AnonyMouse_44288 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Hello I found today that a few of our local childminders have been and still are telling the parents of the child they mind that they can not do any longer than a 3 hour session with Pre school. When I questioned one of the childminders she explained that they need to make money and only having children after sch does not pay enough so the answer is they pay for a full day and ALLOW the children to attend Pre School for 3 hours.... This doesn't seem right to me....am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_3139 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Dog eat dog world out there, but no, I'd say it isn't right. Maybe some flyers in the local area giving details of your hours might change some minds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_8466 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 I'm not a childminder, and there are lots of very knowledgeable minders on here who will be able to offer their expert perspective. However as a parent, I guess I would expect to have sorted this out with the childminder when I first registered with them. If my plan was always to use a childminder until my child went to nursery/pre-school then I would have made this clear and would have negotiated any 'retainer' the childminder wanted to charge me for the hours when they would not be caring for my child. I can see that the chances of a childminder filling only those hours when my child would be at nursery might be slim - and if I wanted the childminder to do the drop off and collect, I would be keen to make sure they were available to do that every day. This can be hard for parents though, because it is effectively paying twice for the same childcare hours (outside of the free entitlement, obviously). That said, I think I would want my children to access their free entitlement and then spend the rest of the time with my childminder - more like the kind of experiences I'd expect them to have at home (and much better, in my case!), and quite probably cheaper. Ultimately, it is a competitive market place and if one childminder adopts a very aggressive pricing policy and is seen to dictate to parents what they can and can't do, surely the parent will vote with their feet and find a minder they feel is more attuned to their family's needs. Tricky balancing act, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_44288 Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 I understand that the childminder needs to make a living. And the childminder is question is good, she offers a fun filled hands on approach which in a small village is hard to find. She has the monopoly in the local childminders really, so is using this to her advantage. She can't claim the FFE so I don't understand why she insists that only 3 hours, 3 morning at Pre school is the max she will allow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_28434 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Nurseries have to offer flexible care, so do childminders. We can't/don't charge a retainer for 'gaps' etc - would like to but...it's tough for everyone at the moment . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_8466 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Well that brings another question: why can't childminders claim the nursery education funding, given that they have to follow the EYFS just like nurseries? Maybe I should duck at this point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_15046 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Well that brings another question: why can't childminders claim the nursery education funding, given that they have to follow the EYFS just like nurseries? Maybe I should duck at this point...They can. I did so for several years myself but I had to be part of an approved childminding network to do so. I am struggling to understand how this childminder is stopping parents booking the child into preschool fro the hours they wish the child to attend. It is perfectly reasonable to expect parents to pay for contracted hours and I wouldn't agree a contract with an unpaid break part way through a day. I wouldn't be able to fill that space with another child and would therefore lose the money. However, if the parents are willing to pay her for the hours the child attends the pre-school and use their free entitlement to cover the pre-school fees I can't see why she feels the need to dictate the hours they attend. Could it be that she needs to take nap times and meals into account when agreeing pick up times? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 I am not a chilminder and never have been, and have never had to use a childminder because I was lucky enough to have the children's grandparents to help us out. Whilst I appreciate entirely the need to make a living I couldnt send my child to someone who would only ALLOW me to send my child to preschool 3 mornings a week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dont like the sound of that AT ALL. However as previously said, these issues should be talked about and problems ironed out when a paret chooses a child minder and so if the parent agrees to these conditions whose business is it really besides theirs??!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_29641 Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 Well I suppose it depends where the child is accessing their FFE and the availability for the childminder to do the dropping-off and picking-up. If the RCM is providing funded places and the family chooses to access their funding elsewhere, then it's a bit rude to ask for the other place to be held. Three to four year olds, still count as very young children, taking up a full EY place. RCM's can't afford to give half a day away for free, especially with all the extra running around. Perhaps the family should be looking for playgroup or nursery that provides wrap-around care if they want their child to be in a larger setting all day. When children move up to reception they count as school-aged in the ratio. Until that time parents need to choose. The real problem is with the ratios. RCM's can make their own ratio variation for a sibling, but the ratios should allow variations to allow for 3-4 year olds attending nursery or playgroup to be counted somewhat differently. That forth child for half a day is then jam, instead of a bite out of the sandwich and can be charged for accordingly. But no-one wants to address ratios so the point's a moot one. Honey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_2418 Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 IN my LA childminders can also claim NEG - they do have to be in the Network and they have to sign the same contract with the council we do where it states about flexible hours etc so it's a level playing field - and if they are found telling people wrong information or misleading them they would lose the privilege of delivering NEG> 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_29641 Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 IN my LA childminders can also claim NEG - they do have to be in the Network and they have to sign the same contract with the council we do where it states about flexible hours etc so it's a level playing field - and if they are found telling people wrong information or misleading them they would lose the privilege of delivering NEG> Recent changes mean that all Good and Outstanding childminders can now provide funded places (FFE, NEF, NEG whatever your LA call it). My understanding is that this is nation-wide. We no longer need to be network assessed (which is just as well as ours has lost all its assessment and support funding). We now share an advisor with all other EY settings. It is now up to parents to use the funding according to their needs. Sessional? long days? school length days? Honey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_8466 Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Yes. The latest statement from The Minister says that at present less than 10% of childminders offer funded places - now every childminder rated good or better by Ofsted will be able to do so from September. This will mean that 70% of childminders will now be able to access nursery education funding. At last something I agree with. I hope it bodes well. This information is from a written statement to Parliament which you can find here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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