Nursery Grant

[Guest]

Anyone see the BBC news this morning about the situation about nursery grants? I just get so angry when each child is being allocated £3600 and up here in the north east we are receiving £1500 from the LEA. Where is the other £2000 PER CHILD!!!! going. OH dear here I go again- it just annoys me so much as a private nursery owner that we are on a different playing field as regards nursery funding but my service in my opinion is as good and my staff are my backbone and deserve help in their salary from central government. In one of my last posts my local Surestart were advertising 21 jobs totalling a combined salary of £334,500.00 per year- is this where the funding went!!!!???

[Rea]

I forgot to watch that. I've just been looking on the BBC breakfast site but it's not on there yet. I'm not sure what the funding amounts to in Birmingham anymore, but I'm sure it was close on the full amount, your grant is awful have you quieried it with the LA? It would be interesting to hear their reply.

[beth1]

I watched from 7.20 am, just caught the report but did not see an interview as Peggy as told.

[Guest]

Hi Sheila I so agree - we are just not on a level playing field but are expected to do the same job. Our hands are being ties. Yes I saw the reports and the case for top up was made very clearly - I think iot may have got less coverage than planned due to much coverage being given to the going or not of the P.M.

[Guest]

£3600????? We get about £1500 as well Sheila-just over £500 per term. Did they really say that is how much each child is allocated?? It would be interesting to know what is happening to all that extra money.

Linda

[hali]

the whole system is just soooo unfair.....

[Guest]

Yes we get the same I've just worked it out. we get £8.05 per session and we are allowed 190 sessions per year. it workd out as £1523, I have a meeting on monday and will query with the borough where the rest of it is going. has any one thought to let the newspapers know that we only get £1500 out of that £3600. There was an articlke in the Daily Mail someone told me about that said that pre-schools and nurseries were under performing. maybe if we got more money we could employ better staff or do more training. Maybe we all should meet up outside Downing Street and ask them where the rest of the money goes. Our Sure start lot employ people on fantastic wages. can we put administration cost on our fees to parents !!!!!!!!

[Guest]

I've emailed this to Darrel the owner of the Nursery in the programme.

 

Hello Darrel,

You must be shattered after such a long day, just wanted to say well done. I've just watched my recording of this mornings interviews. I thought the first interview went quite well, I liked the way you mentioned the surestart training re: budget management and the importance of ensuring the nursery is cost effective. I also thought the parent gave a good clear message about the consequence of you maybe having to close and that, as long as it was not too expensive she is happy to pay a top up fee. I hope KCC don't get back at you because she disclosed that she is still paying a top-up fee now!! (or is this allowed until kent sends out further code of practice??)

 

In the second interview the presenter seemed to be a bit bunglesome ( for want of a better term) Poor Charlotte, getting her name wrong, then him saying the government pay us £8.22 per hour !!!, glad you were able to make it clear it is £3.25 per hour.

It must have been nice to have Liz Roberts, the editer of Nursery World with you, she was also able to say that this is a national issue and she queried the 'lost' money, the amount government pay per child to the LEA's compared to the amount LEA's give to us. How do we find out how much funding each LEA gets per child? Unfortunately I don't think the presenter fully understood this as he shunned past it quite quickly.

 

What happened to the link with Beverly Hughes?

 

Overall, it was good to get the media exposure, however I felt the presenter was biased or playing devils advocate, he appeared to make out that you could reduce costs by reducing 'extra's, he didn't help make it clear that qualified staff, 1st aiders, etc are a requirement and not a luxury and quality should not be compromised by reduced costs.

 

Have yourself your favourite tipple tonight and a good rest.

I can fully appreciatte how this 'extra' work impedes on your daily management tasks, life must be very busy for you at the moment. It is appreciated by many, I'm sure.

 

best regards

 

Peggy Minter

 

p.s. Steph, yes you should calculate admin costs onto your fees. Parents are well supported now towards preschool costs, ie: grant and the childcare element of the WFTC.

[hali]

peggy i think we need to knighthood you, you are an insperation to us all.

[Guest]

Lovely letter Peggy, one voice for us all.

[Guest]

Thanks Peggy

Rosina

[Guest]

Wow Peggy - you've done it again - you put things over so well, ever thought of applying for the job that might be vacant at no. 10 Downing St.?

Thanks on behalf of us all

[Guest]

There is a government website out there somewhere where it shows all central funding to the local LEAS. When I complained to central government I was told quite firmly that spending is at local level and it is at their discretion who gets what. I have nothing against the wages that Sure Start and Childrens Centres get but this is government and tax payers money. My staff are highly qualified and loyal but get unsettled when they see the salaries these settings are getting. They are not financially sustainable but this does not make any difference to a newly wed buying a house and sees thousands of pounds in difference in wages. Try and explain that government is paying the wages and not just the parents.

I think at the end of the day parents should be able to decide when and where they take their child for nursery education and expect the same level of service where and whatever they choose. Politicians should acknowledge this and not railroad parents into sending their children in what they have sank billions into. If private and voluntary sectors received the same government funding in terms of just nursery education funding alone we could have a sustainable provision

To add insult this morning I was starting my NVQ level 4 next week to receive a letter that the course is cancelled due to lack of enrollment. The Childrens Workforce Council are saying settings must be going towards a higher qualified workforce and here is possibly another year of my life that will go without getting on a course I so desperalty wanted to do. Will OFSTED ever believe me in telling them it took me 3 years to get on a level 3 course?

Sorry for the continous moaning everyone but it just seems to be one thing after another and I have to let off steam somewhere!!!

[Guest]

You make some excellent points Sheila, especially about the wages available for staff who want to get on the housing ladder.

I personally find it difficult that as my daughters employer I can only offer her £6.50 an hour, term time only, just £10,000 a year, when as her mother I want to see her 'comfortable' and not have to struggle with paying necessary bills, let alone have a bit of luxury spending in her life.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence myhenroxanne, and others, no I won't be applying for No 10, because if I was in power, everyone in the whole country would have to make decisions themselves instead of living within the nanny state we are in now . (enough politics, it's the weekend )

 

Peggy

[Deb]

What I find frustrating is that when attending all these courses or information evenings we attend, all the SureStart staff (4 of them!!) were being paid whilst I would be surprised if many practioners were being paid or reimbursed for their petrol! Seems to be the money should be at the coal face.

 

Was up to midnight last night looking at our figures for the year, very worrying indeed, will have to take some action contemplating reducing hours but how will that affect provision for the children, staff morale etc. Still might not be able to get a committee together so could be irrelevant anyway! Looking forward to my glass or two of wine. We put in so many extra hours, why should we subsidize parents any further?

 

Deb