club. School aged children can be hard work and you may regret it if you reduce your rate for them.

  9. Likes hectors house, FloraDora, moggy liked this post
 

 

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Quick Links and Advertisements

Important Information Links
Some Useful Quick Links
Advertisements

 

You can also find us on:
Holiday club Holiday club Holiday club

We use cookies to make this site as useful as possible. They are small text files placed in your browser to track usage of our site but they don’t tell us who you are.
By continuing to use this site you are consenting to cookies being placed on your computer. Find out more here: Cookies in Use

Childminding Help and the Childminding Forum are part of Childcare.co.uk