Nursery fees while closed

[marypink]

Hello,

Just keen to understand what nurseries are doing these days in terms of fees while they're closed.

Our nursery is closed for key workers' children too and is asking for 60% of the fees, although committing to pay staff full pay.

I'd like to understand what all the rest of the nurseries are doing, please.

[ctovey]

My son is a key worker, so his daughter is still going to nursery. However, the nursery have said that if he doesn't have to send her on certain days, they will give a refund for those days.

[marypink]

Hi CTOVEY,

Thanks for your feedback. Would you mind me asking what nursery is that your niece goes to?

[ctovey]

Hi

Not sure of the name of the nursery, but its in Wilmington in Kent, so probably not much use to you if you're local and wanting a nursery place at the moment

[marypink]

Thanks, still relevant feedback.

I heard most of the local nurseries are charging from 0% to 20% fees, so I am keen to hear about it.

[dbboy]

You could also post in Family Room Discussion for a wider audience

[tarafitness]

Our nursery is asking for 20%, and kindly accepting more if people are able to pay.

[EDG]

I suspect we're the same nursery as ours is also 60% fees - I've heard no one else charging 60%. Not too happy about it. No reason given for the difference to others.

[Dulwichgirl82]

I think we are also the same nursery. Seems to be a significant outlier compared to the rest.

[scarlettbanks]

Mother goose have this, which seems reasonable to me. Must be very hard for nurseries too, and their staff need to be paid. I am still being paid for work, so still paying Mother Goose (even though children staying at home)

[marypink]

Thanks for the feedback.

Our nursery charging 60% is EDG (ex. Le Nid).

Dulwichgirl, EDG, is it the same nursery?

[Dulwichgirl82]

Yup!

[EDG]

Yup

[picmicnic]

Our nursery has yet to tell us what they expect us to pay. They were waiting to find out what the government and insurers would cover them for.

Given the governments commitment to pay 80% of staff wages - am not sure why the nursery would be asking us to pay any of their fees given they are providing none of the services? Unless I have misunderstood the governments commitment?

[marypink]

In this link under Funds you'll find the support the nurseries will get:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures

It might not get them to cover 100% of the cost, but surely more than 60%, which is what we are being expected to pay.

[picmicnic]

Just found out our nursery is charging us nothing (first steps)

[marypink]

Thanks for the feedback picmic!

EDG nursery has comeback saying they can instead charge people 55% instead of 60%, not a big change at all.

[worldwiser]

Our nursery hasn't yet advised although they say they hope to offer a substantial discount.

Please bear in mind that nurseries operate on a razor thin margin as it is, especially where many attendees qualify for 15 or even 30 hours 'free' childcare. In London the contribution the government makes is under the operating cost. If you want your nursery to still exist in a few months' time, pay them as much as you can afford.

[JickieC]

Do you want your nursery to be there or not when you go back to work?

[fishbiscuits]

worldwiser Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Please bear in mind that nurseries operate on a

> razor thin margin as it is, especially where many

> attendees qualify for 15 or even 30 hours 'free'

> childcare.

Yeah but surely many (most?) London nurseries don't really give you those hours of free childcare. My recollection from the nursery days is that they said they simply couldn't give children those free hours, because the govt funding is just nowhere near enough. So they just passed on an equivalent reduction.

But yes, I agree that the margins are thin when you consider the staff-to-child ratio, and assuming you're paying staff at least the London living wage.

[marypink]

Of course I don't want the nursery to close, and not because I would need them when I am back to work.

My point is simple. If the Government is paying for 80% of the employees' salaries, VAT payments are deferred, mortgages can be temporarily paused, can we have more transparency on why differently for most of the nurseries they still need to charge us this much while closed with little or no running costs?

Just to clarify I was more than happy to pay full fees when no help from the Government was made available in order for the staff to be paid and retained.

[worldwiser]

First of all 80% is not 100%. Nursery workers don't earn a huge amount to start with and some settings are topping up the government contribution. Rents and mortgages are not being underwritten, just postponed. Capital financing costs continue to accrue and will have to be covered eventually. Some workers are not covered by the furlough scheme - again our nursery is covering that.

Nurseries are required to give you 15 hours but not 30. And they only make the numbers work by the additional paid hours and the wealthy individuals around here who don't qualify for them and have to pay the lot.