Training Days In Cheshire

[Andreamay]

Please could anyone in cheshire tell me are we allowed to include any training days in the term as a funded day?

I have searched for this info and there seems to be different advise depending where you live!

we are open 11 weeks and 1 day this summer term(due to bank hol and the primary school inset day)We close a day earlier then school to enable us to have a cleaning and training/meeting do we include this or not and if we can how many are you allowed?

thanks in advance

[Andreamay]

Any info you could give me would be so gratefully recieved

[Guest]

Hi - hooray someone else from Cheshire!!!

We had this question (also from Cheshire), and on my initial phone call to County Hall - I was informed that we cannot include training/inset days as Grant Funded days in any circumstance. To claim the Grant the children must be present and we must provide 2.5hrs of Nursery Education. This has had an impact on our training/cleaning up and preparation days usually planned to coincide with our local primary schools Inset days, also planning our annual Sports Day and Leavers Party which are normally both shortened sessions but include all the children (even those who don't normally attend on that day). I phoned again to ask about claiming for such days and was told that Cheshire County Council will only pay the Grant in full weeks (not part weeks) for Nursery Ed. session of 2.5hrs for the children who normally attend on that day,so we have had to adjust our Sports day and don't know whether we are having a leavers party yet, plus alter our closing date from Wed 19th July to Friday 21st July (this went down well) this term to claim the full 12 weeks - otherwise we could only claim 11 weeks and not the 3 days extra.

I didn't mention the Bank Holiday - I had enough queries at the time, so I am assuming we will receive funding for this?

The fact that our Sports Days, Leavers Parties etc are seen as 'family' social days (as we invite all parents, grandparents etc to these events - and usually all picnic together and have fun - doesn't appear to warrant funding unless it is providing those essential 2.5hrs of Nursery Education!?

[Guest]

Does that mean school Sports Days, end of term parties etc shouldn't fall in school term time either? Or do we have double standards again?

[Guest]

Good question, Weightman - ??

It makes our staff wonder whether it's worth bothering with all those little nicey, nicey events (you know the type - parties, christmas plays, fun things etc) if we have to somehow rearrange perfectly workable special events which have happened successfully each year since we opened 10 yrs ago!

If we want to adjust the hours to less, it seems we have to do it outside of what we are claiming - staff and rent still need paying though!

Love the idea of 38 weeks grant - but feel that things are getting too prescriptive and the element of fun, social, community and family events for groups such as ours (committee run pre school) is being totally overlooked. What a pity, as the children, staff and parents have always gained so much from these occasions - this doesn't seem to have any relevance any more?

(sorry about the moan, hit a raw nerve with this topic)

[Guest]

Moan away! I think a lot of people have similar feelings.

[JacquieL]

Surely these events are part of Nursery Education- think of all the learning going on. Sports days are physical and social, Christmas is cultural, social, creative and whatever. Surely as long as everyone is there for 2.5 hours then you are providing what is being paid for. No? Or are they that pedantic?

[Guest]

Well put, Jacquie!

[Guest]

Hi

No problem with matching the events towards progressing to the ELG's, there's loads of stepping stones which can be covered during these events - it's the lack of flexibility with the funding, when such events are for less than 2.5hrs, yet fall inside the term dates, also, we are expecting the staff to attend training / Inset / preparation days (which also fall inside the term) for which we cannot claim grant for because the children are not present. The question is . . . why can't the Grant be more flexible?

[Guest]

Does that mean that if the events lasted for 2.5 hours you could be funded for them? Because if so I think I could find ways to make them stretch! Some groups have the children help prepare food before the party, for instance.

[Guest]

Just what I was thinking as I was typing my last reply . . .

[Guest]

seemed to have digressed from the original question of training days though . . .