Mouseketeer

Hi Fm, it’s all become such a headache, we have always let funded chn use all hours we are open so no ‘artificial’ break as it’s now being referred as, I would shift your lunch time to either beginning or end of session as Erin said and hope parents don’t choose to drop off late or collect early. We are going to be affected more by the ‘must allow parents to use their funded hours only’, we follow the school times whose site we run on for safeguarding the gate is locked so we’d have to keep going back to collect late comers or early leavers at the gate, we offer a 2.5 days which is 0.5hrs to pay above 15 hrs, if they all decide they want to stick at 15 hrs that would be a big problem, I can see the only way to offer 15 hrs only is by doing 5x 3hrs am sessions that fit with our current morning session times, and hope that won’t be convenient so they keep paying the 0.5 hrs for 2.5 days 🤦‍♀️ hi and welcome to the forum Erin 😊

That’s a wrap, not the easiest school group we’ve ever had and a year of staffing problems so not sorry to see the back of it, but now have a mountain of admin to catch up on, I’m not even sure I remember what my job is anymore 🤷‍♀️ I dusted off the sewing machine when my little GDaughter arrived ….

Happy Weekend all 👋

Hello all, I don’t seem to make it in much lately, but like to catch up on what you’re all up to. I’m currently 56 hrs a week staffing down (including the recently appointed deputy) which as you can imagine in a small team is hell, I am far to old for this full time practitioner malarky, not sure how I’ve made it to half term,I think the committee think the admin fairies rock up and do my job overnight 😵‍💫…..if anyone fancies a bit of bank staffing 😉 Have a great week all x

Hi all, I hope everyone had a good Easter 🐣, I ate enough chocolate in a weekend to more than make up for the 40 days I’d given it up 🙈 I’m now nanna to a granddaughter (Chloe) all went well and quickly, (thanks for asking Sue), very excited to be able to knit/make girly things 💗

Wow Froglet! Well done in taking such a big decision, I wish you all the best with whatever comes next. Have a great weekend all, hopefully the weather isn’t too unkind. I’m impatiently waiting for our own little hatchling as new GC is due any day 🐣

The problem is you’re bombarded with so many emails now to read, action, sign up to, answer county surveys, get someone on this or that county training, funding updates, safeguarding partnership updates, EYA updates….….how many unpaid hours are spent reading, replying, actioning emails because you’d never have time at work 😔

First off they’ve updated funding guidance on how parents can use it, basically it’s all in favour of parents with no thought to providers sustainability….we can still ‘ask’ for a consumable fee but we have to drive home that’s it’s voluntary and give the option to bring all that we cover with it …..we all know parents won’t turn up with half the stuff requested, providers can no longer break the hours up e.g. charge a lunch time fee and have to be able to use only funded hours if that’s what they want, settings can no longer say they offer x amount of funded spaces and charge for the rest, all have to be available as funded, this all had to be in place by 1st Apr with no consultation and hardly any time to rework business models. Then they announced financial help for the rise in NI but only for school based settings, they already get a higher funding rate, the PVI sector isn’t included in this support 😠 Then they’ve announced their plan to open 300 nurseries in schools, actually putting in print that it will give ‘better standards of early years education for your little ones’ , another kick in the teeth for all the providers out there giving our little ones a great education 😡

Thanks Zigzag 🙌 If any of you are keeping up with the PVI sector bashing by the government this week you must be super pleased to be out of it all.

Hi Plin No sorry, it only popped I up in my inbox today from EYA….when 2025 🤷‍♀️ I’ve signed up to the toolkit, we think we do our bit but maybe there is more we could do.

Wonderful pics zigzag, you all look amazing! Thanks sunnyday 🤗

Hi All the weeks just seem to fly by, only 2 weeks to Easter hols for those counting down 🙌 bring it on, it’s been hard term, challenging behaviours, staff resignation (prob the best thing tbh), and now all this government BS over funding 😡 enjoy the weekend everyone 😊

Zigzag - That’s lovely news! Best wishes, my 1st grandson was 3 this week, just crazy and excited no 2 is due in a couple of months. sunnyday - CP has hit our setting too, must be the time of year What are my co-managers thinking of the DFE pushing the funding ‘must be free’ to parents …if all our parents decide not to pay the consumables fee it will cost us about 2.5k a term and on top the next pay increases just around the corner 😞 Have a good weekend all x

Hi, and welcome to the forum. we are term time too, I guess it would depend on your contracts really, but if we were sick in the holidays we wouldn’t get sick pay as we’re not contracted to work those closed weeks, if we’re on sick pay before a holiday it would stop during the holiday.

Thanks Louby, is this on the new EYA central site? I’ve never used them but thought I’d take a look as I need to update a couple of our policies.