Is wraparound care (lack of) stopping people working?

[DogDaysNeverEnd]

Following on the another thread where the op was asking about the cost of care. We're in the process of picking a school for reception in September. Both parents work and no family in the area so if we want to work we have to have wraparound. Work can be erratic so whilst it's possible to finish early some days there are others when it's definitely not.

So far 1 school has private provider for £22, another is in house for £14.25 and a third for £17. The first school said they will allocate sessions in July, but may not be able to offer all that we need and whatever we ask for will have to stay the same for the year. The second is fully flexible and can be booked weekly, with emergency cover available. The last one said, sorry, but they may not have any sessions available as there is a waiting list for every day and existing pupils get priority. They said lots of childminders have quit during Corona and this is the impact.

If we don't get in to the second school we cannot both work. Are we just unlucky or are other people having the same problem?

It is so variable. When picking ds school we had 2 that were great schools but one had a great before and after school provision (effectively 7.30-6) and was £11 total so we picked that school. They were also reasonably flexible week on week. However holiday care was brutal to arrange. There was nothing.

Thankfully he was in last year of primary during covid and I was on maternity leave because the clubs now are much less but cost much more.

I'm now back in ft employment but am already dreading when my daughter has to go to school rather than nursery.

Lots if people have this issue the other issue is if it states its a breakfast club universal credit won't always pay for it because its a "club" and they don't pay for clubs even though its just a name for paid for before school care

I'm really lucky in that my school provides wrap around from 7.30-5.30 and it is pretty cheap, I think the maximum per day is £7.80 but there are no childcare providers that pick up from school that are open past 5.30 and I work until 6pm some weeks.
Luckily I've negotiated to work from home on the days I'm stuck but before that I was so stressed not knowing what to do.

Theunamedcat flip that's really shite. There is no obvious justification for such a stupid distinction is there?

One of my friends couldn't work for 3 years when her eldest started school because of lack of wraparound and this was years before COVID. If you didn't register with a local childminder at birth, you were screwed.

Childminders round here tend to be full but the after school club has usually got space. Lots and lots of grandparents doing childcare though, a significant proportion.

Not at all the same but kind of related.

Child care in my town is bad. There's only 2 places that UC will help with and that will drop off and pick up from my DD's school.
Thet start at 8am one finishes at 6pm and the other at 5.30pm
I got offered a job I really wanted... But the hours were 9-6pm.. couldn't take it, couldn't finish at 6 and get back on time for pick up.
My job coach threatened to sanction me for not taking a job that's offered..

People with family members that help are very very lucky.

My children are older now but the childcare provider told me they could not take my child to school or nursery because the car they used was full. That plus the extortionate costs (no help from the state at all then) was the reason I packed in work.
The prices you quoted are very good by the way.

We have been very lucky to secure a slot for breakfast and after school club for our son but 7.45am till 5.30pm is not quite enough for us. Ideally it would be 7.30am till 6pm but I can't find anywhere that covers that for us so it's always a frantic dash, not having lunchbl breaks and sometimes having to call in grandparents (no clue what we would do without them)

@Theunamedcat

Lots if people have this issue the other issue is if it states its a breakfast club universal credit won't always pay for it because its a "club" and they don't pay for clubs even though its just a name for paid for before school care

It’s not because it’s called a club, it’s because it’s not Ofsted registered. Government help will only pay out for registered care. Same for tax free childcare.

The part that really grates is I know that women will be in the majority having to step away from work, because of the inequality triggered by mat leave and the early years. I thought I could best the system by retraining over the past few years but no, bitten on the arse just as I thought I'd made it.

Women, you can have it all (so long as you have an amazing family network, plenty of cash or an exceptional state system)!

It seems so variable - all the schools we looked at had breakfast and after school clubs (some in house, some external) and there's plenty of companies running holiday care (some no frills ones, some fancy language/drama/sport ones).

We've even got holiday club for the week before Christmas. Only £27 a day with vouchers.

(I'm in a city though)

I have 4 kids incl twins
I managed to negotiate a 9.30 start to allow me to drop
Off but didn't finish until 5.30
it was £60 per day for after school care for 2 hours for 4 of them.
Wasn't worth continuing by the time I had paid tax and childcare

I live in a mill town in quite a deprived area and though it was a while ago we never had issues. We used both the school and also a private nursery. We also had zero assistance from family as all hundreds of miles away.

