Staff Hours

[Guest]

With funding being so tight can anyone tell me how much extra time they pay their staff to work outside of when children are there- eg to set up/ tidy away/ do planning?

Thanks in advance!

[Inge]

we are a pre-school who has to put away and set up each day,, as well as clean the hall, plan and prep are also extra

 

we pay for half hour each day for set up and pack away at beginning and end of each day so 15 mins at beginning and end of each day.

we are open for 2 sessions a day so mid day we do not have to pack away etc.

 

we also pay a cleaner for 1 hour each day which happens to be a member of staff but this was not always so and have employed others for this.

 

Plan and prep one member of staff gets 1 hour a week for some of this rest done by me as manager and get paid 3 hours a week. Otherwise it is done unpaid

 

Thsi is likely to change with grant not going up in line with minimum wage and ending up with not having the money to pay for the extra hours. it is actually in contract that some work is expected out of hours as part of the job.

 

we do realise that we will soon be unable to pay for this as money is tight, grant only just pays for rent and wage if lucky, so all extras are from fund-raising and parents bring in fruit etc for breaks/snack.

 

Inge

[Guest]

I am also a preschool which has to set up / clear every day. At present there is only myself and one other member of staff. I pay 1/2 hr for set up and 1/2 hour for clear away. We both manage this and time for a cuppa before we open, yet last year I was paying 3 even 4 staff some days the same time, for exactly the same amount of work ( 3 staff = £20 a day = £100 a week, just to set-up and clear away ). Time management assessment/monitoring is therefore very important when deciding how many and how much you pay for any type of work ( productivity analysis?? )

 

All childrens assessments are done within session times, mainly ongoing throughout the session, we write straight into the achievement files or onto pre-printed ( by me) label paper notelets, which are peeled and stuck into files at a later date. Staff are expected to use quiet times such as when I am with the full group (we only have up to 16 children a morning session and less in the afternoons). Staff also do written tasks during the childrens lunch time, one person with the children the other free to do paperwork etc.

 

Planning is written ON THE DAY for following day/week, during the session, either activity ideas and/or individual childrens. ie a few children today took the dough from the role play area and used it in the construction/small world area, making dinosaur footprints, so I wrote this in for tomorrow ( to add a wider variety of animals for different prints) and also wrote for next week to include foot printing in the art area. The learning outcome from my long term plan for this week is KUW exploration & investigation, which they can expand on with the additional prints of other animals plus use books to look at different types of animal feet. Next weeks LTP focus is maths size, shape & measure, this can also be approached with foot printing activities.

Whilst playing with the dinosaurs one of our younger children was using the term "mines big" so tomorrow we have made an individual plan to promote this child comparing sizes of dinosaurs and then other size comparison games, to follow on with next week.

 

In the summer term I do pay extra time for staff to complete the records of transfers. ( 1/2 hour per record)

 

We have a cleaner come in 3 times a week paid for by our landlords, other cleaning is done throughout the session. ie: yesterday I washed all the roleplay equipment, with the help of a few children . The children love cleaning chairs, tables, toys, paint/glue pots, snack plates and cups, etc, Obviously they are re-done properly but it takes half the time once pre-washed by the children they have even been known to clean my car on sunny days Mats are hardbrushed everyday before rolling up to store.

 

The fact that we put out / away everyday does actually help with maintaining equipment / toys, tidying and sorting as we prepare/put away.

 

When I had a bigger team I used to pay an hour and a half a week for staff meetings, if it lasted any longer, they didn't get overtime. Now our staff meeting occurs in the car on the way home. :wacko:

 

Peggy

[Guest]

We also get paid for 15 minutes either side of the session to prepare/set up or tidy away etc. The Supervisor gets 4 hours per week paid for admin, staff dont get paid for any non contact time or planning meetings etc.

[hali]

my staff get 1/2 hr per day for setting up and tidying away, none for work done at home, nor me

[Guest Wolfie]

I battled to allow my staff an afternoon a week (2.5 hours) non-contact time to complete their keyworker files, make resources, plan activities, meet with parents, etc.etc. but it sometimes couldn't happen due to staff sickness and they always accepted that if it happened. I didn't pay for any staff meetings outside working hours, I just provided a big bottle of wine and some chocolate!

 

I think, whether right or wrong, in the majority of childcare settings we rely a lot on the goodwill of the staff to put in extra hours needed unpaid - I was very lucky in that I had a very happy and committed team who put the care and education of the children before anything else, I still look back on it and realise how lucky I was!

[Helen]

Hi,

I pay my staff 15 mins to check the set-up in the morning, open fire exits, etc. Everyone gets half an hour at the end of the session to clean, wash up, and set up for the next day. Also, I pay for the staff to attend a 2 hour staff meeting each week, which could be a training session, time to talk about the children and complete their records, and of course, the weekly planning!

 

This year, I offered a £500 bonus as a "curriculum allowance" , where staff are responsible for certain areas, eg Maths, Circle time, Role Play and Creative Workshop. These four people lead the planning for their area at the staff meetings, and are responsible for the physical area in the nursery, the displays, and the photo-taking and scrapbooking of the children engaged in those activities. These form wonderful files for everyone to see the learning that goes on: great for Ofsted! Of course, this involves some work at home, and I felt I couldn't expect them to give their time for free. Mind you, it does mean that I don't earn as much as my staff now

[Guest MaryEMac]

I am in a smallish playgroup and I am paid for 3 1/2 hours per session. This covers setting up and locking up plus any paperwork that is needed every day. Another member of staff comes in with me at 8.30 and leaves at 11.30, the other 2 members of staff come in at 9 and work until 12. We have to get out and pack away each day as the room is used by an out of school group every afternoon. All staff are paid for staff meetings and I do claim up to 6 hours for work done at home per half term. Obviously like everyone else, I and my staff do loads more that we don't claim for.

 

Mary

[Guest]

Our Management Committee have just decided to try paying an extra hour's pay for each 12 hours worked p.w. This is in lieu of a pay rise per se; our rates were already quite a bit higher than others in the area. This is as much a gesture to acknowledge the extra time put in as anything else. I don't think we would ever be able to pay for all hours worked, at current levels of funding/fees.

[Guest]

It's so helpful to see what other do It does so much depend on the goodwill of staff doesn't it. How do you work the planning - are all staff involved or doe sit come down to the mager for most of you. I feel this is what the manager is expected to do but on the other hand the observations of all staff need to inform the planning.

peggy, your planning seems very responsive- is there any posted elsewhere on the site I can look at?

[Guest]

I pay my staff a sessional wage and they will get in about 20 to 25 mins before we start and leave about 15 mins after we finish. I purposely don't pay an hourly rate but a rate per session so that they are being paid for the whole time they are in.

 

My staff are brilliant and I must say they all do things at home for no extra pay. They can have time in the session to fill in our assessment sheets but they usually take them home to do when it is quiet.

 

We usually have our big staff meetings in the holidays as well and make it a sociable time ( I will have a bbq in the summer or drinkies in the winter).

 

In return for them taking things home we will treat them with bonuses and take them out to lunch or for a drink. It keeps morale high and I would hope that they feel valued. i love my team i think they are great and wouldn't swap them for the world. They work really hard for me and make a great place for us all to work. I think I am very lucky...