titchy Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Me again, god this sites grt! I run a pre-school from 9:30 - 12 mon-fri during term time, the session is 3 to funded children and 10 pounds for non-funded children. We currently don't charge for snack but desperatley need to raise income. I'm thinking of charging but not sure how much? The other possibility is for parents to bring their child's snack in. How does everyone else do it? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Hi titchy....I don't charge for snack......but I know that some groups do.......others ask for donations - either 'pennies' or fruit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 hi titchy, we don't charge for snack either. Usually costs about £8.00 per week for 20 children. mrsW.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 hi titchy, we don't charge for snack either. Usually costs about £8.00 per week for 20 children. Gosh! What do you get for that, mrsW? We don't charge for snack, and to be honest I can't imagine you'd raise much cash that way titchy, if as you say you desperately need to raise income. Also, I don't understand what you say about fees - do you mean you charge £3 per session for funded children, or are you using the '3' in textspeak to mean 'free'? Maz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anju Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 at the moment we charge £1 per half term per child but our fees will go up after easter to £4 per hour and we will then include snack in the fees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 We don't charge for snack, as Maz says, a bag of apples, a bag of sultanas a hand of bananas, a bag of carrots and what ever else is on offer, like 2 for one on satsumas etc. It works out at about £8 a week and it's do-able. How about asking parents to have a rota to bring things in, like a bag of apples or whatever? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Today we had toasted crumpets and apple slices. Sanisburys have them on offer at the moment, 2 packs of crumpets for £1.00. I always look for the two for one offers on bags of apples etc too. The children also have a choice of milk (which is free) and water. mrsW.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Had this discussion today with my PLA advisor. She gave this as an area where we could bring in a little more money and make up a bit of the shortfall due to the fact that funding is going down. My thoughts are that the amount of money is probably insignificant against the extra paperwork involved with doing invoices and then what would happen if a parent refused and said their child doesn't need a snack - don't think I could leave them out and not feed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 We ask parents to bring a piece of fruit and then we buy bread for toast or crackers etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 same as Rea.. parents supplied fruit and we supplied the carbohydrate element... worked well but cannot say it would be enough to compensate for any loss in income... Inge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narnia Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Me again, god this sites grt! I run a pre-school from 9:30 - 12 mon-fri during term time, the session is 3 to funded children and 10 pounds for non-funded children. We currently don't charge for snack but desperatley need to raise income. I'm thinking of charging but not sure how much? The other possibility is for parents to bring their child's snack in. How does everyone else do it? Thank you Have I misunderstood your post??Are you saying you charge 'funded' children £3 for their session, which runs from 9.30-12?? That's 2.5 hours and should be free........or am i reading this wrong?? Forgive me if I am, don't want to add to your money woes!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 We charge snack money at 30p per day and we do make money as we take on average £35-40 per week. Parents are happy to pay and it covers not only our snacks but our cooking as well. We sent out a letter asking for feedback before we started charging and explaining our reasons why we needed to start this and all parents agreed it was a good idea. My suggestion is do the same they can only say no! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 We charge £1 per week for tuck (so 20p per day) and we buy plain biscuits usually to run alongside the free milk and the free fruit we get.......... What we do say to parents though is the money not spent on tuck is used for anything else we might need that otherwise staff would buy and pay for and wait months to get refunded from school "float" For instance: flour, ingredients for cakes etc, seeds, pots to grown them in , compost etc. Anything that supports the learning that is going on really!! Although we are attached to school I am sure a similar idea would work most places! We used to have "tuck" from the kitchens, a long time ago in school but that was expensive! I think on a rare occasion we have had parents offer us 80p for the week because their child wasn't in for one day which I think is a little "tight" when the sessions are free but......... each to their own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd say its a good system!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mps09 Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 We ask each family to bring in the equivalent of 1/2 a piece of fruit per session, some bring a bag of apples for whole term, some bring it in each week. Not only don't we have to pay for it - but we don't have to shop for it either! Also, slightly off topic but a great way to save money.... (although we are a registered charity and it might seem different if you were not...) - this is what is included in each term's newsletter - we haven't bought any of the things in this list for 3 years! CAN YOU HELP WITH.....[/size] Every term we ask for each family to contribute just one item to our ‘consumables’ which helps with our supplies. This also means that our valuable fundraising can be used for much more interesting things like our fab new furniture! Can you help by providing one of the following? Tissues Postage Stamps Sellotape Laminating Pouches Kitchen Roll Bubble Mixture Food Colouring Cornflour Printer Paper Antibacterial table spray or toilet wipes Washing up liquid We put a box on the table for any contributions. And people just provide what they can afford. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 We ask each family to bring in the equivalent of 1/2 a piece of fruit per session, some bring a bag of apples for whole term, some bring it in each week. Not only don't we have to pay for it - but we don't have to shop for it either! Also, slightly off topic but a great way to save money.... (although we are a registered charity and it might seem different if you were not...) - this is what is included in each term's newsletter - we haven't bought any of the things in this list for 3 years! CAN YOU HELP WITH.....[/size] Every term we ask for each family to contribute just one item to our ‘consumables’ which helps with our supplies. This also means that our valuable fundraising can be used for much more interesting things like our fab new furniture! Can you help by providing one of the following? Tissues Postage Stamps Sellotape Laminating Pouches Kitchen Roll Bubble Mixture Food Colouring Cornflour Printer Paper Antibacterial table spray or toilet wipes Washing up liquid We put a box on the table for any contributions. And people just provide what they can afford. Hope that helps! Oh I like that idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 What a fab idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Me too - may bring that up at next weeks committee meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 We charge £1 per week for tuck (so 20p per day) I'm sorry to sound like a broken record, but I wonder if these kinds of charges will be 'outlawed' once the Single Funding Formula comes into force in September, or as someone thumperrabbit said earlier in this thread, if it could be used as a way of generate extra income? I know we were told that once it comes into force we won't be able to charge for uniform etc, and that deposits/registration fees won't be allowable because it might be interepreted as making a charge for accessing what is each child's free entitlement? And whilst I'm here, I think it is desperately sad that we should be in the position of having to ask parents for donations of basic essentials such as kitchen roll or washing up liquid. What are things coming to when our funding just doesn't cover even the basics of our provision? That said, I think it is a great way of enabling parents to contribute in whatever ways they can: not everyone will be able to afford to give a financial donation, but might be able to afford to drop the odd item for preschool in with the family's shop. Genius! Maz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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