Worried about cost of childcare at school

[schoolfeewoes]

Prompted by a letter from DSs primary school - he starts reception in September.

We currently pay £1100 for 2 children in full time nursery. This is more than our mortgage but less than I earn (for context).

When DS goes to primary school we will have to pay MORE in childcare costs - £1300!

This is because we lose the sibling discount on the fees, meaning DDs fees go up £190 per month, before and after school club is £18 per day and holiday club is £30.

I've looked for a child minder but they are like rocking horse poo around here and charge similar amounts to the wraparound club, because they can (before and after school care is £15, holiday care is £35).

I can't believe we are going to have to pay more for our child to go to school!

Has anyone else found this?

Before anyone asks, no we have no family and friends who can drop off or pick up. Yes it is worth me (and/or DH) working, no, we cannot move our working hours - I have to be in work at 8.30 - 4.30 minimum and DH gets the train, if he is to get on the very busy train, he has to leave at 7.30.he gets home around 6.

I have taken in to account annual leave to cover some holidays and school pick ups.

Anyone else think this is bonkers?

£1100 for 2 children in full time nursery doesn't sound all that much unless I'm missing something? We would pay around that for 1 child full time.

Yep, childcare cost me more once school age. Especially after losing the free hours. It’s a nightmare. Try and make friends with a school parent and see if you can help each other out occasionally after school/holidays.

Isn't it the nursery childcare that is so expensive, not the school wraparound?

Have you looked recently into childminders? Some have closed their doors here following lockdown, but many have spaces due to peoples change of circumstance. When I was looking I posted on the local Facebook group and loads of people replied, I think checked out they were registered with Ofsted etc, so genuine, and visited a few- even though Google etc had hardly brought up any results. It sucks though doesn't it, people always seem to cite starting school as a wonderful time where they will be saving money on childcare fees, but unless you have a job that is less than school hours and only term time (very rare) it's still pricey. I do agree with a PP about finding another parent and seeing if you can help eachother out when needed maybe.

It's the fact that you get 30 hours free at the moment that will be making the difference. Think back to how much it was before your oldest DC was eligible ...that would be more than you are paying now.

Childcare is expensive, you have to be rich to be able to afford it, sorry can't say anything of better use.
A lot of families don't take a second income for this reason. Or, just take the loss of income until you don't need childcare anymore, at 11+

Could you have an au pair for the after school hours?

Can you take advantage of the tax free childcare scheme? That would save you 20% if you’re eligible.

wintertime6 the nursery do an excellent sibling discount of 12.5% off the total bill. It's also one of the (if not the) cheapest nurseries in the area. It also happens to be excellent. And DS gets 30 free hours. For DD the fees are £800 ish per month as she has no free hours.

DSs school childcare fees are £500 per month.

Noteventhebestdrummer would that be cheaper? Possibly once DD is also at school. Something to consider, definitely.

Thankfully we've got a good household income, it's definitely worth me working (plus I love my job and make a shit sahp).

I'm just do surprised at the cost!

Idontlookoldenough I'm not sure, currently I get child care vouchers but DH doesn't.

Have you split your and DH's holiday? We used to take a week together at Xmas and in the summer, then take 3 weeks separately each. PiL came up for one week each year, so we covered 9 of the 13 weeks of school holidays.

185 days of wrap around would still be 3330, but needing 5 (round it up to cover missing holiday for illness and school events) is 750. Averaging £340/month on your numbers.
Ours went down, but not as much as we we expecting.

That is hugely frustrating that you are paying more. It looks like you are paying an extra £190, which is the same as your sibling discount. So you are paying about the same for your son for similar (30 hours is roughly school hours) but no longer getting the sibling discount as they aren't in the same settings. Also childcare at school is much more complicated, so more of a headache to sort.

As an aside that sounds like a great price for an amazing nursery, but presumably it depends where you are in the country.

We take quite a lot of seperate days off in the summer so ds only goes to holiday club 3x a week and dh and I cover mondays and fridays. Dh had the chance to buy more holiday and I only work 4 days which helps.

Yes, it includes splitting mine and DHs holiday. Unfortunately because of my job I can't take much time off in school holidays.

Yes, school childcare much more of a headache- we have to block book breakfast and after school club each term so me having an odd day off here and there won't reduce the cost.

Also DS isn't in school full time for the first 4 weeks of term, so lots of holiday going on that!

Definitely use tax free childcare - it’s also much more flexible than the old voucher scheme.

But yes, childcare doesn’t get any cheaper when they get to school.

BendingSpoons it is a great price. I'm not sure how it's so cheap - we were paying £890 for DS at a nursery about 1.5 miles away 4 years ago.

I'm just looking in to tax free child care. I'm not sure how it works though or whether it would save us anymore?

The difference is that, unlike the vouchers which you can accrue and just sit there, you can take your money in and out at any time. And, unlike being a bit passed from pillar to post about how much you pay, it’s really easy to adjust amounts and then also to overpay into the account if you want to so you can add more in at a different time and then pay less later if you need to.

I think it’s the same saving but it is much more flexible.

It’s really simple though. You sign up, you pay your money in. The government adds in another 20% and then you pay your bill out of it. You get an allowance for each child. And then, if there’s any excess money in there you can either withdraw it or leave it in there and then use it at a later date. So, for example, pay £20 a month more than you need and then in December you can add in £220 less and your bill is still covered.

Thanks PotteringAlong

As pottering said once it’s set up the tax free scheme is really easy to use, if you already get 30hrs then you should be able to set it up on the same government account. The top up money gets added straight away so if you put £80 in it would get topped up to £100, the benefit is you’re in control of it all and can withdraw any money that is accrued.

Can you use any of your childcare vouchers towards breakfast club/after school club? I used most of the childcare vouchers for DS's nursery fees but use a small proportion to cover DD's after school club sessions.

I think Martin Lewis may have had a calculator to help you work out whether you’re better off with vouchers or tax free

You would get 20% off your total cost with tax free childcare.

That said, I would look into how you can both work flexibly. Dh is self employed and runs a very busy and successful business. I work away in London part of the week and work from home the rest of the time (obviously in normal times). We are both very busy with full time careers. We manage flexible working. It means we use no wraparound care at all. We only use holiday club maybe 7 weeks a year. I would honestly change jobs if they weren't open to flexible working. It's non-negotiable to me. Certainly, if it would save you that much each month.