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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

How do you manage work with school hours ?

53 replies

LAURAMINIMAQ88 · 29/09/2020 21:09

Hi guys,
I am all new to this !
My daughter will be 3 in December 2020.
She just started preschool with opening hours of 9-3 like most of them do.
I work as a domestic cleaner now but I am due to go back to my previous job in January 2021 , I am an admin and have worked usual hours of 9:5 before having my daughter, I just realised that in January this will not work because my job require me to start at 9 and thats when I my child start preeschool too (my husband has a good job and he starts at 6am and unable to change due to earnings for now ) I think I should be ok for January as I can always change the preschool with a nursery who has early opening hours BUT once the reception starts she will have no other option than starting school at 9 and my question is : how do you manage with hours ? Most office, admin, banking jobs are 9-5 ? I am fine with picking up hours as my husband will do that anyway but I dont know what others do, is there a nanny to cover that extra hour ? Or a childminder who take children to school ? I am so confused.
It will be really hard for me to change my career to something completely different.
For now, the cleaning position is working fine for me but I dont want to do this for another 10 years until it will be legal for my daughter to walk to school on her own.
People look down on me as a cleaner and I am just very depressed right now, I dont know what to do....
I would like some advice from people who were in my position and had similar career and work hours
Any advice will be appreciated

OP posts:
Smallsteps88 · 29/09/2020 21:34

My jobs 9-5.

mammmamia · 29/09/2020 21:37

As others have said there are some childcare options. But you could also try to work flexibly. For example move to a 4 day week but work every day so you can leave early to pick up.
I work in a senior role in the city and I have worked 3 full days and 2 half days for years to allow me to pick up twice a week. For the other 3 days, we use after school club, grandparents or sometimes my DH does it but he travels a lot. This was all pre Covid though. Now, after school clubs are not running like before and grandparents are shielding so not an option, but we are working from home so not a big deal to drop and collect.

Gillian1980 · 29/09/2020 21:43

I work 3 days 9-5, husband works 5 days 9-5 but can Both use flexi time.

We live next door to school so usually one of us does drop off and starts work after that. If we both have 9am meetings then we use breakfast club which is £7.50 per morning.

On my 3 working days we use after school
Club which is 12.50 per day until 6pm.

It can get expensive! Nursery for our son is £57 per day, so if we have to use breakfast and after school club it’s a total of £77 for the childcare that day.

Smallsteps88 · 29/09/2020 21:46

If we both have 9am meetings then we use breakfast club which is £7.50 per morning.

Shock

How is it so expensive?

Bbang · 29/09/2020 21:46

I use a childminder for all three of mine 8-6pm days. Expensive but worth it.

Eminybob · 29/09/2020 21:59

If it’s an admin role is it possible to work from home? (seeing as Boris wants us to again now)
I do now and it’s easy to be flexible, drop off and pick up from school, it just means ds1 has to amuse himself for a couple of hours when we’re back from school while I finish work. Ds2 is in nursery all day do I don’t need to worry about him.

Tohaveandtohold · 29/09/2020 22:00

You need to look at what each school offers when considering your choices. We chose for DD’s school mainly because of the wraparound care because then I was working 9-5 (I now work 9-3).The breakfast and after school club was held in the school but run a third party company so a bit more expensive.
But there are some childminders who live close to schools who you can drop your child off with in the morning and they take them to and from school as needed. If you look on the childcare website, you can see a lot of childminders with information about the schools they drop off/pick up from and then you can contact them to go on their waiting lists as they are always over subscribed

Rosie2000 · 29/09/2020 22:01

I sent my children to a primary school in the local town near my workplace rather than the local village school as there was breakfast/after school club. Village school offers neither. It’s £2 for breakfast club, £5 per hour after school club. Needs to be prebooked online, still running with restricted places at present thank goodness.

FelicityBob · 29/09/2020 22:24

@Gillian1980

I work 3 days 9-5, husband works 5 days 9-5 but can Both use flexi time.

We live next door to school so usually one of us does drop off and starts work after that. If we both have 9am meetings then we use breakfast club which is £7.50 per morning.

On my 3 working days we use after school
Club which is 12.50 per day until 6pm.

It can get expensive! Nursery for our son is £57 per day, so if we have to use breakfast and after school club it’s a total of £77 for the childcare that day.

£7.50 for breakfast club?? Do they get smoked salmon? Ours is free!
Looneytune253 · 30/09/2020 07:20

Childminder/ breakfast club. Check your top schools out for those now as you may need to think about which ones to apply for. Will dad be finished work in time to pick up if he starts at 6?

Mycatismadeofstringcheese · 30/09/2020 07:31

Has she already been allocated a school at age 3?
How many schools are there near you? They don’t all start at 9.00. Ours used to start at 8.50, and since Covid now starts at 8.40.
So worth checking if there are other school options before you apply.

