[~~HappyMummy~~]

Hi, wondering your experiences please - is it normal for preschools to charge you from the start of the calendar year even if your child doesn't turn 3 until midyear (and therefore can't start until then). Eg: my daughter turns 3 next April and our local govt run preschool have told me I'll need to pay for one day a week from January to April even though she's too young to attend then. We can apparently make up the days once she has started - she can take the place of a child out sick or on holiday or whatever to make up the days

This will run into hundreds and hundreds of dollars. That's alot of money to literally just hold her place but I guess I'll have to wear it if it's the standard! (no rebates applicable for us either unfortunately!)

Thank you.

[caitiri]

Yes because it effectively means another child cannot attend during that time, in essence your paying fora space to be kept free.

Im pretty sure that at our you pay full fees from day one and i've never heard of being able to make up the days.

[bigglet]

Yes - you have to pay for the whole term to keep your place even though your child cannot attend. We have had this problem with kinders about this. Different kinder may have different policies - at one kinder we went to they allowed the parent to stay with the child until the child was 3 but at another they would not let them stay.

A friend of mine has a child that does not turn 3 until April 23 and had to pay for the whole term even though her child could not attend. It was about $390.

[~~HappyMummy~~]

Ok then - seems it's standard. I totally understand about holding the place etc. It will end up about $700 I think - $70 a day x 10 or so weeks. That's alot of money!! I hope we are able to make up at least some of the days :-)

Thank you!

This post has been edited by ~ jen ~: 29/03/2012, 05:18 PM

[GoneWithTheWhing...]

We didn't have to pay unless there was an enquiry about the place that we had 'reserved'. If another child was able to start before DD turned 3 then we would have had to pay for that place but as there wasn't we only started paying when she started.

One of the benefits in going to a local community pre school that only runs school hours in school terms I guess - not very helpful if parents have to work longer hours though.

[tibs]

Yes at ours you have to pay for the spot from the start of the year to guarantee a place when they turn 3. Otherwise you can chance it and stay on the waiting list - they always start the year with full classes and waiting lists though so you probably wouldn't get a spot in April. My son was 3 in August and he was sooooo keen to start preschool then but I obviously wasn't going to pay for a spot all the way to August especially as he was just past the 31 July cutoff and would have to do 3 year old preschool again the following year He ended up getting a spot at the start of term 4 around 2 months after he turned 3. I'd figured it all out for my second born though, she was born in January

[Julie3Girls]

Yep, it's to hold your space.

If you are not working, you could probably see if you could still attend preschool until she turns 3, you would just have to stay there as well.

[kel378]

Why don't you just wait till the year after. Let them know if someone drops out you will take their place otherwise I'd wait and start a full year.

[spersephone]

Yes, if you choose to start this year, you have to wait until your child is old enough. But in doing that, you're stopping someone else from taking that place, so it's only fair that you pay for that privilege, or the kinder doesn't get any money from anyone.

However, you can choose to wait and send them the following year, it's up to you.