Nursery Fees on Bank Holidays

Solsol

Saying that the parent gets to spend the bank holiday with their child isn't a justification at all - my husband and I are both shift workers and work bank holidays (including Christmas etc) so if my LO went to nursery on a Monday we would have to shell out on a day at nursery and then still have to find someone to look after my son if we both had to work! Our nursery is very flexible and will swap days around if this is the case.

Fortunately for us my LO goes in on Thursdays rather then Mondays and he has 4 holiday weeks a year, so we'll have to use two of these on Christmas Day and New Year's Day this year as they are both on Thursdays.

flutterby_lil

wendz86 wrote: »

Yes normal unfortunately. Ours is shut for a week at christmas and we still pay.

Really?!?!

Ours is shut for a week but we don't pay.

flutterby_lil

Mojisola wrote: »

There's no excuse for charging for food that doesn't get bought, cooked or eaten.

A lot of the time its factored into the daily cost. My nursery promote it as free food and charge extra for the day so in the case on a bank holiday it wouldn't be cheaper day rate for me as food is free...

WestonDave

The food cost for any one child on one day would be so minimal as to not be worth adjusting for given that it would be bought in bulk from catering suppliers.


The reality is that whatever way the nursery decides to carve up the total amount it needs to charge to be viable, some will lose and some will gain. Those that claim to not charge for days they are closed will still be charging the same total amount - just spread over the open days instead.


Ours was open on bank holidays which then meant you had the opposite problem - open and charging but we didn't need it. However as the overall yearly package was affordable and we got excellent care in fantastic surroundings, you take the very small amount of rough with the large amount of smooth.

duchy

Ultimately it doesn't matter how it is dressed up. The nursery has to cover its fixed costs and that includes bank holidays so whether it is charged as a day (which is more transparent) or fees are higher year round to cover for it parents still end up paying for it.

If the mother only works part-time the obvious solution would be to try and change her working days but obviously many people with kids don't want Mondays for this reason and the savvy ones have either asked for other days or use childcare that doesn't charge for bank holidays.

greenface

duchy wrote: »

I suppose one way of looking at it is that your daughter is no worse off financially as she is paid for that day but gets to spend it with her child instead of working it.

Of course if she isn't working and nursery is for social reasons she'd be better changing her days.

Thanks for all the great advice . Although I don't know how too multi respond . The above is wrong as my daughter pays someone else to care for her daughter on bank holidays . so pays twice for the same day . She works in a hospital on Mon/Thurs and weekends (every sun and every x2 sat)

greenface

GwylimT wrote: »

The only way any business can afford to pay their staff on bank holidays when closed is to continue to charge clients, or have a small price increase which will cover the costs. I'm paid for bank holidays, why should I expect that my sons nurses to miss out on a days wages.

Same staff on a tues /weds/thurs & fri . so why not spread the Monday fees across the week . She says they charge just over £3 for brekky and dinner , this is additional and not inclusive . I need to check her contract and T&Cs . Just to point out to her . I just don't like to see unnecessary charges to a single mum trying to do her bestest . (think its my age)

greenface

WestonDave wrote: »

The food cost for any one child on one day would be so minimal as to not be worth adjusting for given that it would be bought in bulk from catering suppliers.


The reality is that whatever way the nursery decides to carve up the total amount it needs to charge to be viable, some will lose and some will gain. Those that claim to not charge for days they are closed will still be charging the same total amount - just spread over the open days instead.


Ours was open on bank holidays which then meant you had the opposite problem - open and charging but we didn't need it. However as the overall yearly package was affordable and we got excellent care in fantastic surroundings, you take the very small amount of rough with the large amount of smooth.

Don't agree dave . Food for every child that doesn't attend on a day that was closed adds up to a lot of nothing . It must have about 40 children per day attending .

Air_Cooled_75

This used to annoy me, especially when LO only went one day a week which was a Monday! It took me a good while to get him swapped to a non BH day too. Our nursery is shut for a week at Christmas and also in May, we still pay, it's worked out per term.

However, he loves going and it is a good nursery. They do have costs and I appreciated that but I think 2 weeks when the child doesn't attend but still have to be paid for is a bit steep, also no concession for family holidays.

We will be better off to the tune of around £300 a month when he starts school in September.

jaylee3

This is a bit like if you have a child (or yourself,) in a weekly dance class or drama group or whatever. It's £12 a session, or £50 for a calendar month etc, and even if they/you miss a session, you still have to pay for it! £12 for nothing! (To you it is nothing anyway...)

It's not like if you have a gym membership, and you go Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If you miss Friday, you can go Saturday, to 'catch up.' But when something is only on once a week for example, you can't catch up with anything and still have to pay if you cannot attend.

This is what put me off the little art group near me. It was £5 a session, every Monday evening, and even if you didn't go, you still had to pay. I understand WHY - I really do - but it's still annoying, if you're actually paying for something you are not getting IYSWIM.