stopping work because childcare not working

sweetjamster

consider apply for flexible working hours

Savvy_Sue

Sarahsaver wrote:

this is the 5 year old, did a couple of silly things. They are on shaky ground as there has been child mental health services involvement...equal opps 'n all that... and besides he has been little trouble before. Yes they are being very arbitrary, I'm glad you spotted that, it is discrimination on the grounds of employment status. And how are my kids going to settle in if we keep getting messed around like this. I earnt a very nice amount of money today, and it is totally unfair that my whole situation seems to be hanging on a thread. Tomorrow who knows - here comes the dole again?

Hope you have got hold of the policies, if not and presuming they have a management committee you need to be in touch with one of them to ask for the policies. If you don't get them that way, contact Ofsted!

ANY child is entitled to be 'silly' at the age of five. It's very hard to behave at school all day and if you can't let off a bit of steam in your afterschool setting it is a very sad state of affairs. (My youngest was once accused of being 'immature' at the age of four! When this was amended to 'immature for his age' I continued to dispute it! Eventually we compromised on 'inconsistent', but heck, we adults aren't always consistent, why should a 4 year old be consistent!)

Sarahsaver

sweetjamster wrote:

consider apply for flexible working hours

Well, I am self-employed so I have had a chat with myself! LOL;)

Seriously, I thought I should update this. I had a load of leaflets printed promoting my business (5000) right at the start of the shool year in September, and they are still in the box because the childcare I am using has left me feeling so negative, insecure and uncertain. It is not, to use a business jargon 'buzzword', sustainable. Dd got excluded from the scheme yesterday for behaviour issues (seems my kids are not the only ones but they have been singled out and treated very differently) Why? Somebody called 'F**k' knows the answer to that one :rolleyes: There is no point in having two kids there and one at home. I cannot promote my main business because I do not know from one day to the next whether I can rely on the afterschool club. I confronted them because i feel Im being treated differently bcos they know I am self-employed. I have been getting some freelance journalism work but now I will have to turn jobs down because I can't do anything after 3. I can't exactly telephone interview a chief exec of a company with the kids noise in the background.
Bcos of yesterday I had to miss a web development course, which ran over 3 sessions, so I will have to miss the whole course, as they said once I missed the 1st I could't do the rest

What would happen if I did have an employer?

The play leader even made the assumption that because I got engaged last week that I would soon be giving up work! Cue Meldrew style 'i don't believe it' I know i am a regular on old style but that is taking the P*SS! My blood boiled!
I need to write the afterschool club a letter but I think I should also complain to the local authority because this is well out of order. They know my middle child has had a lot of problems, and are supposed to cater for 'special needs' of all sorts. I confided in them last week about how my son has been feeling and I feel betrayed. How can my children feel settled when they are being 'cared' for in an afterschool setting that seems to love them one day and give them absolutely no slack the next?
I am taking a break from the afterschool club because I hate the fact that everything has just been hanging on a thread. I have other things up my sleeve, a couple of inventions and a small franchise business I operate but thats all early days yet.

Savvy_Sue

Sarah, thanks for updating this. I'm with you and Victor Meldrew on this!

I think it's not the local authority you need to talk to, but Ofsted - here's their complaints page, and here specifically the link for complaints about childminders and childcare providers. They register out of school clubs, and equal ops are KEY to them. I don't think the club is implementing any policy they might have. Your children have special needs, in at least one case those special needs are documented, and the club doesn't seem to be being consistent. If they want to argue that they are, fine, but at the moment you don't feel that they are so they would need to demonstrate that they are, IYSWIM.

You may need to make a formal complaint to the Club first, if you haven't already done so. I would include the assumption that you will give up work because you are getting married! I mean honestly, what century are we in? Even if that's just from one member of staff, it needs challenging.

Hope that helps, don't forget you can PM me if you want to raise specific issues.

