Policy On Staff Bringing Own Children To Sessions

[Guest]

Hi, we have a few parents who are on our bank staff (suitably qualified obviously). Sometimes we need to call them in at short notice, and they can't necessarily arrange alternative childcare, and as their children are at the setting other days we say they can bring them in and not pay.

 

We need to formalise our policy on this at our next committee meeting. The options that I can think of are:

 

- Maybe ask them to pay a token fee (e.g. 1/3 of normal session cost)

- Let them bring child in for free

- Where more than X amount of notice given (e.g. 48 hours) then ask them to either make alternative arrangements or pay full session cost.

 

I can't think of any other approaches but can anyone else? And what do you think is fairest?

 

Also, what do you think we should do if parents know they are working well ahead of time and want to bring children with them. I feel they should pay in that instance?

 

Also, sometimes there is an INSET day at schools which means permanent staff end up bringing in their older children (otherwise we'd have to shut). What do other settings do in that kind of situation? Actually, the older children seem to really enjoy playing with the little ones and it becomes a very positive experience for everyone.

 

p.s. obviously we keep within ratios at all times!

[Inge]

this is one of those situations which is never easy to resolve but I agree does need formalising..

 

do they get paid for the bank work or volunteer as this may have a bearing on the decision

 

If they are unpaid I would expect that if they are aksed to either pay for alternative childcare or for the session there is a possibility they would leave the bank staff...

 

we used to allow the child in free if we had space in ratios... if not they found care...

 

as to staff and older children, my son always came with me when he was off for closure days etc.. and loved it, it was good for all involved, He even volunteered occasionally for no reason as a teen doing voluntary work for a couple of weeks after his GCSEs , parents wanted to hire him during the holidays he was so good with the children... by this time he was 6 ft 2 and they all loved having him around..I always allowed staff children to attend if, and it was a big if they did not effect the running of he setting, I did have two we could not have in because of their behaviour... in this case we had 1 staff member take al the older children at home while others worked... or sessions were swapped so this staff member was always off on closure days...

 

we were mall with 5 staff so possible for us, and all the children ahd been though teh pre-school previously so knew us all well..

 

may be different for others though..

 

BTW we had Ofsted in one day when we had the older ones in they were happy and thought it was good the way they all joined in and helped the younger ones..

 

INge

[Rea]

We always did the things the way Inge describes, but some time after I left they changed it so that if the school had a training day they would stay home with their own children and catch up on paperwork.

I seem to rememebr being told why the change happened but I dont know what it was. I'll check and get back to you, it might have been just so they could do paperwork.

[HappyMaz]

I thought this thread might have been about staff bringing their children into the setting when they were too poorly to go to school...

 

We try to avoid it as far as possible - luckily we are small enough that it hasn't been a problem up until now.

 

Maz

[sunnyday]

Would your Pre-school Insurance cover the older children?

 

Sunnyday

[Guest]

Would the insurance need to cover the older children? I would say they are the responsibility of the parent who is working rather than the pre-school's. I would perhaps put this into your policy as well.

Linda

[lynned55]

Surprised at Ofsted saying that as we had always been told between the ages of 5 & 12 years we wol dnot be insured. Any staff children of this age have always spent most of their time with us in an adjoining room. It hardly happens now and I have always felt that if we wish to be treated as proffesioals and on par with schools then we shouldn't be doing things like this- after all would you want your childs teacher to bring her chldren to class whilst she was teaching yours? Many years ago 10 or more, Ofsted told me that we that if a staff member bought her child/children into playgroup then they couldn't be paid or treated as in ratio as they could not be caring for their own child and others at the same time. Of course this could have changed now or as usual could depend on who you are speaking to!!

[Alison]

how do the parents/volunteers feel about these options?

its just that asking parents to pay you for child care when they are present and sharing in that care is a bit unfair

 

I would ask parents to find alternative childcare if possible but I wouldnt expect them to pay for their child to be looked after while they are looking after someone elses children for free

 

staff on the other hand are different they are paid to be there

[chicken]

we do not make our staff pay if they need to bring children in at short notice to cover absent staff,

 

or for inset days. We phoned Ofsted and were told as long as ratios were okay, and staff still interacted with the

 

paying children, it was fine.

