anyone else out there struggling?

[thumperrabbit]

Where are the schools getting all the space from?? presumably they are having to provide classroom space for all these children...is this not an issue for them?

 

They are sticking mobile buildings on their playing fields, whatever it takes to get them, even though they don't need to do it, it's madness - as soon as 1 school does something then the others feel under pressure and follow suit

Some are tiny spaces without access to free flow

All our feeder schools though are Outstanding (we were Good with 5 elements of outstanding last time) and all are over subscribed every year, and parents just want to get them in asap

[catma]

No need to apologise, I have to say I wish someone would come and give us advice! our Early Years teams are virtually none existent now and if you do want advice you have to pay for it!!!

 

It all started for us probably about 5 years ago but our story has gone like this;

Introduction of morning only school nursery places for those who are 3 - not everyone got a place and so pre-schools were still busy

following year introduction of 'wrap around care' for those 3 year olds - this lets in those who didn't get in

following year introduction of lets take them the day they are 3 - parents now think whats' the point of a pre-school for perhaps a couple of months may as well wait for school

this year lets now take them at 2 years old - this has only happened in about 4 of our local schools but as with all things, once one has done it they all follow suit

 

so basically as a 2-4yr old setting we are pushed right out of the market, I know parents don't have to take up these school nursery places, but the pressure put on them by the schools if they are wavering is unbelievable

 

It's seems so dependent on the locality - schools in London have always had nursery classes taking from 3+ in all the many, many long years I've been in education so there has always been a parallel system. Where areas do not historically have nursery classes in their schools maybe this is where the pinch is coming, as schools look at the new ways of expanding and autonomy that the Govt is enabling for them? Things like wrap around care are a requirement for schools to provide though.

 

The pressure is inherent in the system regardless. Without a reception place you will not have a year 1 place and in an area with oversubscribed schools this will matter. Although a child in a school nursery has no automatic right to a reception place, if you meet the admissions criteria, then continuity of educational experience for your child could be important for you I suppose.

Cx

[SueFinanceManager]

Big hug to you all who are struggling it really does add another level of stress on top of an already demanding job!!!

 

Maybe this could be a place to share some of your best cost saving ideas/experiences. I think we sometimes plod along using existing suppliers etc because frankly we can't be bothered with the hassle of ringing round to get other quotes etc but maybe you have done that and got a great deal on your art supplies or milk or wash-room stuff??

 

Maybe if people can share a few successes we can help each other to save a few squid here and there.

 

The other day someone was talking about leaving presents....maybe encourage your parents to not buy the staff another box of chocolates or bunch of flowers but but vouchers for places you want to buy resources from.

 

Anyway, just a thought :1b

[catma]

They are sticking mobile buildings on their playing fields, whatever it takes to get them, even though they don't need to do it, it's madness - as soon as 1 school does something then the others feel under pressure and follow suit

 

Although it might look the case, unless the school is independent of the LA, ie an independent, academy or free school, they can't just decide to get bigger (currently!), it's the LA who make that decision (in conjunction with the Governing Body) based on their evaluation of the sufficiency of school places. The LA cannot build new schools, as you can only have a Free School or Academy as a new school now. So they have to expand existing provision. As the population increases this is becoming more and more the case everywhere. They have to ensure that children will have a school place or they are not meeting the obligations placed upon them in statute. We now have several 5 form entry schools and many a mobile classroom because we just wouldn't have enough school places if we didn't. The duty to ensure enough childcare is also part of this, and given the LA cannot create pre-schools we also have to look to existing school provision to expand this sometimes.

 

It's not always a conspiracy - just what they have to do to meet their obligations under the current laws.

 

Cx

[Rea]

We're really lucky. Our playgroup is the only one for around about 4 miles. We are next door to a primary school which was turned down by the LEA when they wanted a nursery about 9 years ago. We have a CC nearby who run a preschool from the school, there are 4 maintained nurseries within about 3 miles and one private setting. The maintained settings only take probably less than a quarter of our children each September, the preschool next door takes a couple but we have about half of them come back!

We still make sure we advertise locally although word of mouth is our best advert. Although there are times when numbers are low we do tend to have at least 70% occupancy for most of the year, at the moment we're full and will go back to around 20 funded children with more to follow.

Luck of the draw I guess.

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

 

I know some of these posts are a few weeks old but I just wanted to ask for some advice myself...

 

I am opening a new day nursery in 2 weeks and although all of the other nurseries in the area (and preschools) appear to be full and/or have waiting lists, I am struggling to get any numbers!!

 

I was told by the LA there was a huge demand, parents moving into the area all the time and that they were 'desperate' for another nursery, especially to take babies.

 

Why then, am I struggling to find these families??

 

I have been taking registrations for months, built up a good amount to start with and had an Open day to present the nursery in the area (most registered having never seen the nursery and work was still being done)...my aim was to open with around 10 children and maybe 3 or 4 staff (the demand here seemed to be for children under 2 years) and then gradually increase to allow everyone to settle in, new staff, everything is new, no one has ever worked together before etc etc.

 

I had about 25 registrations and lots of families wanting different days of course, but plenty of demand for the opening date and some happy to secure place, pay deposits.

 

THEN...we got delayed with our registration process (partly the councils doing the 'checks' and Ofsted and lack of communication with us about what was going on) and have lost a lot of parents because we couldn't tell them when we would be opening.

 

Now, I have 6 potential members of staff hired and ready to go, (based on the estimated numbers) with the prospect of opening for the first 2 or 3 weeks with 1 full time child, 2 part time children and another family with 3 children doing only 2 afternoon sessions!!!

 

I am really quite worried about what to do next. I have already asked our printers to do leaflets, signs, A-boards for promoting us. but...options:

 

1. Giving staff members later start dates to meet demand...

2. Asking the owner to invest in having 1 or 2 extra staff a day in order TO GET THE business (understandably at a loss to the nursery)

3. Losing prospective members of staff (no contracts signed until start dates agreed) but they have been chosen for a reason and I don't want to lose them!!

 

I'm sorry for long, confusing message but I am at a loose end, I feel like we are sinking before we have even started!!!!!

 

I have been advertising, got posters and signs up, articles in local magazines, etc etc.

 

Any ideas????? Is it typical to actually open with hardly any children in?????

 

[klc106]

Hi

I opened my own pre-school in September 2011 and we distributed leaflets, had banners printed, set up a website, held an open day and still only opened with 2 children doing 2 mornings a week!

 

By xmas we were up to 5 children all only doing 2 mornings a week. After easter we had 7 children and were opening 2 mornings and 1 full day each week, with only having 3/4 children per session.

 

From September 2012 we had 10 children, mostly 3 yr olds doing 5 sessions a week and by easter we were up to 14 children.

 

There has only been myself and one other member of staff throughout this time as that's all we could afford. We ran at a loss for the first year and only managed the last year due to having my graduate leader fund, for finishing uni, to get toys and boost my wages

 

This September we have 11 children on roll as we lost a few to school. I have employed 1 extra member of staff for 1 session a week (our busiest) and we will be making a small profit!

 

Keep going!!

[Guest]

feet firmly under the table, I like your idea and it is something I've been toying with for a while, the plan being that it is more beneficial for parents to put the children in for a full day rather a half session or we do a 5 hour flexible session which I charge £30 for and then would drop a full day rate to about £40 I think with a session still costing £25. This nursery does it too http://www.thelegacy-nursery.co.uk/sessions-and-prices/ and I was thinking of contacting them to see how it worked for them.

 

We are doing fine for numbers with a waiting list for babies and it would be a brave move as would have to drop existing parents fees.