After school clubs in Grammar schools

[Tinkers]

I'm guessing your child is in year 6?

If so work out how much more you need to pay in childcare fees, how much you currently have in your account and work out how much you need to put in. You should be able to adjust the amount you put in to make sure you aren't left with a big surplus.

In theory you should be able to get a refund minus the tax/NI, but they make this difficult I believe.

A lot of holiday clubs will take them though, you should find one that your child would like and will take them.

[ToadMum]

In theory you should be able to get a refund minus the tax/NI, but they make this difficult I believe.

To be fair, I don't think it's necessarily the voucher providers who make the difficulties - the employer's NI contributions are also affected by the salary sacrifice scheme, I think, so the refund process would presumably involve then as well? The person at mine who was desperate for me not to need a refund was helpfulness personified with absolutely everything else.

[Cup of tea]

I don't know how much you've got left in vouchers, but I was in the same position a couple of years ago. I requested the entire balance (it wasn't a massive amount, definitely under £40) to be paid to the school. Then I contacted the school and asked that they put it towards their fundraising project. There was nothing else I found to make use of them, so I was just pleased they got used!

[PurpleDuck]

Dear Parents,
Are there any after school or Breakfast clubs in Grammar schools? I have some unused childcare vouchers from my employer and not sure if I need to use them before my child is in Year 7? I have no clue what else I can do with these vouchers if I cannot make use of them this year. Please advise.

Thanks in advance.

We had some money left over in childcare vouchers two years ago and my husband (it was his account) managed to get it back, even though he had moved jobs. He contacted his previous employer's HR people and it took a few weeks but they did process the refund via their payroll and paid back the amount less the relevant tax and NI savings. It's true that many companies don't like the hassle of refunds but if you can come up with a 'lifestyle change' as a reason for not being able to use the vouchers (e.g. a child no longer in a primary school), I'd say it is worth trying to ask for a refund, you may well get it.

[tweet555]

We had some money left over in childcare vouchers two years ago and my husband (it was his account) managed to get it back, even though he had moved jobs. He contacted his previous employer's HR people and it took a few weeks but they did process the refund via their payroll and paid back the amount less the relevant tax and NI savings. It's true that many companies don't like the hassle of refunds but if you can come up with a 'lifestyle change' as a reason for not being able to use the vouchers (e.g. a child no longer in a primary school), I'd say it is worth trying to ask for a refund, you may well get it.

Thank you so much for your reply, I have contacted my previous employer but they said they cannot refund the amount as I am not on their payroll any longer as I left them couple of years back.

[tweet555]

I don't know how much you've got left in vouchers, but I was in the same position a couple of years ago. I requested the entire balance (it wasn't a massive amount, definitely under £40) to be paid to the school. Then I contacted the school and asked that they put it towards their fundraising project. There was nothing else I found to make use of them, so I was just pleased they got used!

Thank you for the advice, I will check with my DD school

[PurpleDuck]

Thank you so much for your reply, I have contacted my previous employer but they said they cannot refund the amount as I am not on their payroll any longer as I left them couple of years back.

That's a shame. Looks like it depends either on a company's policy or their good will (or lack of such). We were in a similar situation, DH was no longer on their payroll when he asked for a refund as he had left about 18 months earlier.

From what I've discovered, not many schools accept childcare vouchers for after school clubs (if at all) but you may be able to use them for half-term or summer holiday activities as there are providers who accept them. Supercamps are one of those, they offer a great range of activities and accept children up to 14 years old, I think. The only question is would your DC enjoy a day camp. My boys used to love Supercamps but I think it was in Y7 last time we used them. There are other companies and activities too, try googling something like 'out of term/holiday activities childcare vouchers'. I hope you find something useful. Good luck!

[foxgloves]

My son's grammar school has a long list of clubs on the website, but in practice there is virtually nothing after school as most have to get the school bus home. They have a few at lunch time.

I have also ended up with many spare childcare vouchers, and not many ways of using them, but they can be used at PGL, FunTech, Activate, Fit for Sport etc. Quite a few academic tutoring schools take them. You can also use them towards the boarding element of school fees at some fee-paying schools (but not all) until the age of 16.

[mike1880]

Once ours were at secondary we used them to pay for summer camps (in fact I stayed in the salary sacrifice scheme specifically for that) and eventually (once Supercamps et al seemed unecessary) PGL holidays. In the case of the latter though they could only be used for centres in England (not Wales iirc - and def not Scotland).

[avidskier]

I saved up around £1000 per year through the scheme and then sent both my children off for a week each year to PGL. I found they came back full of beans and new friends. Our older one went for 7 years running and is crushed that as a 17 year old she now has to wait until she is old enough to return as a Groupie (a leader).

It also gave my husband and me a week off each year to just be a couple for a change!
I felt like I was getting something for free through the voucher scheme..

You can use them for any Ofsted registered summer camp/day camp until they are 16. But not all camps are registered so you need to check (we struggled with some of the smaller one off camp providers such as local pony camps etc).