Nursery advice for holidays

nomadicmatt

Hi mums (and Dads).

I have a quandry. Our nursery want to charge us full rates during our holiday with the kids. The holiday is a special one (wife is 40!) and actually runs into 3 weeks:
= 2 kids x 2 days a week for 3 weeks at £48 per child
Total of £576 when we'll be on holiday.

I can't get over how expensive it is. It's inspired me to look for a new nursery. Anyone else have a similar nursery, I understand they have charges to cover, but surely they allow parents some slack.

idea

My DD's nursery charge us whether we are there are not. They still have to pay the staff etc so I guess that's where they are coming from.

I have heard of some nurseries that do allow you to pay a reduced fee for a certain number of weeks of the year, but I am not entirely sure whether this is an urban myth or not!

Madagascar

My DD's nursery always charges the full rate for the days she doesn't come in. Maybe you could speak to the nursery manager?

leandygandy

My daughter's nursery charges for 48 weeks of the years, that's two weeks when they close over christmas and two weeks 'holiday' for us. They level it out so we pay monthly though.

Just another reason I love them!

pattycake

Both my daughter and her husband are teachers. They still have to pay full nursery fees for their little one even though they get long holidays. Luckily, she only goes two days a week as the other grannie and myself cover the other three days.

They do find it useful though to take her into nursery at least one day while they are on holiday so they can catch up with school work. Contrary to popular belief, their working day does not end at 3pm:)

laurad85

I'm a teacher and have to pay for 1 day per week during the holidays. I to use the time to go to school and get on with the work I couldn't do at home with her about.

emsywoo123

DS's nursery charges me regardless. Even if they are closed due to snow, or if DS is ill. Anything. I pay for 3 days a week, 52 weeks a year.

And it's more than £48/day!

Hiddenidenity

Same here my kids nursery charges me regardless if there in or not no matter what reason. The staff still need paying and I still need the place kept for them returning.

lika_86

Presumably you knew this when you signed up to the nursery as it will have been in the terms and conditions or contract you signed?

My mum works in a school running their after school and holiday clubs, she gets paid for the hours she works, not a salary, so if there are no kids and they don't run the clubs or operate reduced staff, she doesn't get paid. This Easter for the first time in years, they didn't run the Easter holiday club as there weren't enough kids, so she won't get paid for two weeks. My mum doesn't have a mortgage to pay so it's just living costs, but for some people who work there, they will need to try and find two weeks' wages from somewhere just so they can pay their rent/mortgage and bills. This is why nurseries have such conditions, although some will offer some flexibility, check your contract on this.

balancelife

I thought it was pretty standard to be charged the full rate when you choose to take holidays. It was at ours.
The thing that annoyed me most was that they used to charge you full rate even when they were closed! So every bank holiday would cost a parent £40! We purposefully didn't sign up for Mondays because of that. I was annoyed when our son was there and Christmas boxing day fell on his day. I didn't need/want to send him anyway and if it had been my choice I'd have understood the fee but it annoyed me that I had to pay for something I couldn't use!
Now at a school preschool and so it's great. Pay for term time only and They reimburse for when they close due to snow etc. I still have to pay for any sessions they miss for illness etc but accept that.

susancs

Welcome to MSE.
In my experience most nurseries charge for holidays. I appreciate it is a lot of money to pay for a service you will not be using, but similarly to put it in context you will not get a reduction in most of your household bills during the 3 weeks you are away, despite not using the services, e.g. mortgage or property rental, TV licence, insurances, council tax, non metered water rates, cable/internet providers (road tax and car insurance if you will not be using these) and while we all moan about bills we accept this. The Nursery as you state has all these charges to cover, plus staff costs on top whether your children attend or not.