Fredbear Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Hi all and a Happy New Year. Sadly our pre-school were informed that one of our recently retired ex members of staff with 23 years service, had passed away on News Years Day. Think I'm still in shock as she texted me News Years Eve to wish me a Happy New Year. As you can imagine we are all devastated as we have always been a very close team. Now that the funeral arrangements have been made, I have made the decision to close the setting to enable all staff members to attend. I have sent out a letter explaining this to parent/carers, but should I notify anyone else. Any thoughts will be gratefully received. Fx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocrow Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 I have no thoughts, other than to say I'm really sorry to hear that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Oh Fb that's so sad - sending you the hugest possible hug...........I would close without so much as a backward glance - but don't really know if that's OK to do - think it should be - you could possibly add an extra day sometime before end of summer term 6 for funding purposes xxx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 That's tough FB I would want to close to, particularly if all your staff worked with this lady and you don't have enough staff that didn't to open legally, if it's your own business I'd say it's your call, If committee would be theirs, would parents really object ? Do you have spaces to maybe slot them in other sessions if it does become an issue, running an extra day will mean paying staff a days overtime and you might find problems if they then have children that have finished school for holidays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreveryoung Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Oh dear sorry to hear about this how upsetting, we close very rarely as if the church we use need to hold a funeral we have no choice. I checked with funding and as long as an alternative session is offered or you have to adjust the claim accordingly. I gave parents option to either have a one paid session taken off there account or to book in for an extra session over a stated time frame (2 weeks) as couldn't be messing with people saving it for months and months on end as my memory is shocking or they didn't have to take up either offer. Most didn't bother but you have to offer or adjust claim. My Thoughts are with you all x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 sorry to hear of your bad news, it is hard when you are part of a small team. You should let parents know the reason and offer an alternative session / open a day somewhere for those parents..if you ask parents I am sure most will not worry about the missed day... or you could reduce the funding claimed for those by 1 day.. depends on your area... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narnia Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 close. Pay this lovely lady the respect that is due to her. Yes, offer an alternative session (if you can) to those on funding, I suggest you phone your funding team to explain what has happened, but I cannot imagine they would deduct the money from you. I hope she has a wonderful funeral and I hope you get the chance to celebrate her lifex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 When my deputy died suddenly over the summer holidays a few years ago,we made up a book of photographs of her in preschool and asked previous parents if they would like to write in it. Very many did, and we gave it to the family. You have my sympathy. It took the team a long time to get over it. She hadn't worked for about a year with her I'll health, but in a small village we'd still seen her a fair bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 (edited) Thank you for all your kind thoughts.x Just to add we are committee run, but they totally back the decision made. Will wait and see if anyone objects and take it from there. Edited January 10, 2015 by Fredbear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Close without a moments hesitation and if parents do not like it..tough. You are all entitled to go and pay your respects and say goodbye. You should let Ofsted know of any closure. We shut for two days last term so we could attend Senco training and offering sessions at other times to cover these closures. Thinking of you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lashes2508 Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 So sorry to hear this sad news FB , sending hugs and virtual support. Close without hesitation with letter , as a valued member of your team I am sure parents would understand and if not then poo to them. Xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Thank you everybody. Fx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlettangel Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Sending best wishes. I think it is lovely that everyone will have chance to attend the funeral. When we lost a member of staff in school many years ago now we couldn't all attend the funeral which I think was positively the wrong message to send out to the lady's family. Sending love and best wishes for your loss x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaMum Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 So sorry to hear your news. I would close in a heartbeat. If the parents can't share the compassion or understand, it's a sad world we live in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.