Sarahsaver

Good job I didn't rattle a letter out until I had simmered down and my fiancé reminded me we have to be somewhere next Fri. after school hours, and I also have a Governor's meeting on Thursday at 4pm. I am going to try and let them know which days I am using the club and keep it to a minimum, and say I am looking for alternative arrangements after Xmas. I need to make a complaint you are right Savvy_Sue, and yes I see exactly what you mean regarding the consistency and equal ops issues. The thing is my kids are not BAD in fact I believe no children are 'bad' it is up to adults to make the effort to understand the child. My ds1 you know about his probs, dd has the cognitive ability of someone approx. aged 12 and she is 8, and ds2 is 4 and can read and write, they are 'special needs' but the afterschool is failing to think outside the box. Oh yes and they are in an ethnic minority.

june1970_2

this may sound very harsh as i know you are trying very hard to get this sorted but why not change your job to fit in with the school hours so you will be at home when your kids finish school.

I think the way the school is dealing with this is wrong,

I have had to let two children i looked after go as they did not mix with the other children and i had complaints from the other parents, could this be happening at the afterschool club?

I hope you get this sorted as you must be going through hell at the moment.

Sarahsaver

I am self employed and have now got a business I cannot promote because I cannot wotk after 3 o'clock if this carries on. If someone asks me to work aftre that time I will have to turn it down. I am writing a letter of complaint right now.

mummysaver

Hi Sarah, what a time you've been having - no obvious solutions spring to mind, you either live in an area where everyone mucks in and helps or you don't it seems (well, we've moved around a lot and it seem that way to me). The only thing that I can think of is perhaps to contact your youngest son's old nursery, sometimes they know of after school care, or perhaps they have a staff member who is on maternity, or has just had a baby and could do some childminding, at least temporarily. Good luck, and hopefully the more people you ask, the more likely it is that someone will know of a solution.

PS I'd definitely take up the matter of the ASC with OFSTED, it doesn't seem like they're following any guidelines, I used to child mind and I certainly wouldn't have got away with this sort of behaviour. Perhaps at your governors meeting you could also ask for a review of the packed lunch policy - take in a recent menu of school meals and compare with what you would put in a packed lunch, or what the school recommends for a packed lunch.

Sarahsaver

Dear ****
I have spoken to you previously on several occasions about issues arising with my children’s behaviour. I wish to make a complaint about the inconsistent and apparently arbitrary manner in which my children have been dealt with. I understand from your Ofsted report that a concern had been raised regarding behaviour management. This problem, if it exists, does not depend wholly on your client group, i.e. if my children leave **** the problem will not leave with them.

My children and myself have been left feeling very uncertain and unsettled. I have suffered loss of earnings on some occasions when my children have been ‘asked not to attend’ ****. I have missed an important training course for the same reason. If I worked full time for an employer I would by now have been facing disciplinary action. I have not promoted my business as much as I would like as I feel that my children’s place in **** is very tenuous. They are not entirely happy and neither am I, in a way they are bound to cause problems because we are all confused and unsure as to whether they are welcome or not. My children are not the whole problem; their needs are not being met, and neither are mine as a user of childcare.

You will be aware of difficulties **** has been having, and he has again been referred to behaviour support services. I confided in you last week that ****had been attempting to take his own life. Also the child and adolescent mental health service has been involved with ****for over a year, and this is documented. My other two children are very bright and demanding, and as such all have ‘special needs’ of one kind or another. This therefore is not simply a behaviour issue, but is a matter of inclusion and equal opportunities.

I hope the intimation that due to my impending marriage I may cut down or stop work was a joke.


Yours sincerely

mows

Sarah..I think you've outlined the key points really well in your letter...just a couple of quick things ...I would suggest you include what actions you want the after school club to take to resolve the situation, and also what action you intend to take next if the situation is not successfully resolved - otherwise the after school club might just send one of those silly "sorry you feel hard done to" letters and not really address the underlying issues...
HTH and the very best of luck - I think they're very much out of order in how they're acting.