thumperrabbit Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Who manages yours? Is it the Committee or the Leader? Also how do you allocate your places, we seem to change ours every year because of some issue or another! We currently have 1) Sibling in playgroup 2) Oldest on the waiting list This is now causing problems as people who live in our village are quite low on the criteria against some people who are 5 miles away! I agree with the locals that it isn't fair that they can't get in to their local playgroup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I as Leader manage ours as the Committee aren't hands on enough to be able to deal with issues as they arise and make quick decisions. We have a strict birth date order criteria so the oldest children have priority - our argument being that that is fair to all as they all get a chance before they go to school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I used to do it along with the staff as manager of the group, mostly because we would be able to take children quickly if we had a space and they came in for a place.. parents found it easier to come in and speak to someone rather than call someone they did not know.. bit that was due to locality. When I worked in a village group the committee did it, they did have lots of empty spaces during the year waiting for children to start.. as they allocated for those in the village first and then filled spaces from others wanting a space. Dont know if they still do this but it could cause financial problems to have a space empty until the child could start. We allocated on age, and did not allocate a space until 4 weeks before they were due to start... we could not afford to keep spaces open. which is in effect what you are doing... I dont hink there is an answer that will please all, but whatever the decision is you need to be able to cover the costs and they will need to understand that keeping empty places is not a good way to do this. What happens if you keep a place but the parent changes their mind? could you fill it? etc etc.. so many variables.. Whatever you do someone will not be happy, Inge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 We do similar to you Holly, but we also take into account how long children have been on the list as it's not fair to have a child have their name down from birth to start, say, next week when they turn two, to have a child zip in at the last minute and take their place, when they live next door and have been made well aware of the need to have their name on the waiting list. (Golly, that was a long sentence!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Yeah we are lucky Cait in that rarely happens and to be honest I slot everyone into places weeks before they start but don't actually tell anyone that immediately. As our biggest number of empty places are for the oldest children I can even slide them in at the last minute without disrupting the two year old. And we try to keep at least one member of staff out of ratios (at moment we are lucky it is 2) to cover absences etc so we can always step into ratio for the odd child over the numbers otherwise. And yes it was a long sentence - even rivaled some of mine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted November 9, 2009 Author Share Posted November 9, 2009 Thank you for your replies. I spoke to our PLA advisor about this and she advised when a space does become available look at all the people who are old enough to start and assess them against all criteria eg age, sibling, distance from setting and then those that meet most of the criteria get offered the place. This is good in a way but because we are a very popular setting (I have 17 currently eligible to start now, with 5 places available in January) I have a feeling I am going to have to log onto AA route planner and put in postcodes to find out who lives closest!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I do the waiting list, I'm chair. Places are allocated by how long they have been on the list, date of birth, siblings attending, although this hasnt happened in a very long time. We also keep a place if possible for children new to the area who might need a place. Most of our children are local with only a few coming from outside our immediate area, these are the ones who I push to the back if I need to, if only for a half term. I have two children on my list to start in the spring of 2011, they will definitley have their place even if others move into the area. Playgroup and parent and toddler group have application forms to give out, these are then passed onto me and I put them in my book. I contact each parent in turn to tell them when to start. If it gets busy, and especially if we get a child apply who might receive funding, I juggle things until everyone fits, even helping out if it means the ratios might be out because of the age ranges, but I would never give a funded child the place of a fee payer. They are our future bread and butter. It is a bit of a nightmare to be honest, one which I am trying (unsucsessfully) to delegate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted November 9, 2009 Author Share Posted November 9, 2009 It is a bit of a nightmare to be honest, one which I am trying (unsucsessfully) to delegate! You and me both Rea hence the first question of the post!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I am lucky my Administrator deals with this....it does seem such a headache......I used to do it and do feel a little detached from it all...but hey you can't do everything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynned55 Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 I used to do it,but now my deputy doe sit. Like others have siad, committee aren't available or hands on enought to administer it. I am so glad my deputy now does it. It used to take such a large chunk of my life every year!! No point in me telling you how ours is administered as we are an RC group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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