TORO Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Hello everyone. We are planning on taking the kids out on a day trip to london zoo next month, the problem however is that a parent has objected to paying a charge of £15 for her child, we are charging all the children £15, which includes the staff entrance fees. She is objecting on the grounds that the childcare fees she is paying for should include outings, and entrance to the zoo is free for under 2s, she is right about the entrance fee, but someone has to take the children, and the nursery cannot afford to pay for 8 staff, adult fee is about £15 each. She said if the nursery don't open she will deduct the day fee, she is the only one objecting. What do you do obout outings in your settings? Toro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belle06 Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 we did a trip last week and had 4 children whose parents did not want them to attend, i explained that they would be the only children left in the setting which the parents did not mind so as such I had to staff the nursery for those 4 children, but as we are open 8 till 6 and a lot of the children who went on the trip where booked in 8 till 6 and where supervised by staff and would be coming back to nursery I staffed hours as normal and drew two names out of a haf for the staff to stay behind and i stayed whilst me deputy went. Hope that all makes sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Well we're in pre-school so I guess what we do would be different. Our outings are for parents too, so this issue hasn't arisen. I don't charge parents for the additional half hour if the nursery is closed, but in the past I have paid for the staff tickets to Legoland and their usual session rate. That leaves them to decide whether they want to stay all day or go home after the morning. Much as I'd like to pay them to play all day at Legoland, I really can't afford to do that! That said, I don't pay rent if the nursery is closed, and the nursery education funding is enough to pay for the staff wages so that isn't really a problem. What does your contract with parents say about what is included in the fees? Can you justify the charge of £15 per child on the basis of what it will actually cost you to run the trip for the number of children you have to take including coach hire/petrol/train fees or whatever? If each child is paying £15 and you're taking a sizeable number, then parents might conclude that you will be making a profit on the trip. This might be especially true if parents are paying their fees for the day anyway (and so the staff wages will be paid for already). Tricky one this, and its important to get it right because one unhappy parent can easily recruit others to her cause! Good luck! Maz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TORO Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 We are open 8-6, 17 children are going in total with 9 adults. The contract do not say anything about paid outings, just consent for local outings, am not sure what this has to do with staff wages. If this problem persists we will just stick to local outings, and nothing adventurous. We have to pay for the running cost of the nursery all year round. We are definately not making any profit. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 when we did trips - we took session fees childrens off the price of tickets any extra was paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiny Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 We too are having a similar debate about outings. It said in our FEG contract we couldn't charge for outings etc only ask for voluntary contributions. As all staff go on the trip we shut the preschool and I am unsure if we are able to claim funding for that day as some of the children who are funded for the Friday aren't coming!! I am seriously considering knocking outings on the head too!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 am not sure what this has to do with staff wages. I mentioned it because I wondered if you were including the cost of extra staff wages in the ticket price for the children, assuming that you don't normally pay 9 staff to care for 17 children when they are in nursery. We are definately not making any profit. So if you are just spreading the cost of the adult tickets between each child who is going on the trip, this is easy to justify to the parent - have you tried explaining how the cost of £15 has been calculated? If she can see exactly what her money is paying for she may be happier to pay up - it might just be that she can't understand why she's being asked to pay £15 extra (especially if her child is under two and would get in free anyway). Hope you get it resolved. Maz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 when we did trips - we took session fees childrens off the price of tickets any extra was paid. So the group paid for staff wages out of its reserves hali? I know that you probably wouldn't have paid rent that day, but wages would need to be paid wouldn't they? Maz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynned55 Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 For goodness sake, there is always one isn't there? We're slightly different as we are in a pre-school but we're off to Syon Park next month which we are charging £12 per child and £5 per adult. It's costing us £300 for the coach, £3,75 for the children and £5 for adults to get in. We have 6 staff going, 18 parents & 28 children- we will still be running at a slight loss. I am still charging fees for the day as all staff have to be paid. If anyone didn't want to come, then they would have to stay home. In our case if anyne moaned I would point out that it was actually costing the preschool money and also staff would in effect be working 3 sessions but only paid for one session. We looked at London Zoo, looks great, but decided that we would have to charge each child £23 each to cover costs, and felt this was too much for what it was. We did the Science Museum last month and although it cost us nothing to get in we still charged each child £5 each because of the coach and this only covered 1/3 of the cost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TORO Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 I mentioned it because I wondered if you were including the cost of extra staff wages in the ticket price for the children, assuming that you don't normally pay 9 staff to care for 17 children when they are in nursery. So if you are just spreading the cost of the adult tickets between each child who is going on the trip, this is easy to justify to the parent - have you tried explaining how the cost of £15 has been calculated? If she can see exactly what her money is paying for she may be happier to pay up - it might just be that she can't understand why she's being asked to pay £15 extra (especially if her child is under two and would get in free anyway). Hope you get it resolved. Maz We explained it to her, but she would not agree, would prefer her child to stay behind and be looked after by 2 staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 We explained it to her, but she would not agree, would prefer her child to stay behind and be looked after by 2 staff. Woudn't it be cheaper for your group to refund the child's fees for the day and the child to stay at home instead? I would probably cost mum more than £15 to get alternative childcare if it was necessary... Maz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Hi reading ur thread on outings, we ve got the opposite problem . All five staff was told that all will need go on our summer outing to the zoo, all agreed a month ago a date . Low and behold the deputy came in monday says she can't go due to her daughter being on work experince that day the reason was she wants to be home to make sure she as a cook dinner , the daughters 15 can you belive .Due to this we have at cancel the trip inform parents ,the plan now will be to have a picnic on the local common . I am totally gut for the children and the parents who was looking forward to it. Oh well sure we,ll have fun with our picnic on the common .It,ll be my leaving party too ,. my request was a trip to the zoo, we gave parents the choice between play centre and zoo they all went for zoo . How can she do this .... ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zahraa2000 Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hi, I have planned a trip to legoland for next Friday. Coach is booked, Lego land ticket is booked all parents are coming we only have two children coming without there parents so it is not as bad. As I am planning this for first time I need some useful tips for the day to make it successful. I m aware I will have to do risk assessment of the trip can some one share a template of outing risk assessment with me. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 LEGOLAND is great BUT it has very little shelter. I would ensure you have hats suncream and plenty of water! also the children will want to get wet in duplo land so if possible take a change of clothes or swimming costumes (if parents are coming this shouldn't cause an issue) have you organised a contact phone number that can be written on the children ! they have a good system for lost children but also when you are going with parents you will always have some who want to go their own way so an assembly point and times help! Rules about food/sweets and purchases may also be a good idea!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panders Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 (edited) http://www.legoland.co.uk/Global/1.%20Website/Schools/Teaching%20Resources/Risk%20Assessment%20Form.pdf This is from the Legoland site - might be useful if you haven't come across it yet. Doing a risk assessment for every other part of the day, I would close my eyes and imagine how the day will run, from the moment you are loading onto the coach (does the coach company have a risk assessment you can ask for?) to when you return back to nursery and unload, decide what the hazard is, what mitigating action you are taking and then what the value of the risk is left over 0 low 10 high. As Finleysmaid says, give parents as much info as you can and tips - I'm sure they are well versed anyway, but it always helps to let parents know that you are aware of these things and take along a few extra bits yourself - just in case. Certainly don't forget cleaning up materials for the coach if these are not provide by the coach company just in case one of your poppets are travel sick. If you feel well prepared you will have a great day - remember the adage "failure to prepare equals prepare to fail" Edited June 6, 2015 by Panders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 (edited) Hi reading ur thread on outings, we ve got the opposite problem . All five staff was told that all will need go on our summer outing to the zoo, all agreed a month ago a date . Low and behold the deputy came in monday says she can't go due to her daughter being on work experince that day the reason was she wants to be home to make sure she as a cook dinner , the daughters 15 can you belive .... !That is unfair, it might be cutting off your nose to spite your face but under the recent 'parental leave' criteria you could tell her she has to have a minimum of 1 week off unpaid could you find a parent helper to come along ? We don't charge anyone for trip, just glad we live so far from any the places you are talking about though I bought some tyvek wrist bands printed with setting name and contact number on from eBay, about £3 for 50, you were able to say they were for small children so they printed them in the right place. We also ask for emergency contacts for all adults, the parents think I'm nuts as they'll be there until pointing out that something might happen to them. Edited June 6, 2015 by Mouseketeer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 We also ask for emergency contacts for all adults, the parents think I'm nuts as they'll be there until pointing out that something might happen to them. in reference to this all our parents are asked to fill out medical forms for themselves and their children .....much more likely to have an issue with them than the little ones! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsp Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Thanks Mouseketeer. Just ordered some of the wristbands from ebay for our leavers outing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I was at a show where they were giving them to parents to add their own mobiles and put on children....worrying the number of parents adding their child's name though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I have to say that as a parent I was a little upset when my sons pre school told me that on top of his session fee I would have to pay extra for an end of term party that I had to be present at! I argued that I was paying for him to be cared for within the session so why should I pay extra to attend a party? It worked out that they were incorrect and I could have a session on one day and the party on the other and because of his age I didn't have to stay. Sorry that was a little long winded but my point is that as a parent I think I would feel a little peeved to have to pay out an additional £15 for a trip that I hadn't asked my child to go on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreveryoung Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 We do an annual trip each July, key is planning well! Oh and enjoy it ha ha ha. Set off times, departure times, points of meeting places, copies of any info the visiting place has if needed, a contact tel all parents can get you on, childrens details for those being staffed, disclaimer signed that states clearly that children are the responsibility of the parents at all times, photo consent if your taking random photos as you will have parents/younger siblings on them too (I tend to have my camera an snap away as I see parents/children then offer them out as little gifts a week or so later), first aid points etc, reminder about sun cream, hats, eating facilities, sick bags!! prepare tick lists for getting on/off coach contact tel for attending parents. Gosh I've wrote a bit of a list sorry was writing it as I was checking off my list for our trip in July 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zahraa2000 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Thank you very much for all the replies. It was very helpful. I have put everything on my list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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