Term Time Only

[Freckles59]

Hello

I am really confused with term time only, please can someone enlighten me on how it works many thanks Freckles

[natlou82]

I personally offer TTO and only charge for term time, I don't charge retainers for holidays although many CMs do. I chose not to so I can take on holiday only children which works for me :-)

[moggy]

I think TTO-ers fall into 2 categories-

Those who chose to offer TTO place(s), who do not want to work in school hols and are happy not the be paid in hols and are not available in hols.

Then there are those who would like to take on an all-year-round place but are approached by a family wanting TTO and they come to an agreement sometimes involving 50% fees during holidays to retain the place, top-up to 100% fees if they chose to use the space in holidays.

[shortstuff]

I am open all year round. I do offer tto or hto if required. I dont charge a retainer. I charge an additional 50p per hour as opposed to an all year round contract.

Hth

[Kiddleywinks]

Term time only is exactly what it says on the tin, parent needs care but only during the weeks child attends school. (38 or 39 weeks)

Teachers, teaching assistants, and school office staff are popular clients, as they are not working during the holidays themselves, or can make other short term arrangements.

As Moggy quite rightly pointed out, charging for TTO varies from CM to CM, so you need to be absolutely sure what the parents actually need so you can charge appropriately.
Things to consider:

If you service 2 different schools, with 2 slightly different holiday dates, which dates will you be classing as term time dates - the LA's guidance for term dates may be the best option here

What happens on an inset day? - Will you be expected to work a full day or not? If you are covering inset days will you build the full days fees into the overall cost, or do a PAYG arrangement? If PAYG, will you actually have available spaces?

During school holidays - Does parent still want to be able to access care on an as and when (ad hoc) basis?
If yes, then are you going to 'hold the space' and therefore maybe charge a retainer for doing so (parent then tops up the difference from the retainer amount to your usual fee) or not?
If you charge a retainer (normally 50%) and you then have an enquiry for a full time holiday only child, what will you do? (by rights a retainer makes that space unavailable to anyone else)
Also, if you aren't prepared to work in the holidays, how will you justify charging a retainer for a service that's not actually available?
If parent says they don't need holiday care at all ever, what will happen if their friend/family member is unavailable/lets parent down - will parent expect you to cover? How do you feel about that? Would you be able to/Would you want to?

Payment terms - does parent want the cost (38/39 weeks) spread out over 52 weeks? Make parents VERY aware that if they leave before the 52 weeks is up, there will probably be a big shortfall that will need to be paid before the end of the notice period.
(I got my fingers burnt allowing a TTO parent to spread over 52 weeks - won't be doing that again for TTO contracts )

I have TTO and Holidays Only children and it works remarkably well. I don't charge a retainer for TTO as I feel it restricts me too much, particularly with being able to take on a higher valued holiday contract.

So long as you and the parent are crystal clear on what is and is not covered with the fees, it's very workable, but there are lots of things to consider, the biggest one being the parents actual needs versus what they think they need whilst they're trying to get the cost down

[bunyip]

I don't charge TTO clients at all during the school holidays.

However, I do make sure they pay me for the whole of term. I've had a couple of TTO clients whose previous providers would charge them for holidays and goD knows what else. Having come to me, they somehow got the impression that, just because I didn't make them pay through the nose everytime I decide to spend a week on my yacht (as if ), then I must be running some sort of PAYG arrangement, so they thought they could keep their children away for odd days during term (extra-curricula clubs, after school parties, tea and playdays at friends' houses) and not have to pay me. This is a growing phenomenon as more families book cheaper holidays in term time .

Other things worth considering when setting up a TTO contract:-

• Any ad-hoc care offered in the holidays? If so, how much, and how will your bookings system work? Despite all the pressure to be 'positive', don't over commit to anything you cannot or do not wish to deliver.
• What about bank holidays and inset days? This is something that often gets forgotten until the first inset day comes along, then one party think it's included and the other thinks the opposite, thus leading to disagreement, conflict and bad feeling. Remember: pack your 'chute before boarding the aircraft.
• If, like me, you could end up drawing clients from up to 4 local authorities all operating different calendars, you may need to define what, exactly, you mean by "term time". If you fail to do so, then each individual client will naturally assume you will be meaning the terms at their child's school.

