laura

It's certainly a job! I'm spending the evening doing the registers for next week, I then pass to my sister (we run the nursery together), who counts the numbers and does the staffing. We have just started using a new management software program and the developers are looking at the grid we use and are going to try to replicate it for us to save the counting as it took 4 hours this week!

I'm lucky that we have flexible staff and bank staff that come in as and when.

If you do charge for the whole week, you could always say to them that on the days they don't push you over ratio you wouldn't charge them as you wouldn't need to get an extra staff member in? or perhaps half fees?

It's something we've been considering... we have decided to ask for snack at 50p per week or they bring their own which quite a lot do anyway.

I'm also going to start charging 50p for breakfast, for all children.

I've lost nearly £40,000 due to the funding this academic year, we get £3.52 and currently charge £4.20 an hour, rising to £4.40 in September. I need to start charging for something....

We do fundraise at Christmas and Summer, we have two fayres and raise about £1000 at each, but I have amazing staff that are willing to give up their time to help us. They are popular events and it's a great way to engage with parents

We are quite a unique setting in that we offer shift patterns to about 30 families. We only charge for the sessions they do on a week to week basis. It isn't easy, but it sets us apart from other local settings and parents like our flexibility. We also charge by the hour, and break that hour down into 15 minutes! Fridays are spent sorting rotas for the following week as some parents don't know their hours until then, which is tricky, but most have a set pattern, although that could be fortnightly, 3 weekly or monthly so no week is ever the same!

we use this one

http://janitorialsupplies.co.uk/katrin-system-towel-dispenser.html?gclid=CjwKEAjw-ZqrBRDt_KjhjcbzhhISJAAlRGvlP7T6xOiaOfhWBvHfj086vU6gNb3Y_66UMb6w30S6cRoC1JDw_wcB

the paper towels are on a roll, our two year olds don't have any problems pulling it and it tears straight off leaving the next one there.

we were like you, taking photos of different paper towel and toilet roll dispensers!

Help! I need a song about big and small for our assembly. I can't think of one and I've searched online for one but they are all a bit Americanised.

We're doing when Goldilocks went to the house of the bears, and a growing up song, but I've been asked to find one just about big and small - has anyone got an amazing song !?

thank you!

Thinking of you all. Like Pimms it has taken me a while to post as we are coming up to our 11 year anniversary of our little boy. I think about him every day. Sending you gentle hugs xxx

Hope you are feeling better today Cheryl, I can't sleep either as have also had an issue with a parent, who on her own facebook page put we were incompetent... my sister is friends with her... the reason why.. her daughter had worn a white dress and it got dirty as we were outside (it was raining, parents are told we go out in all weathers, reminder in Februarys newsletter...) she also thinks we can't control the children as we have a child with severe behaviour issues, many underlying problems that I can't disclose to her.. but we are doing everything we can, says her daughter is scared etc etc I feel on the verge of tears today.. hopefully meeting on Monday to discuss things but she hasn't replied to my letter.. so not looking forward to it.

_{i rang today as we haven't had ours, i was also told they had no record of us! we always get the tokens! I was told to email and hopefully they'll send them to us}

We are looking to appoint an experienced level 3 (or higher) to work in our busy nursery, starting March/April.

The position is full time and is for our rising 3 and 3 year old room.

Please email preschoolbusybees@googlemail.com

we use toddlenomics, after a tricky 4 months we have ironed out all the little glitches and we have an amazing bespoke system to suit our setting. They couldn't be more helpful, even answering my emails at weekends and once they gave me a ring on a sunday to help me sort out a problem.

well done!

We have got 4 in our preschool room who are in nappies. Today, one of them got poo everywhere!!! He likes to put his hands in his nappy and wipe it all over, it was awful. Mum just doesn't seem bothered..... All of them seem to have no idea they have done anything...

what do you put on the open page and what on the closed please?

Hi, on the open page we have a sort of blog, we post photos each week of the things we've been up to in each room, no faces, just activities or hands and feet! We also put up messages for events.

On the closed page, it's more of a message board, for parents to ask questions, and for us to put up reminders.

This is the link to our open page if you want to have a look https://www.facebook.com/busybeesbourneltd

no discount for us either, but like someone else said, if we ask them to work extra we don't charge. It is unfair to other staff as they are effectively being paid more. I had a lady come for an interview that had 2 under 2's and she was receiving FREE childcare at the nursery she worked at! how they managed that on a 1:3 ratio I don't know...

We do newsletters and also use facebook, we have a closed group and and open group. Facebook works well for us but there will always be those parents that don't read things properly. I've had 2 parents email me this week saying their children wouldn't be in... ermmm we are closed, it's been in 3 newsletters and an individual letter sent to everyone who is all year round plus facebook... I wonder how many turned up ....

I always find it frustrating that childminders can have more children if the children are over the age of 8, a childminder I see at school regularly has 6 to 8 children, including 3 under 5's....

So... I'm extremely stressed at the moment, so much to do, so little time to do it - nothing new there then! Not helped by bugs in the invoicing system we use that have delayed bills going out and I now need to redo...

Anyway I was showing round a new family who were concerned that their child loved her old nursery and would she settle at ours. I said that we get lots of new children join us through the year and pointed out a child who has just started but was surrounded by friends and said that the parents had said the same thing but they were thrilled with how she settled. The father turned to her and said 'Do you like Busy Bees?' and she replied ' I don't like it (heart in mouth!) I LOVE it!' - phew, best advert ever!

Oh froglet! Good luck for tomorrow xxx

We've had to pay this time too, not as much as that but i do begrudge it when it is a necessity! I've also got to pay for managers briefings and the choice of venues is atrocious this term.

This is on top of losing thousands of pounds (9 and a half to be precise) with our 70 funded children this term..... and we are the cheapest provider in the area.... sigh... feeling despondent tonight, good thing i love my job!

We use a company called 'Green bottoms'. They come and collect the nappies which we bag up and put in a yellow bin. they are then taken away to be recycled rather than go to landfill. Our parents like this. We have to pay for it per bag, but we can cram a lot in! It's another USP for our business

I just wanted to update you on our experience with Toddlenomics. I can't praise them highly enough! It's taken about 2 weeks to set up with toddlenomics and get it tweaked to our requirements and for us to then add the children. The help and support is excellent. I emailed them on Saturday not expecting to get a reply, but I did and they then rang me to talk me through what I needed to do. We went 'live' yesterday, we bought each room an ipad, but it can be done on any tablet or computer, (my excuse was we needed them for tapestry too!), staff have quickly got to grips with using the register and how to add extra sessions.

We are very pleased and I can't wait to do the bills at a touch of a button at the end of the month!!!

It's on my to do list! we have a photo of the key person and then laminate little pictures with the children's name on round the picture. The key person can choose the picture so one person likes dragons so all the names are on dragons etc

Ugh, we have interviewed this week for 1 full time position and 1 part time, had 5 candidates, one didn't turn up, we offered the 2 posts. The part time accepted, the full time neglected to tell us that she had 2 other interviews to go to and wants to go to them, so a week later we will still be waiting to see if she accepts our job or not. Otherwise it's back to the drawing board... i'm on holiday... need to have enough time for them to hand their notice in to start with us... we'll be left short staffed - wonderful! I'm going away to be less stressed!!!

the 53p won't bring up what we receive to our hourly rate, from September we lose 68p per hour and we only charge 4.20 an hour

How are we going to be able to show that the money has made a difference.... ermm well we shall just continue with our excellence practice and target those children which we already do....

Wow the hourly rate equates to 53p per child per funded hour... goodness me what shall we do with all that money....