Guest Posted May 4, 2005 Posted May 4, 2005 wonder if you could all help. we are considering introducting a redution in fee's for siblings as we have twins starting in september we have never had this situation before, as children usually recieve government funding by the time a silbling arrives. with this, what kind or amount of reduction do you think is appropriate we currently charge 4.25 per session going up to 4.50 in september. do you think we should offer a reduction? i know someone out their will have some sound advice
Guest Posted May 4, 2005 Posted May 4, 2005 I know a lot of groups do make reductions for siblings but we never have done. We have taken the attitude that they have access to everything that all the other children have and that I still have to pay staff and rent etc. My costs don't reduce. We have triplets at the moment and, although they are now funded and have been since Christmas, before that their parents paid full fees for all three. I have never had anybody ask for a reduction and nobody has complained. Do you feel you can afford this? If so go ahead if that is what you feel is fair. Linda
Rea Posted May 4, 2005 Posted May 4, 2005 The only time we had twins we did offer a reduction but I cant remember how much, it was years ago. I personnaly think it's t's a good idea if the setting can afford it otherwise it's a lot of money to pay out each week, but bear in mind that these days a lot (if not most) families are in reciept of child tax credit which was supposed to be for childcare. We say in our fees policy that we may give reductions on a indivdual basis and if financially viable.
Steve Posted May 4, 2005 Posted May 4, 2005 £4.25 per session ruthie? How long are your sessions? How much NEF funding do you get per child per session? Is that the same rate you charge for children old enough to be eligible for government funding?
Lucy P Posted May 4, 2005 Posted May 4, 2005 We offer a sibling discount if: both (or more) children attend for 3+ days (6+ sessions). The oldest sibling will receive a 10% discount on all fees. The reason we do this is normally to retain the older child at the nursery, so generally it is in our best interest.
Guest Posted May 4, 2005 Posted May 4, 2005 I've never really understood the thinking behind making a reduction for siblings: as Linda says, the costs are exactly the same whether one or three children attend from the same family, or if three children from different families were attending. However there are definite benefits for the parents, and I can see why they find it attractive! I'll be interested to see how many people post saying they offer reductions for siblings... I was also surprised at the cost for your sessions, Ruthie: are you a committee run group? I wonder how you can manage to do it for so little per session!! Maz
Beau Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 Ok - I think I can beat you all on this one - ours is £3 a session. This is the average for our area. And we don't offer a reduction in fees for siblngs unless there is real financial difficulties for the family. (And we only get £6.05 for funded children).
Steve Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 Think I can feel another poll coming on here! Carol (and the others who charge less than the funding amount for those under the funding age) - what do you do when the children reach 3 years old. Just charge the nursery grant amount? And are you offering only the 2.5 hour sessions covered by the fees?
Rea Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 We charge £4 per 2.5 hour session. When the children recieve the grant they dont pay. The grant is more than our fee's so the committee dont feel they should charge top up fee's for the 6 weeks the grant doesnt cover. We still loose over £1000 per year though depending on how many children receive the grant. The code of practice says that if your fee's are less than the grant the extra money cannot be used to cover unfunded sessions but instead must be used for staff training and equipment, which is what our committee have just decided to do. Staff now get paid for attending some training courses.
Guest Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 steve, are sessions are 2.5 hours long, we do lunches for an hour @ £1.50 and an afternoon session of 2.5 hours we get £7.56 for funded children but if a funded child is using them elsewhere we only charge sessional rate of £4.25 ( always been against this because we still offer the same service mazlittle, we are committee run, and i do think the fees are low compared to our outgoings, we pay £110 per week just to hire the building, and monthly salaries are around £2500 so we do rely on funding and fundraising to survive. since this term, after many meetings with the committee, now charge for the weeks not covered by the NEG, last year we were losing over £3000 on a long term, but old committee didnt approve (not the best interests of the group - more like because they had children in the setting and would have to pay more) i can see the point about siblings, as i have mentioned above (same service) i think its a good idea to only offer it if they are to attend a minimum of three sessions each per week. thanks for replies
Beau Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 Our sessions are just 2.5hrs long too and all unfunded children are charged the same, regardless of age. Children can only get funding for one setting too, even if that were just for 3 sessions. Things are slightly different here - we get the funding for 38 weeks but are not allowed to charge parents anything more than 20p for snack on top of it.
Guest Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 We have had twins in the past and did offer a reduced rate of 25% for one twin and full price for the other. I am shocked at your session fees. I am one of the cheapest in my area and we charge £4.75 for and am and £4.25 for a pm. Most pre schools in our area charge between £5.50 and £6.50 for a 2 1/2 session. We get approx £7.40 per funded child. net x
Inge Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 we do not offer reduced rate for siblings, we often have older and younger in together and have had twins several times, one set at the moment. we offer the same service and have to cover the same costs for every child so to reduce for some and not others we feel could be classed as discrimination... most are funded anyway after the first term and as we are now funded for 38 weeks for 4 sessions a week we just suggest they have 4 to avoid top up fees. we currently charge 5.50 per session (2.5hrs) one of the cheapest in the area and raise to 6.00 from sept with the view to eventually charging the same as funding with regular increases.. we get 7.90 per session.... (and they can attend more than one setting ) Inge
Guest Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 We charge £6 at the moment which will rise to either £6.50 or £7 in September. I am trying to bring it in line with the nursery funding. We get £7.77 a session. Our rent is £148.75 a week and wages are about £2000 a month-not including anything for myself! Linda
Inge Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 Forgot to say rent 67.50 per week......lucky us....(rose by 33% last Sept) Inge
Sue R Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 I'm in a DN, like Lucy P we offer discount for eldest child, but only 5% Sue
Guest Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 Rea, I couldn't have put it more succinctly about how funding should not be used to pay toward unfunded sessions. I charge £6.60 for a 3 hr session, £2.20 for lunch hour, we open 2 sessions and a lunch period per day ie: £8.80 per day, five days a week, 8:45 - 15:15 hrs. term time only We receive £7.36 funding per session. I pay £150 per week rent, wages are £2500 month ( without me ) We had twins and charged the same ( my invoices are complicated enough without trying to calculate % discounts ) although if necessary I can calculate % charge for late payments Peggy
Guest Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 The only time I gave a reduction was when we had three of the same family.With the committee blessing two paid and one was free!! To-day met the family on the way to vote it was the eldest childs first vote!!
Guest Posted May 5, 2005 Posted May 5, 2005 When triplets joined our sessions for 2 - 3 year olds (run like playschool) and where they obviously had no gov. funding the committee drew up a policy for multiple birth families to the effect that the full fee is payable for the first child with second and subsequent children receiving a 50% reduction. Since we operate on a shoestring and compete with 4 other nurseries for children this was designed to help us ensure that we could attract multiples until they qualify for funding and help build some financial stability thereafter. Cynical but true. The benefit has been that we now have lots of experience with multiples and now have attracted more multiples because of this. It could therefore be justified as an initial reduction in income but with long term benefits! Its worked for us but may not suit others.
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