Much of the detail will depend on why the client wants TTO. Usually it's cos mum/dad do TTO work (eg. teachers) but that's not always the case. But note that even these may be required to go into work during the hoidays, or want some extra time for marking, planning or just running around naked at home (did I just say that?)

If you offer funded hours, make sure parents know when it applies. And remember, even though funding is stopped during the holidays (cos it's for 'education', despite the UK regime claiming it is for "childcare" ) your EYFS requirement to deliver learning and development cannot be put on hold - well, not easily (nuff sed .)

Beware of the line in many off-the-shelf contracts which says notice may not be given when either party is "on holiday". This is commonly misunderstood to mean you can't be given notice during school holidays: it means nothing of the sort. This makes the summer long vac a bit of a worry. I know several CMs who were given notice quite late that a child would not be returning in September: sometimes by parents who almost certainly knew well before, but didn't feel the need to advise their CM (or at least keep their options open) in good time. This all means the CM loses the child and loses valuable time in which they could be recruiting a replacement . You may want to think about protecting yourself from this by requiring some form of bond or deposit against the child returning each September, especially if you do not charge any sort of holiday retainer.

If you are going to charge a retainer, remember it involves a commitment on the part of the CM. You must never regard a retainer as 'free money'. It buys a service, which is that you must have the place open for them if they want it. So, you cannot charge them a retainer and fill the place with another child during that period (not even for 1 day); and you cannot close for the week and fly down to Rio. Also, you cannot really refuse them if they want you to have their child attend on one or more of those days, assuming they give fair warning and pay the top-up fee; not even if you booked in at the dentist, hair salon, whatever. By accepting the retainer you are saying "I'm open and ready for business." Avoid nasty shocks by getting any such bookings in writing and do not confirm them unless/until paid for in advance. Worth devising a carefully-worded bookings form for this purpose.

Another alternative is that some CMs do not charge for the holidays, but do charge an enhanced rate for TTO care. A lot of it boils down to personal choice and taking account of customers' perceptions.

Btw, do say if we're not getting the point of your initial general question. I realise we're all replying in respect of how we charge. Was there something else you wanted to know about TTO?

[bunyip]

Sorry. I've repated a lot of Kiddlywinks put in her excellent post (she types faster too. )

I second what KW says about averaging/spreading the cost over 52 weeks. I'd also add that we see quite a few threads here concerning CMs who've done just that, only to end up in a massive disagreement about who owes how much to whom when such an agreement comes to an end. Although there are exceptions, it rarely seems to end well, especially if the client is as bad at listening as they are at maths.

[k1rstie]

Don't forget, that if the child or the patent works at a private school, then their holidays are even longer than normal holidays. For ram ample two weeks at the half terms, extra week at Christmas and break up at the beginning if July.
I state I use my local authorities term dates.

It's worth looking up each school term dates on their school websites, plus on the primary times website, it lists the term dates for each authority.
( my husband often gets me to check different authorities to double check if his employees are pulling fast ones when submitting their holiday dates)

[Mummits]

The question of retainers comes up a lot. If you charge a retainer to hold a place empty (either before a child starts with you. or over the holidays), you do need to be willing to let the parents use that space, subject to paying the rest of the daily charge and subject to whatever notice you specify. If you simply say I will require a fee of £xxx to reserve a place for September, you make no guarantee of availability of a place before September, and don't need to turn away any other business = issue solved.

[KateA]

Hi I too am happy to offer term time only contracts and dont charge retainer for holidays. If its a school teacher I ask them at contract signing if they are going to need the training days as well and add this to the contracts.In past had one teacher mess me about with these days - just turning up on the day after saying not wanting me etc.

With notice periods I have on my contracts no holidays I will not accept for any notice given to me over the holidays and I will not give notice to them if they are on holiday. If they even want odd days in holidays they have to pre book them in advance and pay up front these days are non refundable if they then dont want to use me.