thumperrabbit Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 We are in a small rural village in a church hall at the moment we are only open 4 mornings a week for 3 hours on one of the days we are able to squeeze in a lunch club! Our LEA have said that one of the reasons our numbers are low is because we aren't open 5 mornings a week - we can't open anyway because our hall is rented by someone else but I just wondered if there were anymore settings out there that don't open full time?? I actually don't think it would help us full time anyway as virtually everyone goes to school nursery the day they are 3 and the few who do choose to stay don't all do 4 sessions anyway!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildflowers Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 One of our two settings is open three days only. Numbers are very low, but that's not because we're only offering three days. In both settings very few children attend more than three days. In fact, very few have over the past five years when attending up to five days became possible in one of the settings. Parents seem to want three days or less. Those who want more days tend to want longer days because of work. Not being able to offer an earlier start and later finish for those who need it because of being small and not being the feeder pre-school to the nearby village schools contribute to our low numbers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 We are only open 4 days a week, term time only. We do 3 hours on Monday/Tuesday and 6 hours on Wednesday/Thursday We have very low numbers but I don't think its to do with our opening times. We are offering an extra 3 hours free for children aged 3&4 (out of our pocket not funded by government) on top of the 15 hours they already get and have had no uptake! The only 3/4 year olds we have are the ones staying from last years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbat Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 We are in a village hall and are open 9-1 Monday and Tuesday then an option of 9-12 or 12-3 or 9-3 wed, thur and fri. September we are full each morning apart from Tuesday which has 10 spaces, we have 12 spaces on a Thursday pm (this session is only open to those in their last year before school) and 4 spaces on a wed and fri pm We would open longer on the mon and tue but other users use the hall. We must be lucky because most of our children who are funded do almost every session and just pay the extra. 2-3 year olds do an average of 3 sessions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 We are open 4 days a week. Tuesdays 9.00 to 12.00, 1.00 to 4.00, Wednesday 9.00 to 12.00,( we have monthly staff meetings in the afternoon ) Thursday 9.00 to 12.00, 1.00 to 4.00, Fridays 9.00 to 12.00. As well as lunch clubs on a Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 12.00 to 1.00, term-time only. We would open more if we could but its a very busy hall which is used by everybody in our community. We take thirty children each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildflowers Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 30 children in a hall - that seems like a lot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlettangel Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 We open everyday term time only 9-3pm. There is a breakfast club and Afterschool club to elongate the day if longer hours are needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 It does but we have an enormous hall, a separate room as well as two outside areas. I know we are extremely lucky even though we share usage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Hello We are a village per school and open 8.40 - 3.10 Monday to Friday, 38 weeks a year. Numbers I suppose are quite high, I open with 50 on the registers in September. We found numbers increased when we offered longer hours. I suppose we now gain the children who perhaps had to go to a nursery when we only opened mornings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panders Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 I have only opened for 4 mornings for the last 10 years. 9-15 - 12.15, and on 3 mornings we extend by an hour to have a lunch club, so we are able to claim 15hours for the children. We are full, we have had a couple of quiet autumn starts in the last couple of years which was worrying, but hey parents are waiting until it's free, who can blame them? We might be able to extend by opening earlier, which a lot of pre-schools about here do, but my staff all have children in primary school so that's not do able for me. Don't think the type of parents we attract are that worried about extra hours, from our last questionnaire only 3 said it would be nice - but that wouldn't pay the rent and I suspect they didn't realise they would have to pay for it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devondaisy Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 We only open 4 days a week, but are open 9-3.30 on those days. We also have a parent/toddler group on the morning pre-school isn't open. Our numbers are low too but I don't think that has anything to do with our opening hours. Most children start with us when they are funded or just before and the majority only do their funded hours. Those children who start with us at two tend to only do one morning or afternoon session. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueJ Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 We are a church hall term time setting and over the years have found that the vast majority of children only attend for funded hours. As funding rules have changed over time we have tried to optimise our hours to "suit the system". We have been fortunate that over time other daytime hall users have stopped operating so we can do this Monday to Friday. When we first opened we did 9.00am to 12.30pm (Funding was then 2.5 hours per day so parents paid a top up). When we able to offer 2 x 2.5 hour back to back sessions we did 9.00 to 11.30 and then 11.30 to 2.00. We found that take up for the afternoon sessions was poor and most parents favoured taking 2 sessions back to back per day for 3 days and paying a top up for 2.5 hours (funding was only for 12.5 hours per week then). When funding was increased to 15 hours per week we changed our sessions to 5 hour blocks 9.00 to 2.00 (By then we only had 2 children doing a couple of afternoon sessions). This seems to be quite a popular option. The vast majority of children on roll are funded children whose parents don't take any additional non-funded hours. We are still debating whether to try to offer perhaps 30 minutes at either end of the day to to help out our working parents or whether to offer a "stretched offer" during the summer term and open for an additional two weeks into the summer holidays - these options however mean top up fees and there is no real appetite for this from the parents (they would love us to open longer if it was free ). To do this we would need a minimum number of children of about 15 per sessions to make these options financially viable. With a new school year looming we shall be canvassing this years parents to test the water for demand again before making any decisions! As I said we are fortunate that there are no other daytime hall users so we can do this and we keep the parish priest "in the loop" at all times - it also helps that we pay a significant weekly rental and are the "main source of income" for the church hall which helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 30 children in a hall - that seems like a lot... depends on the size of the hall!! ours could take over60 children according to ofsted guidelines but we only have 30...the same size as a class in school 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildflowers Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 30 or more little ones in the same room, independently on its size seems stressful - not least for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 30 or more little ones in the same room, independently on its size seems stressful - not least for them! haha....not at all, very chilled . Infact we are often complimented on our calm atmosphere...which considering we have so many children with additional needs is sometimes not easy to acheive! Must admit when i was the same size as you i would have probably said the same...but it is acheivable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted August 27, 2013 Author Share Posted August 27, 2013 Thanks for your replies, I was made to feel that we really weren't 'working at it' with not opening for 5 days - I'm glad there are still others out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 We opted not to offer the 15 hrs, we stayed at 12.5. It hasn't affected our intake. We open 5 mornings and 2 afternoons for 2.5 hr sessions. The one morning is in the school next door, like you we have to share the hall with other users. We're lucky we keep most our 3 yr olds and only a handful of those who leave do so because of the hours offered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 we are open from 9.00 till 13.00 four mornings a week, 16 hours total, at what point does ofsted deem that the setting is full time hours? and what does this mean for the setting in terms of provision? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 We are in a small rural village in a church hall at the moment we are only open 4 mornings a week for 3 hours on one of the days we are able to squeeze in a lunch club! Our LEA have said that one of the reasons our numbers are low is because we aren't open 5 mornings a week - we can't open anyway because our hall is rented by someone else but I just wondered if there were anymore settings out there that don't open full time?? I actually don't think it would help us full time anyway as virtually everyone goes to school nursery the day they are 3 and the few who do choose to stay don't all do 4 sessions anyway!! Have you considered stretching into the holidays so that you could offer the correct number of hours over the year but not in term time only? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 we are open from 9.00 till 13.00 four mornings a week, 16 hours total, at what point does ofsted deem that the setting is full time hours? and what does this mean for the setting in terms of provision? I dont think ofsted have any rules on 'full time' as long as you register when you are doing more than 2.5 hours a day. even if you have a nursery that's open all the time you will still have children who only attend 2/3 sessions a week....the provision has to cover all bases even if they are only coming once a week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 30 or more little ones in the same room, independently on its size seems stressful - not least for them! That's a bit of a sweeping statement, and I think you can only reasonably make that judgement once you've seen it in operation. I've seen staff and children very stressed in their environment when there are no more than nine children in a room. For me quality isn't just about the size of the accommodation, but the atmosphere the adults provide and the way the space has been designed and organised. If anyone wants to see how a large room, lots of children, great planning and knowledgeable practitioners all combine to provide a great learning environment for children, then I'd recommend they go and see finleysmaid's setting. :1b 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 If anyone wants to see how a large room, lots of children, great planning and knowledgeable practitioners all combine to provide a great learning environment for children, then I'd recommend they go and see finleysmaid's setting. :1b Or ours. I sometimes go in to just stand and watch, its really calming to see those busy little groups 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Or ours. I sometimes go in to just stand and watch, its really calming to see those busy little groups Is that an invitation then Rea? I could come the next time I'm visiting Upsy Daisy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 We are also complimented on the calmness of our setting, all the children and staff team are always busy having fun and learning can I say it through "PLAY". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildflowers Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 That's a bit of a sweeping statement, and I think you can only reasonably make that judgement once you've seen it in operation. I've seen staff and children very stressed in their environment when there are no more than nine children in a room. For me quality isn't just about the size of the accommodation, but the atmosphere the adults provide and the way the space has been designed and organised. I should see one of these large calm settings, because surely my comment was based on assumptions. But it wasn't a judgement... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 If your ever my way pop in you would be most welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildflowers Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Thanks Fredbear! But I don't know where anyone is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Pm me and I will tell you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I'd welcome anyone Maz, don't know enough about our new manager yet to give out invites, but she saw the vacancy on here so she's around somewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 we'll have to organise a forum grand tour!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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