help please with parent mtg tomorrow - re fees over holiday time

[minder to be]

hi all

need your help and advice urgently please!!!

I have parents coming to see me tomorrow to sign contracts

A bit of background is I only do mornings and after school minding
Ive currently done contracts for 4 children some an hour before school and 3 hours after and some just 3 hours after school
ive told those ones that they can use me through school holidays or not
and that if not i wont charge for the holidays if they dont use me

think ive made a big mistake as checking for the october half term holiday none of them are using me.

my thoughts were that as i do just before and after school hols (have two older children at school and a 4 month old baby) that I wouldnt want loads of children all day every day through the hols, but some would be ok

anyway im going up to now the 5th child (thats me maxed out then) but am taking on an assistant to then be able to take another 5 after schoolers.

I think i was initially concerned that when up to my full number of 10 after schoolers that I would really not want 10 of them all day through any holidays.

however none of the parents for the 4 i have signed up already are going to use me through school holidays and i wonder if ive made a big mistake!!!

I have the parents coming tomorrow night to see me to go through the contract.

how do I go about it. Im thinking of saying that for the next few children I take on I will charge even if they dont use me through the hols. IS this the normal practice? can I state to some parents they pay through hols and some not? I dont want to end up with no children right through hols every day all day but i equally dont want to end up with total of 10 children all day every day hence why I said they dont need to pay through hols. was hoping it would balance out equally with some using me and some not

help!!!! what would you suggest.

so parents coming tommorow
thinking of saying its £4 per hour - set after school session is for 3 hours so £12 per day. so weekly charge would be £54 per week
I will invoice them at the end of every month.
So do I just tell them that I will be charging through any school holidays wether they use me or not.

just seems wrong to charge someone when they are not going to use me but I now know that this seems to be the norm.

[Sara T]

Hi,

I havent had this situation, so I cant offer any proven advice.

I am looking at my rates for how I currently do things as having a possible new before and after schoolie starting sept.

I charge £3.50 per hour for whatever parents require, minimum 6hrs per day for the non schoolies and would be min 2 hours charge per day for schoolies.

At the mo my parents want all year round so it doesnt affect me, but you could always advertise holiday only places during school hols and pick how many you would be prepared to have.

ie: max 2 children all day through hols.

parents that want only school hols care (say if they have in laws that do drop offs etc but not prepaerd to have for whole summer etc) then you could advertise on a first come first serve basis. Make it clear up front that you need to know if they require holiday cover at the time of booking the schoolie contract.

If its term time only contracts then I believe some CM's charge more per hour as they dont have to pay all year round etc.

its all so confusing!! I hope you come to a decision. If it was decided at the start that it was term time only then you can't go back on your word, but you can decide for the next ones and charge maybe a little more for term time only contracts, or less hourly rate for all year round contracts.

I find the whole thing confusing, so currently charge one hourly rate regardless of what it is and just invoice up front for the month ahead, but I have given my parents minimums of what they can have as they are taking up a place

hope that kind of helps!

Sara

[Sara T]

there are probably some other good threads with term time only contract advice on too

[HELEN10]

H*****minders I know with term time only contracts charge half through school holidays to retain the place. (that is half term time rate).

Would that give you enough income ?

[miffy]

I think you have to decide whether you want to work in the school holidays or not.

Yes, some childminders do charge a half-fee retainer during the school holidays for term-time only children but that is because they work during the holidays and their service is available.

If you only want to work during term-time then you shouldn't charge for school holidays.

I'd be wary too of charging some parents a retainer and others nothing as parents do talk to one another.

Miffy xx

[The Juggler]

I agree with Miffy, you are in danger of them finding out that they are being charged whilst someone else is not.

Maybe put in your advertising as a selling point that you offer holiday care - that way you might attract those parents who are specificaly looking for this or you might get holiday only children.

[Goatgirl]

Hi,
If I understand correctly, your current schoolies are able to choose to use hols or not. I'd say to those parents now that due to changing circumstances you cannot afford to leave holiday places unfilled so they will need to choose: either they do want you or they don't in hols. You will be reviewing contracts and need to know asap to guarantee places. Then you will know how many you will be having, whether you need to take on any more and it may be that you wont need to pay out for an assistant at all.

If some of the parents come back upset maybe you could offer a compromise of ad hoc care for holidays but only if its available, with booking 4 weeks before the holidays in question and all booked dates to be paid for even if not needed. This way, they still have a chance to sort out alternative care. I would charge an enhanced 'ad hoc' rate for this care too.

Obviously explain you won't be able to guarantee a space unless they want to commit to year round contracts, as you'll need to 'sell' those spaces to make up your own income. Once you know there are spaces, you may be able to find hoiday only families .

You gave the parents the chance to save money by finding alternative holiday care, so they may be miffed, but giving them a choice, lots of notice and explaining your circumstances have changed should hopefully apease them. You are running a business at the end of the day, and need your earnings to live on, just like everyone else.

For the new family I would go with charging a higher fee from the offset, if they want term time only, as you still have a space and calculate this by working out what you'd make charging half fee for hols, adding it to term time fees and dividing by the number of term time weeks. Then convert to hourly/session fees

I personaly think its fine to start charging new families more, especially if you are giving notice to existing families for a change in holiday fees structure.

Good luck with the meeting today and I hope your existing families take it well if you do go ahead and make the changes

Let us know what you do and how it works out

best wishes,
Wendy

[candlequeen]

Before you start changing your prices, you say this seems to be the norm, but do you mean this is the norm in your immediate area? Have you compared your prices to any after school clubs etc that parents may have the option of using . It's important to look at the local market to assess your prices, not just do what other childminders do.

Where are all your term time kids going in the holidays? I took on a term time only child thinking I'd easily find holiday kids, but there seems to be a wealth of holiday clubs in the area that I can't compete with.