Being Closed - What Do You Do?

[Guest]

If you are closed due to things beyond your control like weather and unavailability of premises - do you offer funded children an alternative day?

 

I had to announce that my setting would be closed on election day and one parent asked what happens to the funding for his daughter for that day when I explained that we didn't have space on another session. He didn't like the fact that we still receive funding for his child when she couldn't attend.

 

ppp

[finleysmaid]

do you know i've never been asked that and we've had to close on several occassions do your funded days match exactly to the days you offer? there are usually a couple of days leeway so you could throw itr back to him and ask him to pay for the extras

[Guest]

I think that is a bit unreasonable. It is hardly within your control that there is an election on. My primary school used to close for every election and there is hardly any option for giving school children an extra day for one they missed.

I think you should point out the government gave you the funding and they are holding the election and not you!

[Guest]

Our parents never complain about it but we usually have to check with the LA about whether we can keep the funding. When it snowed us out for a week in January we were allowed to, but if we have to close due to staff not being able to come in on election day as their children are off, I think we might have to return the money. We are having a day closed for training this term and I don't plan to even ask about this as schools are allowed INSET days

[Panders]

I think parents must really begin to ignore the money side of their child's place - they should not even know about how much the funding is, let alone what happens to it when the setting has to be closed - they should just be encouraged to think of it as a free place and on that day the free place cannot be offered because of other commitments. It is not money they are entitled to its hours.

 

 

If it bothers him that much give him your LA Financial Depts. telephone number, or better still head of Management and Info and ask him to complain about it.

[Upsy Daisy]

I like the idea of asking him if he would question what school were doing with the funding if they had to shut for the day. Perhaps he thinks you'll all go for a few rounds at the pub on it

[Smiles]

Under the terms of our funding we are allowed to close for three days a year for which we recieve funding for training providing we give parents notice. We had to close due to snow earlier this year and a break in and so have dieced to only use one of the days for training.

[Guest]

we are allowed 5 days a year, insets days that the school takes we use them for as staff have children at the local school

 

we are also shut on 6th may due to the hall being used for polling, and we wont be able to claim funding for this day.

 

we also do not have space to offer ad hoc or swapping of sessions so dont so it, unless a real emergency

[Guest]

Try saying that you staff will be else where on training and that the money is used for that which it has to do. so it will be used as a staff training day.

[Buttercup]

we are allowed 5 inset days out of 38 weeks. if you look at schools calender they are open more than 38 weeks. i include bank hols in my 5 days and had one left spare so that will for polling day. you still have expenses etc. you can say staff will still be working. i do not charge for extra hours or children not getting funding on these days.

 

buttercup

[lynned55]

We are allowed to close and keep funding for anything'beyond our control' Which I would deem a polling day being. If your setting is used as a polling station. I wonder if that same parent would ask a school what happens to the funding they have for his child if they close? How bizarre, it's not like it's money he has paid out.

[dublinbay]

Our room is literally next door to the room in which the polling station is situated. The primary school itself in not closed as they can security lock a door between the community centre and themselves....but we can't. Parents have not complained at all. We are still required to come in and make up time lost by cleaning and other such jolly tasks.

[Lyanne]

We're not allowed to keep funding if we're closed eg for staff training, unless we offer another day. So we can plan to be open for more days at the end of term and as long as we're offering the day, it doesn't matter if they take it up or not...

[Guest]

We closed for poling day, no one complained. Just wait untill the child goes to school and has to be off for inset days!!