 

insurance, we have to phone our insurance company if we have any children over 12yrs on premisses,

 

they are added on for that day.

[Guest]

They do get paid to work as bank staff, we certainly wouldn't ask parent volunteers to pay for helping!

[Alison]

well if staff are paid then its different.... I read the word volunteer and assumed that meant unpaid

 

I know when my child attended my group I paid for her place because she was there as a regular child but one offs such as inset days then we dont pay but we do put the children to work and make them earn their squash and biscuit. (I crack the whip!)

[Guest]

Thanks, Alison. I will check re insurance and maybe give Ofsted a call to check their stance on bringing older children in.

[Alison]

I had to phone them about a similar issue last week and it was a case of put it in writting and they will issue a variation to the registration certificate

 

we are opening some extra sessions during the summer break (nowhere seems to do summer playschemes for the 2-5's) some of the helpers wanted to bring their older children regularly 'cause they will be off school and some of the children attending have older siblings Ofsted have said OK but will need a new certificate to state the older ages

 

so I dont see Ofsted will have a problem with you having older children in the setting you might need to put it in writting though?

[Guest]

Surprised at Ofsted saying that as we had always been told between the ages of 5 & 12 years we wol dnot be insured. Any staff children of this age have always spent most of their time with us in an adjoining room. It hardly happens now and I have always felt that if we wish to be treated as proffesioals and on par with schools then we shouldn't be doing things like this- after all would you want your childs teacher to bring her chldren to class whilst she was teaching yours? Many years ago 10 or more, Ofsted told me that we that if a staff member bought her child/children into playgroup then they couldn't be paid or treated as in ratio as they could not be caring for their own child and others at the same time. Of course this could have changed now or as usual could depend on who you are speaking to!!

 

 

So how does that work when your own child attend the pre-school and you are staff???

[HappyMaz]

So how does that work when your own child attend the pre-school and you are staff???

Not sure if this is a serious question or not given the smiley emoticon at the end of the sentence, but if you're an employee and your child is registered at the setting then you are part of ratios and your child is the responsibility of the setting and therefore all the staff. However if your child is there as an 'extra' then they are your responsibility, whether or not they are covered by the setting's insurance.

 

The queston Mrs Ofsted would ask is whether the care of this additional child compromises the care offered to the children registered to attend the setting.

 

I have to say that, lovely as my son is, I felt so relieved when he left the nursery and went to school. I get/got very stressed when my children have to come to work with me so this was/is a situation to be avoided at all costs as far as I'm concerned!

 

Maz

[lynned55]

So how does that work when your own child attend the pre-school and you are staff???

 

Sorry Marley, didn't expalin myself properly. As Maz says, if your child is registered at the setting and are there as part of your ratio then they are the pre-schools responsibility even if you are there working. However if they are there as an extra child, then they would be the responsibility of you as a parent and what OFSTED told me was you then cold not be there as a paid member of staff. But as I said before, this could all depend on who you are talking to at the time, like so many of their rules & regs!

[Gezabel]

I get/got very stressed when my children have to come to work with me so this was/is a situation to be avoided at all costs as far as I'm concerned!

 

Maz

Thank you for this Maz When my lot were little I purposely chose not to work in a setting that they attended and have since sometimes wondered whether it was the right decision. I felt it was 'their world' and part of them attending was to be able to spend time away from me!!! I was quite heavily involved behind the scenes with the PTA once they started school (4% of the children on roll were mine!) but I drew the line at becoming a dinner lady as I just didn't want to invade their space. Further up the education system one of my sons had the headmasters daughter in his class and poor girl sometimes didn't get an easy ride from her peers.

[anju]

Staff are not allowed to bring children in on inset days - it has caused a conflict of interests in the past. In fact we are full so it wouldn't be possible any more in any case. If staff have inset they take the day off with their own children but come in when we are closed for inset and get on with the million and one things which need doing.

[Mouseketeer]

i dont agree with staff bringing children in to work with them ......they are paid professionals, i could possibly end up with 9 older children on a training day, i always ask at interviews if they are able to organise child care if holidays dont run in line with the school their children attend or there are training days.

Edited July 1, 2009 by debc