If you/both of you work, have you dropped all childcare once your children hit secondary school?

We have had a similar arrnagement to Mrs Wobble - nanny/housekeeper (a lady in her 60s) 3 afternoons a week. She used to collect DD2 & DS from primary school, then just DS, now she just comes in at 3.30 , does cleaning, laundry & cooks tea for the kids.

In the holidays, she used to come in & take them out for the day (away from computers)

DS is now in yr 9, DD2 in 6th form and DD1 is at uni. So in the holidays she generally only comes in one day to do housework & otherwise if DCs need to be driven to activities. We still use her termtime, but it is a luxury really, as DCs don't need supervision, so it's really meals that is the issue. However, they could either make themselves a sandwich or wait until we get home for meals. We will probably stop having her next year (& teach kids to cook).

goblin - was that during the school holidays as well with your DD from YR7?

It's a position I'm probably going to find myself in with DS1 and I have to confess despite already giving him some indepdence (going to the shop, walking to school, staying at home while I pop to the shop with his brothers) I'm already a little nervous of him being home alone for long periods when the time comes (got 2yrs to go before we get to that stage)

This will be my dilemma, so very interested in everyone's views, too.
I think we will need childcare, but she won't want to be 'babysat' with younger DC.

We got au pairs for this stage as our DCs were 5 years apart. We had 4 different au pauirs over 5 years. Worked well as we treated our au pairs like daughters. We do not live in a huge house but we managed.

This is a really tricky age. I work (roughly) school hours so no change termtime weekdays.

When eldest in Y7 & Y8 holiday childcare continued to be mix of holiday club (which continued to take dc's of this age, though there were fewer of them), grandparents and dh and I taking odd days off.

the past year (dd Y9, dsY6) was a nightmare. Both announced too old for holiday club. Grandparents getting older but stil having them for short periods. This summer I left dd in charge of ds for several days and I was not happy - arguments, sulking, boredom, house in a mess at end of day you name it. We both commute (1.5hrs away) so just can't pop back to check. DD resentful that she was not paid as apparently some of her friends are paid to look after younger siblings . Had words.

Now both Y10 and Y7. DH and I able to cover half term, christmas and poss feb half term, next crunch time will be easter hols and just hoping they have matured and learnt from experience.

I dropped it all when DH started teaching again. DD walked DS#2 home from primary and DH was home 30 mins after that. Now she's also in secondary DH picks DS#2 up from the school office a little late.

we changed our arrangements a few years ago from a daily nanny to a daily housekeeper (afternoons only) when our youngest was in yr 5. this worked because the school opened a breakfast club so we could do the drop off and one of the housekeepers responsibilities was to collect her from school.

this worked well for us because there is an adult in the house and the children get fed but we also get the cleaning and laundry done - neither of which were part of a nanny's job description. the children are old enough to sort themselves out on the whole and get their homework done etc.

yy norflondoner - I agree that having an adult around at the end of the school day would be important for a new Y7. This is when new routines are established which really help to shape the kind of experience students have at school.

again, depends on child

my parents trusted me alone in a hotel in a foreign city for a long weekedn at 16- and they were right to do so; but you could easily see how that decision could have been totally wrong for some families ....

and of course depends on what hours you work, how much you interact at other times, what influences they might be exposed to etc

my db and SIL let their 10yo leave after school club and stay at home in the afternoons (not in the UK) and it was totally the right thing for him- but might not have been for some other child

I agree it depends very much on the child. A number of parents with early teenage dc have also told me that they think it is very important that parents or some other adult is around alot as it seems that this is a critical age where things can start going wrong.

To me, that would depend on age and general circumstances of children. I kept dd at childminders for the first year of secondary as she is disabled; with ds we will stop the childminder arrangement when he goes up to secondary: he is less disabled than dd and she will be at hand to help him. If the question of disability had not come into it, I think we might have dropped the childminder for dd when she started secondary and for ds when he started yr 5 or 6: I am sure at 13, dd would have been fine looking after her 9/10yo brother- in fact, I did let them go into town together when they were both well enough; he doesn't require much looking after.

I've now got one in the first year of secondary and one in the top year of primary. The younger one will go to childcare as before this year. I sometimes leave her alone for an hour or two, but not for whole days.

The older one I would like some kind of supervision for, but I'm a bit stuck on that one and she will get left alone for the first time this half-term, for 3 days out of her two weeks. I'm taking 5 days leave to cover the rest (I work 4 days a week).

To be honest I think my older child is mature enough to be left alone, but will get bored if it's for days/weeks on end. And I don't fancy leaving them alone together very much - sibling fighting!

Are you thinking your 11 year old will take the place of a carer?
I kept what I had in place, but it wasn't costing me anything. DD was home alone from summer term Y7.
DS we kept up the arrangement through to Y9. His choice, he walks to his grandmother's house and then home when I'm back.