Help & Advice Needed Please

[Guest]

Hello I am new to this site so bare with me!.

I am thinking of taking over a pre-school which is well established .

I know most of what goes on , but what I am unsure about is the wages side of things.

I am looking for advice from anyone who has set up a pre-school as to how you cover the wage bill initially whilst waiting for your first lot of funding. Also is there any other funding avialable other than voucher funding?.

Also how do people cover the school holidays ? do you slpit over 52 weeks .

What are the extras for the government side of things and are there any hidden extras?

Sorry to ask so many questions but need to know this before I consider.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Guest Wolfie]

Hi chumpychop and welcome to the forum! I have run my own nursery in the past but will leave the advice re funding to people who are more up to date than me! They'll be along soon......

[hali]

hello and welcome - sorry cant help

[Guest]

thanks for the welcome!!!

AM thinking of taking over from someone who is retiring and is very set in their ways so can,t go to them unless I have correct info.any info would be appreciated

[Beau]

Welcome to the forum Chumpychop,

 

There are a number of people on the forum who own their own preschools who will more than willing to share their experiences I'm sure! I'm afraid all my experience has been in Scotland where funding etc is run slightly differently, so I can't be of any help.

[laura]

HI Chumpychop

 

We run our pre-school for 38 weeks of the year, the same number of weeks that we receive funding for. We ty to keep our weeks the same as school. This term we receive funding for 14 weeks. It can be tricky having the money for wages, but we take from two so we have just about enough coming in for wages, rent and supplies. We get half the funding and then send our headcount in and get the rest. I've just sent the headcount off so we will hopefully get the rest of the funding soon.

 

All but one of our staff are part-time. They are paid at the end of the week. For our full time member of staff I work out how many hours she works, add on holiday pay and then divide by 52 weeks, so she is paid every week of the year. Other staff receive their holiday pay at holidays!

 

Hope this helps

 

Laura

[Guest]

We take children from 2 years old and charge a fee for the under 3's. This helps supplement the money from the funded children but needs to be managed carefully. It can be very tight when you have a few funded children and lots of under 3's as their ratio (1:4) makes the staff costs greater.

[Guest]

How does the funding work? When you do an initial head count how long is it before funding money comes through.

The reason for my asking is that the main inflx of children are funded 36 3 years and 24 2 yrs olds and with the staff the 2 year old income would not voer the wages.

[Lou]

Hi

 

When we started the funding took two weeks but that was quite a while ago. Why don't you telephone your local office and ask. You will have a least a month before you need to pay wages.

I made sure I had a months running costs before we started and that came out of our own pockets.

Our pay is worked out the same as Laura

 

Good luck

Lorraine

[wellerkaren]

welcome to the forum sorry i can offer any help.x xx x

[narnia]

we get 60% of the funding two weeks after term starts (so received that money today), the rest follows soon after headcount, when they have checked all the forms/signatures and collated the settings that are claiming for the same child.Generally, quite quickly.The unfunded two year olds help to keep us going when the cash flow is more of a trickle than a free flowing river!

[cathrich]

I was in the same position as you last year. I took over a well established pre-school in Sept 07 and it has been a steep learning curve - especially as the previous owners weren't particularly truthful with me about the income and the amount of work involved!!!

 

When I started there was nothing in the bank, but I was VERY lucky and my parents helped me out and lent me £4000 to cover initial wages, rental and snack costs. I got the grant funding by the first week in October (and paid parents back!). The first term was tight financially but I managed it. By the end of the year I was able to purchase new equipment and have money left in the bank for the start of this term. We have 18 children a session and take them in from 2yrs 9 months. From reading other replies I think all county's seem to go about grant funding differently??

 

I'm not sure how it is for other pre-schools but I know that most others in my area are commitee run, whereas I'm private - which has its pluses and minuses! It is hard work but I do really enjoy it. Hope this helps.

 

Cath

[Guest]

thanks for your replies.

Cathrich thanks for yours as its nice to hear from people who have done the same thing!.

I am panicking a bit but everyone keeps telling me im looking for obstacles and should just go for it!

[dublinbay]

Hi and welcome to the forum chumpychop! Don't own my own place....just work in one. Good luck in your new venture if you decide to do it.

[Guest]

My friend and I have just taken over the pre school where we worked - we too had to get an initial loan to cover the wages and rent until the funding comes through in Nov. Once you are registered you can claim half the funing up front so we are hoping to get ahead of ourselves by xmas!! plus our 2 year olds help top up our income

[cathrich]

Best of luck if you decide to go for it. Is it very rewarding once you start putting things in place (treading carefully as you go!!). I have found there is lots of support out there - the main one being this forum!

[Guest]

Our staff are paid monthly but they are only paid for the sessions they work, no sick pay. Holiday pay is paid at the end of each term, a week at Christmas, a week at Easter and 2 weeks at summer. That is slightly more now with new holiday pay levels but the split is still the same. Officially we may not be abiding by the law with rolling it up and paying it like that but we have not yet got a straight answer to it so we are carrying on doing that for now.

 

Funding in our area is done differently in that we are sent the claim forms a few weeks before the start of term - if we are lucky we get autumn's in the summer term! These are completed by parents and returned to the LA and they then pay the total due for the term. If new children start after they are returned, children take up extra sessions or anyone drops out we have another form to return and the LA adjust our next terms payment accordingly. In theory if you were organised and staff were paid at the end of the month, the money from the funding as well as half the fees for non-funded children could be in the bank before the first pay day. We pay rent at the end of each term.

 

Hope that helps some, but as others have suggested you might be as well speaking to the LA about the funding as it does seem to differ from place to place.

[korkycat]

Our funding is paid half at start of term on projected intake and rest before half term holiday adjusted for any changes on headcount day. As a sessional group we are all part-time and are paid for 38 weeks a year (we open as local schools do) plus holiday pay(no sick pay either). We have a contracted minimum hours and this is paid in 12 equal amounts on 27th each month by standing order - this was staff choice as we all liked to get a regular amount throughout the year. This makes basic tax and NI calculations easier as most of us do not work enough hours to register for either! Any extra payments for sessions worked/training etc are paid by cheque and any adjustments for tax and NI can then be made. We are a very flexible team and usually manage to cover each other for sickness etc. These swops are noted by the treasurer and occasionally someone will pay back money if they have not made up the sessions lost. This system has worked well for us since grant funding came in and made the treasurers job a lot easier. We have a very good idea what income will be and can budget accordingly. We are fortunate to be in an area of high demand.

Good luck taking the group on. korkycat.

[Guest]

thankyou for all of replies. I thing I may just go for it . I just need to stop being negative and think of the positives .

[Buttercup]

hi started last september managed to get a grant because i was opening full day care (although playgroup) this was from surestart i think. we are members of pata (pre school playgroup and todllers) they have lots of advice on wages etc. i pay my staff 38 wks worked plus 4 weeks holiday (increased next april) then divide by 12 so they get the same each month with additions and deductions.

Pata also do my payroll which is a great help as it is a mindfield.

good luck i am pleased i did it although just having to submit my first tax return

 

angela