F.A.O. Parents with children at pre-school

kleefarr

(I thought this should go in the school forum, but wasn't sure which section.)

Hi,

I have just been informed by my three year old son's school, that they are charging us for the 27th Dec.

I was puzzled by this, considering that it's during the Christmas break and asked why they were charging for a day when the school is closed for the Christmas break. I was told that it was the norm.

I think this is completely crazy. :eek:

I haven't had a chance to talk to any of the other parents about it yet, but wondered if anyone else had heard of this or whether anyone else is paying for days during Christmas when the school is closed? :mad:

Kevin

Kernel32

My son goes to a pre-school, we are in the states but the idea is the same. He goes three half days a week and if it happens that one of those days falls on a national holiday then we still have to pay. If he is sick and doesn't go in then we pay. If we have a snowstorm and the school is closed then we still have to pay. This is the norm. Teachers have to be paid for those days and the school have overheads for those days. If they didn't do that then you would simply see your rates increase.

In the beginning I felt a little ripped of by this. Then I realized that I do the same to my clients! I have employees I manage and when we estimate prices and rates for clients we have to take into account holidays and vacation time and account for them. That time gets spread over the client base and they pay for it. It's all part of normal day to day business.

kleefarr

Kernel32 wrote:

My son goes to a pre-school, we are in the states but the idea is the same. He goes three half days a week and if it happens that one of those days falls on a national holiday then we still have to pay. If he is sick and doesn't go in then we pay. If we have a snowstorm and the school is closed then we still have to pay. This is the norm. Teachers have to be paid for those days and the school have overheads for those days. If they didn't do that then you would simply see your rates increase.

In the beginning I felt a little ripped of by this. Then I realized that I do the same to my clients! I have employees I manage and when we estimate prices and rates for clients we have to take into account holidays and vacation time and account for them. That time gets spread over the client base and they pay for it. It's all part of normal day to day business.

A good point.

They are putting up the rates as well!

kleefarr

Actually, having still thought about it, it's still doesn't seem right.

Why are we being charged for just that one day of the Christmas break and not the others.

This warrants further investigation.

KdjaCL

Wow you pay for pre school, its free in our local primary school.




kdjac

Slutmonkey57b

Lucky you. Probably only applies if you have a child in the school though.

I can't imagine why the creche would be charging you for a day when they're not open by choice. I'd tell them if they want to be paid for the 27th they can open the doors and let the kids in.

hillybilly

December 27th is a Bank Holiday as Christmas day falls on a Sunday. They don't open St. Stephens Day so the 27th shouldn't be any different. I agree with Slutmonkey57b, if they want to get paid for the 27th let them open the doors and take the children in.

BigCon

Hang on a minute - the 25th and 26st are bank holidays (Sun and Mon).
Obviously the Sun b.h. is pushed to the Mon (as normal) and the Mon b.h is Tues (so you still get the two paid b.h. as if Christmas fell on a weekday...)
Perfectly normal and above board...

samanthacarter

My son montessori school is closing today and reopen on the 09th of January for the Christmas holidays and we never paid them during school holildays.

we only paid for bank holidays if it falls during a normal school week otherwise the school are not getting paid.