school offering v. cheap care

[*daisychain*]

Hi lovely lot!!
I have a parent coming to see me tomorrow about before and after school care for her LO. I really want the job as the school is very local to me , the one I am about to finish is over a mile away so this one would be far better for me.
I am just trying to figure out what to charge, was thinking of £5 before and £10 atfer but have been doing my research about the school the LO is going to attend ( she has just been offered a place ) and they do the same hrs for £8 a day !! I can not do it for that but I am now thinking of £10 a day .
Was just wondering how you deal with this stiff competition ? I understand that it is a different kind of care but price still comes into it and I really need the work

[BucksCM]

Personally, I wouldn't lower my charges just because they are charging just £8!
The care I offer is totally different from an afterschool club abd therefore I charge accordingly
And so should you

[sharonmanc]

what i have done to make it more competative, is a staggered price structure

Prices:
Before school (7am-9am) £5

After school until 5.00pm £6
until 5.30pm £8
until 6.30pm £10

this way if they stay later they will be having tea, so higher cost.

Also you will find that not all parents like the after school clubs, they can be very impersonal, food not too great, and they might prefer the homely feel. I had my children with a childminder eveen though i could have used wrap around care at their school, i just did not like what they had to offer.

[WibbleWobble]

we had an after school club open at easter....none of my mindees have left. Spoke to mums and they said they liked the fact mindees can kick off their shoes and lie on my sofa under a blanket(this is liked by younger mindees mums) or potter about the garden. They said kids spend enough time in school.

But i do offer "by the hour" charges....so if here for one hour they pay for one hour. makes me cheaper than after school which charges for the session.

mandy xxxxxx

[caz3007]

I had a group of mindies that stayed with me for years. They had been to the after school club before and hated it. It was too structured and had too many rules when they had been in that environment all day. I charged more, but they had a proper cooked meal here, tailored to all their likes and were allowed to just sit and watch tv or go in the garden and chill.

[miffy]

I wouldn't lower my prices, not all parents want after-school clubs to care for their children.

Miffy xx

[christine e]

I wouldn't lower my prices, not all parents want after-school clubs to care for their children.

Miffy xx

Agree with Miffy
After school club started up here and we (childminders) were quite worried as they undercut us. None of mine left to go there and after about 6 months it folded due to lack of demand

[VeggieSausage]

After school club at our local school but minders are still full, don't lower your prices - what you provide is quality childcare that the family may prefer to the after school club

[LauraS]

My local schoo runs a before and after school club from 8 til 9 and three til five for £3 per session . It's a nice club but it's limited (in terms of the time they run til and the activities and environment they can offer). They only do snacks - things like biscuits - and it's a long day to spend in school without a change of scene.

I still see local cm's picking up from the school and there is also a church run out of school club that picks up kids and keeps them til 6pm for £7 a session, so the school obviously haven't cornered the market.

There also used to be an out of school club which was more expensive which closed in order to use it's space and resources on the more lucrative nursery market. It was well-used by parents at the school.

I'm not even going to attempt to compete with price wise . What I intend to offer is a very different type of care to the out of school clubs which pack in sixty kids a night and have a structured 'classroom' feel and I think you just have to focus on that

For a parent claiming tax credits (as many in my area will probably be) the difference in out of pocket cost between a £12 after school session with a childminder and a £7 session at an out of school club is only £1.50 anyway.

[Tatjana]

I wouldn't put my child in the after school club, from what i've seen it's noisey, manic and not at all the homely, relaxing atmosphere we can offer instead.

[loocyloo]

i have a mindee whose sibling goes to afterschool club ( as i can't manage collection as school not local) but comes to me in the holidays and inset days as the afterschool club doesn't run! or it does, IF there is suffucient demand... apparently they have rung parents the evening before to say it won't be running the next day my 'mum' can't work like that !