Childcare Options (Please help!)

I would find a nanny through an agency as they will be able to help you with contracts, payroll etc so you do everything legally. Tinies is a large national agency which will cover Glasgow.

As a previous poster mentioned, your 5 year old needs to be in education but that doesn't have to be a school, you can choose to home educate if your prefer.

Op- have a look/post here: Mumsnet>Talk>Scotsnet

Hi OP- it could be helpful to post on Scotsnet- you’d have plenty of advice from mumsnetters in the west end of Glasgow. There’s lots of childcare provision in the west end, but it’s in demand too so you might find yourself on a waitlist. For schools, Glasgow city council education dept can be called anytime, you don’t need to wait for the schools to return- just to get a guidance on P1 or 2 for your DC and an idea of available places in the west end schools, even though you can’t apply for places until resident. Maybe have a think about further out north or south of the city e.g. Southside- Shawlands or going into East Renfrewshire council areas or North like Bearsden, for example, both great places for families and easy enough travel to the uni- if you’re happy to travel. I knew a few families in the Southside with a nanny share arrangement- specifically to cover a later finish during the week.
Hope you can get sorted, childcare is always so stressful to sort- but on top of an international move you’re doing really well with finding headspace to try and sort it from afar. Good luck.

If you can afford a nanny that will be the easiest option, yes they will do school pick ups, you need to work out a full job description and on average hours cannot exceed 48 hours per week, and must exceed the minimum wage, you also must pay legally (that is deducting tax and ni) and you must offer a pension, companies like nanny pay can do this for you, or use an agency but they charge more. If you need advice on payroll there's a few mumsnetters including me who know the legal side. Finding a nanny outside of London isn't easy because there aren't many agencies, most people find them through word of mouth, local advertising (eg Nextdoor app, gumtree) etc. Best of luck

You got as far as being accepted before looking in to this?

To be fair this is always the situation when coming to UK as you need an address until you can register with school and until you know which school they are at it is difficult to arrange wrap around care.

Lots of kids start P1 at 5.5 in Scotland because of the cut off dates for birthdays in Feb. I don’t think joining school a few weeks late will be an issue.

I would also suggest registering with a GP is a better bet than the council as a staring point for school placement as you will get a health visitor who will have to help you establish the children in education and settling them in their new home. Y

I would probably just ‘home school’ the 5 year old for this year. Seems a lot of upheaval otherwise.

You need to register your eldest in school, find out which childminders cover that school and try and get a place for your kids. School starts quite soon in Scotland and they started a year ago so it will be a steep learning curve for your eldest if they haven't been to school yet. My dd missed a year of school due to living overseas and it was a rocky first half term

You got as far as being accepted before looking in to this?

If you’re on Facebook there are a couple of GLasgow centric women’s groups where there are often nannies posting or recommendations for nannies. To me that’s a better starting point than childcare.co.uk as you’ll get personal recommendations. I can DM you these groups if you like.

Depending on where you are from would it be possible to arrange at least for a few months to bring someone with you (say a late teen child of a friend/ relative) as an au pair say until Christmas, maybe with the youngest in a nursery a few days a week. They could help with the transition if language is an issue, having someone who speaks the same language.

Another option would be to find a regular childminder AND an occasional babysitter who will watch the kids when you have a late lecture- I used to do this kind of ad hoc work when I was an undergrad student and childcare.co.uk is a good place to look for them

Another thing to look into if you haven’t already would be whether you’re entitled to childcare grant, I’m not sure how it works for international students.

Is there any possibility of your children staying with your spouse until you can get everything sorted in Glasgow as it might not be as quick to sort everything out as you need it to be before your course starts?

Agree with pp nanny is the best option then, as most nurseries & childminders I'm aware of finish at 6pm.
I would phone the education department and get the ball rolling, even if you can't do anything until your in the country you'll know what you need to do when you are and can be more prepared.

I've used childcare.co.uk to find childminders and a nanny, really good site.

When do you start? What’s your timeframe for sorting this out?

8pm? The chances of you finding childcare other than a nanny open until then are almost nil. Even if you leave straight away potentially you’re not picking them up until 8.30. That’s very late for a child who has been at school all day.

What time do your evening classes finish? Most childminders finish at around 6:30 if not earlier.

Your best bet is probably going to be a live-our nanny. You’ll have more flexibility with times and they can help out with the school runs.

You need to crack on with sorting a school out for your 5 year old.

Where in Glasgow will you be staying, this is the first thing you need to decide/arrange.

I wouldn’t worry too much about timing as I expect your school age child will be accepted into Primary 1 even if that means joining a few weeks late.

The younger child is easier to accommodate as there will be childminders, nurseries and nannies aplenty, it will just be a case of finding one in your local area.

I’m happy to recommend some areas to live in around Glasgow if you don’t know where to start with that (from there myself).