Advice: Organising before and after school care

[maisie12]

Anyone have any advice on how likely it is to find someone to come to your home at 7.30am to look after 4 yr old and drop off to school at 9 and pick them up again at 3.30 for home and prepare dinner + care till 6.30? 5 days per week.

Any advice on cost? Would we need to employ person as preference is for self employed.

We are investigating care options right now. If you have any advice or recommendations please let me know.

M

[Fuschia]

i think that would be quite difficult, you are talking about a nanny, but not for the full day.

You might be able to fit into a nannyshare that would suit, but a nanny isn't self employed.

Most usually people use a minder for these sort of hours, a minder is self employed (but works in their own home)

A minder is about ?40-45 per day

Good luck

[Jessie]

Hi there

I have a lovely woman who picks my son up for me 3 afternoons a week from Goose Green Primary school and brings him back to the flat/takes him to the park and then cooks him dinner. I pay her ?7 per hour and she is self employed - does lots of little childminding jobs as well as dance teaching - i think for this kind of arrangement work well for students looking to make some cash, and getting a CRB check isn't difficult to do. Hope this helps, and PM me if you want to ask any questions.

Jess

[womanofdulwich]

You just fit in to the au pair 25 hours a week - if you have room that will be the cheapest option- you could even link up with another class parent some days to subsidize the cost.

Otherwise it is hard to find people to do these hours- especially the morning one- is there any way you can start later and have longer care in the evenings? Start net working like crazy NOW.Especially at the school - ask the pta - look at their notice board etc. nose around the playground- especially if older children are leaving and their carers are looking for extra work.

[dulwichmum]

Hi maisie12,

We have an aupair for these exact hours. It is approximately ?70-?80 a week plus full board for 25 hours of childcare and up to two evenings of babysitting and weekends off. The hours you need allow free time for the aupair to attend school to study English during the day (if you have the room).

Check out aupair-world.net.

[Fliss]

Beware the au pair route. I'm looking at the same problem and giving up work seems to be the most cost-effective solution, to be honest.

[maisie12]

Many thanks all - I appreciate the advice. Am glad we have started exploring options early as it sounds like it's going to be a challenge. Unfortunately the au pair route is not an option right now as we aren't prepared to move house just yet to create the space. Jess, your lady sounds great - does she happen to know of anyone who might be able to help?

We should be able to omit the morning sessions once he can go to the breakfast club. Also, how does one do a crb check?

Thanks, May

[Fuschia]

Maisie, have you thought about flexible working for either you or your partner? Mabe taking it in turns to start work late?

What school will your son be going to?

[maisie12]

Hi there, flexible working will definitely be something we will be looking into. The unusual thing I'd that both of us are starting new roles in June and my husband has a 3 hour commute each day , whilst I work in the city, my role is a consulting one which can involve long hours! So you can see the dilemma. I'm sure it will all work out in the end. Just need to be clear on options. Thx May

[Fuschia]

what childcare do you use at present?

[legalalien]

The key question is what you plan to do during the school holidays - will you require full time care? There are a lot of them. If you do need full time care during the holidays then you are likely heading down the path of full time childcare all year around - maybe a nanny share arrangement? We were lucky enough to have a qualified nanny who brought her own baby along for school pick up / after school care, and was happy to have school holidays off.

[maisie12]

Hmm... at the moment we are using two different nurseries, which isnt ideal (and expensive). School holiday cover is another consideration - thanks for the reminder! I think we are going to have to sit down and brainstorm all options and look at flexibility, cost and of course, what is going to work the best for our son - all things considered.

[Fuschia]

if you want to avoid payroll issues, a minder, but your child will be at their house not yours

otherwise, a nannyshare

I think you will be very lucky to find a carer who will do just the hours you want, at your home. And though in theory you may think "surely this would suit a retired lady" these sort of peole are few and far between and students etc are likely to be unreliable.

Although both your jobs are new, I think you are going to need some flexibility. What school is your son going to?

[womanofdulwich]

IF you have 2 reception rooms could you make one into a bedroom for au pair short term? This is what one of our friends did - saved them ?150 a week and could afford a loft conversion the following year.