But DH was fully on board and actually the one who had more flexibility at work and did drop offs all mornings for years. That’s what the main issue is that women take it all on, men don’t.

This is a real bugbear of mine. I believe schools should have to publish what wraparound they have, if any, be clear on what the chances are of getting a place and councils should have to include it on the 'Starting school in X' booklet. I was so worried about this that we ended up using a private school as they guaranteed 7.30 to 6pm for all ages. Therefore I was able to keep my teaching job (in a state school). The other thing I believe would help would be for applications for school places to happen further in advance - April to September isn't long enough.

If you look at the private sector they all include details of wraparound for primary (and transport for secondary) and you can apply well in advance - it shows what people actually want.

Yep, there's nothing at our village school and no childminders collect from there either so twice a week I have to collect my kids from school, drive them 15 mins to a childminder in the next village and then double-back to drive to work for the evening. I can't work normal office hours because I couldn't leave at 3pm to get the kids and take them to the childminder. It's a nightmare and although my eldest is in Year 6 he's still going to need collecting and looking after for a while due to SEN. I'm broke but feel quite trapped sometimes.

It wasnt the wrap around that did for us, it was the school holidays. No, Summer camp, 9.30-3 wont cut it!
So I quit for 5 years, and am now earning a third of my previous salary.

I’m an Ofsted registered, self employed nanny and only charge for the hours I work. I do earlies, lates, weekends, overnights, school dropoff, pickups and only charge per family not per child.

There aren’t many who do what I do, but its worth having a look and see if theres anyone in your area?

@NellieBertram

The justification they gave was its because its a club when challenged they went on to say its because food is included in the price and they don't pay for food

Its a school run wraparound care they are absolutely ofstead registered and as soon as they changed the name on the invoice it was deemed acceptable

My two youngest DC school has good wraparound care - 7am to 6pm five days a week including school holidays - it's contracted out to a private company and they rent a dedicated building from the school to run it in.

Before school is £4.80 for the first child and then £4 for each subsequent child, after school is £6 for the first child and £5.20 for subsequent children. School holidays are £25 a day for the first child and £20 for subsequent children, they open every day in the holidays except Christmas day, boxing day, and new years day. If I was to work three days a week (what I worked before giving up my job) then the childcare costs for these two would be £78 a week - that's term time and school holidays added up and divided by 52.

Older two DC's school has no wrap around care at all. Nothing before school, nothing after school, nothing in the holidays. Local childminder rate is £4 an hour so childcare for them for three days a week, averaged over the whole year would be £132 a week.

My total childcare bill for all four would be £210 a week. We'd get around £41 a week of help towards them according to a gov.uk childcare calculator.

This is all moot though because local childminders won't take 12yo DC because they're considered too old however I can't leave my 12yo home alone as he's autistic and needs supervision/support. I have another autistic DC too and neither of them can cope with childcare, it's a major reason why I had to give up my job because even the most understanding manager in the world can't have a staff member ducking out early at least once every week because their kid needs collecting from childcare "immediately please Mrs Hospedia" again as they're melting down and it's scaring the other children. There are very few childcare providers willing to take on a child with additional needs, let alone two, or who are able to properly meet their needs and those who can/do tend to charge more.

I started the thread about breakfast clubs. I'm lucky that my current employer have been really accommodating. I am co scoops though, that others who do my role in my team, are in the office before/by the start time every day, and I'm not. I leave on the dot to collect the DC.

I've campaigned the school fir wraparound care, and they gave come up with the offer of £5 per child for 40 minutes, and if the club isn't used it will stop. Having spoen to a Cople of friends who either pay £0 - £2.50 I was shocked at £5.

I just can't afford it. But nor can I afford not to work.

Also, covid went in my favour somewhat with being able to wfh. I van get hone and start work much sooner than if going into the office.

I've tried fir 2 yrs to find childminders who will collect from our school.

It is so variable, quite a few schools in my area offer no wraparound care or only a breakfast club. The ones who offer after school care are so popular.

Yes I think it probably does.

An old ex colleague was astounded at how much it was going to cost her. Always wondered why they didn’t look at that before having the kid.

The government Talk about post covid recovery and levelling up.

The most effective way they could do this would be to centrally fund high quality low cost to parents wrap around care that was really good and based on drama sport and free play. Not just tired teaching assistants and kids running around a hall. The clubs could be run in local youth clubs (so many now sitting empty without funds) adventure playgrounds and churches as well as schools

It would give a huge boost to the economy and would massively boost kids physical and mental health.