Guest Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 can someone help me. we have been offered to move onsite to a primary school. we have been accepted to use their old building inwhich is no longer used by the school. The school has said we will be the main provider of that building (ya right), but they have said that they would like to use it for a breakfast club and afterschool club,(another provider) don't get me wrong i agree it would be good for the school to supply before and afterschool care, but my main concern is we dont really want to share the building, especially when we are spending alot of money to revamp it, why cant they use the school. We have a meeting next week to discuss sharing, but i will need to submit a disavantage to why we dont won't to share and may need your help to supply any more answers to why not (1)I've stipulated that the room would not be suitable due to child size furniture (pre-school children) (2)it doesnt give us enough time to arrive early to set up activities, even though we are leaving everything out, which is another concern. (3)it also doesnt give us time to stay behind to plan, as it will be alot of planning to do in september after the children go home (4)and i have also stipulated that we would need to be open longer due to changes regarding the grant (hours). the head also said that the breakfast and afterschool club would also benefit the pre-school children too, which I am not quite sure whether this would be allowed due to different ages mixing, not sure about that question. so basically any other disavantages, would be greatly recieved. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narnia Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 ok, seems to me that the simple solution would be for YOU to run the breakfast/after school club! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Hi we have a pre-school and afterschool run from the same building! the disadvantages are: Older children from after school club break many of our resources No enough imet to clear away after the pre-school has finished The use of our paper/glue etc can cause issues if we have activities planned. Issues have arisen about the pre-school taking much more care of making sure the building is clean and tidy after we leave but after school club doesnt. Pre-school equipment such as tables/chairs/tractors etc does not last as long because of the amount of use, as well as older children using them when they are obviously too big! Storage!!!!! - not enought for both and we have to share, which causes some problems! Hope this helps jx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Not been in this situation but I would think there would be issues of security, ie: having to lock up confidential information in a cupboard/office compared to just locking a whole building. Two lots of insurance / public liability etc. Use of consumerables (spl?) I was in a rented building shared with scouts, difficulties we had were; Maintainence / cleaning Displays, scouts didn't want the hall to look too much like a preschool storage (major problem, preschool equipment is not suitable for over 8's) toilet supplies (sounds pathetic but older children always seemed to deplete stocks that we had to replace. Following hygiene rules in kitchen, ie: kept using our colour coded cloths for the wrong purpose (again sounds pathetic, but builds up to be 'yet another issue') The use of drawing pins, instead of white tack in displays, so had to do floor safety checks, a drawing pin in the foot is really painful. Even had arguments about who's cups should be stored in which kitchen cupboard, even the kettle had to be put away and taken out each day. People from scouts wanting access to building during preschool sessions. Damage to displays Access to storage areas blocked by other users. All the above does sound quite pathetic but it's the tiny issues that build into mountains. I am also quite sure that we did things which annoyed the people who shared with us, ie: didn't clear up in time, always asking for more & more storage. Putting up more & more displays than there was my allocated space for etc Is Narnia's suggestion an option, YOU run the breakfast / after school clubs? Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreamay Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 our nearest after school club takes chilren from age 3 and have dropped off and picked up before which gives parents more childcare choice if working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Have to agree with Peggy about the little things building up to be big issues! We are in a shared building and we must sound like right moaners because of the things we raise with other groups but I do believe that we have to be extra careful as you cannot take anything for granted with young children (we have one child who likes to eat PVA glue!?!). If you are sharing the building try to ensure both you and the other group agree the rules together so they cannot break them. And Peggy, I know what you mean about sounding pathetic but day after day it does begin to grate doesn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 yes it does Holly, which is a shame (and I was as guilty as the scouts if I'm honest) just remembered, We also had 'communication' problems with discontent often being communicated via the cleaner as she was the only person both users saw on a regular basis, not ideal because it was a bit like chinese whispers with messages getting distorted. We then started a communication book, available for all to see, this was good because 1/ issues could be raised straight away without festering 2/ because you know everyone will be reading the 'comment' / 'complaint' it was written politely and constructively 3/ the responses were more helpful because of reason 2, everyone could read them. more major issues we would have to wait for a 'committee' meeting, which also caused delay in having 'problems' solved quickly and efficiently (spl?), So agreeing who has responsibility for decisions is useful to ascertain when drawing up agreements for shared occupancy. Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 the same issues would arise as if using a hired hall - you would not really be able to leave items out as they would not be respected cleaning.. always a big issue.. need to sort out who is responsible between changes.. eg who cleans after breakfast club before you.. same for between you and after school club etc. Respect of others work.. or will it be damaged , how much will you be able to do storage.. enough to put away all your items including tables and chairs if needed.. leave them out they will be used.. Equipment.. yours or joint use.. if yours need storage to prevent others using it. same for materials.. apint paper etc, if not locked away it will be used.. guidelines need to be set from the outset with an agreement on how it is to work I too would consider doing the before and afterschool care if at all possible. Be the provider and employ appropriate staff . Inge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 I agree with narnia you run them both we do it works well with few hiccups. we are small and operate from one playroom with kitchen and loos and small play area. sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 We would'nt be able to run the before/afterschool club as it belongs to another provider, and i dont think they would like us to take over. Anyway would we be allowed to mix 3/4year olds with up to 11 year olds unsure about the regulations on after care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 We would'nt be able to run the before/afterschool club as it belongs to another provider, and i dont think they would like us to take over. Anyway would we be allowed to mix 3/4year olds with up to 11 year olds unsure about the regulations on after care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narnia Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 yes, perfectly legal to have those mixed ages...................the one in our village does it,quite successfully(though I wouldn't let them have a child of mine, but that's a separate issue!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 you would need to get an agreement bteween the two users if possible.. who is responsible for what etc. perhaps regualr meetings set up to discuss problems .. also you may get complaints from other provider about things you do or don't do ...... with it all in place and good communication it could work.. I would not leave anything out though so set up and cleaning time of a suitable length would have to be allowed between providers. Inge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MaryEMac Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 We have had similar problems with sharing. When we were given our building to use on the school site, we were told that we would have sole use of it so we planned the room accordingly, set up each evening for the next day and it was fantastic. Four years down the line we were told that thew school were thinking about starting an out of school club which they were going to let them have the 'community room'(our room). We fought it to no avail siting storage , size of furniture/toilets, the fact that we had paid for the expensive blinds for the room, having to buy extra lockable storage. We do now rub along quite nicely but it is not ideal, for them as well as us. It will be nigh on impossible for us to manage the 3 hour sessions in the time we have the room. We do have liaison meetings with pg committee, out of school committee and head teacher and 2 governors but sometimes feel that it is better if the two committees get on with it as we are 'living it' and the governors aren't. Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts