Latest enquiry - thoughts please

**Demonjill** · 19-01-2012, 10:53 PM

Hi

New enquiry - fab thing childcare.co.uk

Mum is teacher child is 2 nearly 3 and will be going to nursery after summer

Care will be shared with CM and Gran - as it is now but her CM is giving up -- so thats where i come in lol

Mum is enrolling LO at nursery this week and has still to decide whether to do am (9-11:30) or pm (12:45-3:15)session and she said in message I could choose

I asked if she did term time only and she said no she didnt know that was an option - I have no experience term time only so wondered pros and cons of this as a start. I have not said yes no either way.

At mo mum works mon- thur and lo is at CM tue 4.25hrs, wed 4.25 hrs both am and thur 4 hrs pm and mum does the rest
- she says mum will work round me too.

Now im planning on telling her its 5hrs minimum a day is this fair do you think?

So what im wondering is what hours should i do now thats going to still work when lol goes to nursery?? - my head is still in letter of resignation mode lol

eg: should lo do tue wed and thur am with me now so can do am nursery session with me dropping off and picking up or a pm session with me now to then do pm session at nursery again with me drop off pick up ? or should it be mixed up then may get more hours???hmmm hard to explain what i mean

I obv will know more when speak to mum tomorrow but just really wanted a head start

**Mummits** · 20-01-2012, 07:07 AM

As someone has suggested on another thread, I think I'd say minimum fee per day is £X (equivalent to 5 hrs charge) rather than giving the impression she must do 5 hours, which might not suit. Personally I'd prefer to pick up from Nursery and have the rest of the day to do things with the child, rather than have to fit things in to a morning slot, allowing time for lunch and the nursery run. I also tend to do more playgroups and such in the mornings, but what works best for you depends on your routine and the other children you have. Again I would personally go for either mornings or afternoons, not a mix, as the child may not know whether they are coming or going and you may find they are confused/distressed by the lack of routine.

**samb** · 20-01-2012, 01:51 PM

Well I have no idea lol! As Mum doesn't seem to know what options are available to her re nursery maybe she should find out first so you can work it out as to how it would fit with other school runs/groups you may have? And yes if you want to do a minimum a day then you can - good idea to do a fee minimum rather than an hour minimum as said before.

**Demonjill** · 20-01-2012, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by samb

Well I have no idea lol! As Mum doesn't seem to know what options are available to her re nursery maybe she should find out first so you can work it out as to how it would fit with other school runs/groups you may have? And yes if you want to do a minimum a day then you can - good idea to do a fee minimum rather than an hour minimum as said before.

lol its not that the mum doesnt know her options just that she wants to fit it all round what suits me.

and what i was having trouble getting my head around was

If say i arrange for lo to come mornings now then he goes off to nursery am i lose hours and if he goes nursery pm parent doesnt want him here all day so how do i know i will have pm when lo needs it if he has been doing am up till then?

lol my head is fried with thinking lol

**Baildon bears** · 20-01-2012, 09:38 PM

I have a mindee that does mornings at pre-school, as I take her a drop off I charge mum a full day. You can't fill that space so you are entitled to. Also if she is going to he on a term time contact only, I would but her on a slightly higher hourly rate to make up for the holidays.

**samb** · 20-01-2012, 10:19 PM

Ah sorry for some reason when I read the post earlier I thought Mum had to decide if she wanted the nursery sessions all year or term time only, not you !

If you are charging minimum fees even if the nursery session fell within your contracted times you would get paid the same. Of course it is nicer for you and the child if you can see them when you look after them rather than them being somewhere else but as this wouldn't happen until Sept anyway you have got 8 months of having her longer. Mum may decide to change contracted hours when child starts at nursery too or maybe Gran will not be able to have her as often etc. I would suggest the times that you would prefer now so if you prefer to do activities more in the morning then maybe have child 9-2 so you can still have before/after schoolies easily? And so maybe afternoon sessions would be better?