Also many employers support flexitime. Obviously not all, but if you can be clear about how you would deliver your hours many will consider earlier or later start times.

user1493413286 · 30/09/2020 07:36

I’m hoping to use the after school club or a childminder if not.

ellentree · 30/09/2020 07:59

No breakfast club here but we drop off at 8:40. I negotiated a flexible start time. I'm part time so I finish early some days and use after school club when we are both at work all day. My husband also has one day a week flexi time where he can collect.

In the past we have also used a childminder too for before and after pre school when they were too young for after school club.

formerbabe · 30/09/2020 08:15

Saying this in the nicest possible way but I'm genuinely baffled that you've only just wondered about this. Surely you must have known this prior to having a child? It can't be a surprise. Anyway, wrap around care...I'm sure the school will have a website that will give you information about breakfast and after school clubs. You can also google childminders in your area, and see if any do pick ups from your dcs school. Child minders may or may not do holiday care...but there will be holiday camps during school holidays or you and your dh take annual leave to cover that time.

Ratatcat · 30/09/2020 08:23

You need to check at your local schools as they can be very different. My school provides morning club from 7.45 for £4.5 and then 3-6 for £12. The school in the village next door has nothing. One of my friends is at a large 3 form entry school where there are a max number of 30 places. She won’t be able to get her child in until year 3 because of the way the waiting list works. She has been utterly shafted by the crap provision at her school.

You also have to be aware that lots of schools do staggered starts for reception where the do half days or one day on m/one day off for a few weeks. We had to plan our leave a year in advance to make sure we had it covered.

Phineyj · 30/09/2020 08:34

We used a nursery that was lovely and also close to the relevant motorway junction! We then chose the school because it had wraparound and used their breakfast and after school club for years. We did not apply to schools that had no breakfast club or where it started at 8am. We have used an hoc breakfast babysitter when we have needed to drop off before 7.30 (the adult son of a friend) and are now using an after school nanny who we found through an agency. Try thinking about this differently - the education needs to fit with your work and commute rather than vice versa! Also it is frankly a lot easier when your DH takes an equal part.

People who pay pennies or nothing for breakfast club must be aware that that means it's subsidised by someone? The staff still have to be paid for (and the breakfast!)

Gillian1980 · 30/09/2020 09:58

@FelicityBob @Smallsteps88
I know, it’s super expensive. It’s a set rate from 07:30 to 09:00 regardless of what time you need it from.
We avoid using it unless absolutely necessary.

FelicityBob · 30/09/2020 10:01

@Phineyj

We used a nursery that was lovely and also close to the relevant motorway junction! We then chose the school because it had wraparound and used their breakfast and after school club for years. We did not apply to schools that had no breakfast club or where it started at 8am. We have used an hoc breakfast babysitter when we have needed to drop off before 7.30 (the adult son of a friend) and are now using an after school nanny who we found through an agency. Try thinking about this differently - the education needs to fit with your work and commute rather than vice versa! Also it is frankly a lot easier when your DH takes an equal part.

People who pay pennies or nothing for breakfast club must be aware that that means it's subsidised by someone? The staff still have to be paid for (and the breakfast!)

Absolutely, I’d be happy to pay for it, I was really surprised to find there’s no charge for it
Smallsteps88 · 30/09/2020 10:06

People who pay pennies or nothing for breakfast club must be aware that that means it's subsidised by someone?

Umm, yes. Why wouldn’t we be aware?

Phineyj · 30/09/2020 10:39

Well, if it's free then be grateful I guess. Because this kind of provision is very uneven around the country and even from one school to the next. And if the club is subsidised, that's generally due to concerns some kids might not get breakfast otherwise, not to enable parents to get to work.

Pumpkinnose · 30/09/2020 10:45

Get on childminder/breakfast clubs list now!

I can’t believe one school has free breakfast club. What a waste of resource! Our school has an informal arrangement for those who are clearly on the breadline and need support but unless whole school is in dire poverty then free breakfast seems ridiculous! If i

Rosebel · 30/09/2020 11:05

Breakfast club and after school club are normal for most schools
However in my daughter's school you couldn't attend after school /breakfast club until after October half term but don't know if that's the same everywhere so I'd check.
There a few childminders who do school drop off and pick ups but ime these book up quickly so I'd start looking now. At least then you know it's sorted.

oldwhyno · 30/09/2020 11:37

It can be pretty hard when the school are "Covidiots" spacing both drop off and pick up for our two by 30 minutes. So much wasted time.

Taswama · 30/09/2020 13:55

Breakfast clubs are free in Wales I believe, paid for by the government as a way of making sure all kids have a healthy start to the day. If that supports working parents too then thats

Mellonsprite · 30/09/2020 13:58

A combination of grandma’s helping, before and afterschool club which was £18 per day per child, and staggering hours between me & DG.

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