Struggling to find work in school hours

[denialsariver]

Any suggestions?

I have a little boy with autism and special needs. He attends mainstream school 8.30-3.15 through the week but there are no suitable wraparound care options as he requires 1-to-1 support. We’ve just moved house. In my previous town I worked at McDonalds and was able to easily do a few shifts every week during school hours. I’ve tried the McDs in my new town (tbh I assumed I’d be able to just easily transfer to them!) but they have different busy periods and peak times and only require evening and weekend help :(

Absolutely nowhere seems to have work that accommodates the hours I can do. Even busy supermarkets are needing more flexibility and availability than i can offer.

I’ve only really trawled online but wondered if anyone has any advice or suggestions, maybe I need to think outside the box a bit? I’m not too fussy about what sort of work. I’m claiming carers allowance in the meantime but would rather work for my own sanity and the fact that it works out better financially.

I do admin for local government, my department were very flexible about the hours I needed, so worth a look

Is training as a TA or a fetec childcare course an option.

Both are in short supply and offer school hours, especially crèches with a preschoolers classroom.

a lot of schools and nurseries offer 1-2 hours a day as a lunchtime supervisor. Nurseries may also have assistant roles that don’t require any qualifications. Especially around lunch and changeover times. Keep an eye out on the eteach recruitment site

As someone who works in a leadership role in a school and is involved in the recruitment of TA's....THANK YOU! My heart sinks every time I see a thread like this as I just know there will be multiple posts telling OP to become a TA. I understand that the suggestion is well meaning, but it's misguided. TA's are highly skilled, they are expected to run interventions in things like Speech and Language, SEMH and Fine Motor Skills, and work with children who have experienced significant trauma. They work with our most complex and challenging children. It's a physically and emotionally demanding role. It becomes obvious very quickly when someone has taken the job because they think the hours will be convenient, and they don't tend to last long, which isn't fair on the children.

Our TA's also do not work school hours, they start half an hour before the kids arrive and finish half an hour after they leave, and even if they have kids at the school they are expected to make arrangements as they are there to work not supervise their own children.

I would suggest looking for jobs in school catering or midday supervisor, also some school office roles are actually school hours but you would need admin experience.

Cleaning, TA, wfh customer support, dog walking/grooming
child minding, nails (beauty)
Just some ideas that SAHMs I know did

Self employed cleaner. Watch cleaning videos on YouTube and tiktok. Get public liability insurance (mine is about 6 a month) through Policy Bee. Advertise on your local Facebook groups and away you go! If you drive, you can bring your own equipment and charge more. I currently charge £18 per hour in Devon. If you use customers equipment then £16 per hour or more depending on area. Once you find the right clients it's a lovely job and I've made lifelong friends doing it.

I do 2 clients a day 9:30 to 11:30, then 12 to 2pm.

I was going to suggest the same thing. Good cleaners are in high demand and - in my experience - can name their price well above minimum wage.
The good ones can also be picky who and where they work, essentially vetting prospective clients before working for them. Hours are flexible too.
The few cleaners I have been involved with are far from Hilda Ogden stereotypes, instead they are smart young women, keeping a family together and earning good money whilst offering a service and friendship to people willing to pay for it.
Definitely do not look down your nose at cleaners ... the good ones are professionals in my opinion and their clients will pay accordingly.

My cleaner does two houses a day in school hours - i think - 3-4 days a week. I let her bring her 7yo DD with her during school hols as she plays with my DCs (i wfh so the kids playing together helps us both! ) or occupies herself with her own toys. My cleaner has said that her other clients are fine with her DD tagging along in school hols as they are often out during her work and she is good as gold.
It's completely flexible, and you can set your own hours. Also if her DD is poorly then either her mum helps out with childcare or we just rearrange for another day.
Getting the right clients is key as myself and her other clients are all really supportive (she is a single parent too)

x post three times there!

Mumsnet moderator?

Try being a dinner lady they usually work from elevenish till around 2.30pm. Thats what I did when my two youngest were at primary school

@neverbeenskiing
Thankyou also for your support of underestimated damn good TA's
I work bloody hard in my SEN role and certainly studied hard to get as many qualifications as possible.

Only joking. How are you with animals and can you have any in your home preferably longer than 3.15?

My dog minder employs people to cat sit. People have elderly and unwell, or more than one cat and it's easier to have someone pop in for an hour a day, spend time with them and make sure they have some human contact, give meds etc.

Dogs are fairly well cared for in the market but small furries like hamsters, guinea pigs, snakes (eek) etc are harder to find.

Surely you need to be at work before and after the pupils are though? Which means you need wraparound?

(School admin myself).

What about retail? It’s usually part time hours. I work in a warehouse, which I enjoy. I only started when kids were small, looked for something in school hours. Working 9-1 Monday - Friday. Now 8 years later, still there. But have dropped my Friday. Doing 16 hours per week.

Working in school kitchens doing meals

Could you set up a business/be an entrepreneur or freelance at something? Then you can work the hours that suit you

Look at your local council and housing associations careers pages too. They have lots of entry level jobs that are eusually available to ask for home working and part time.

Finance Officer - taking receipt of emailed invoices and uploading them into a system for budget holders to check and approve

Housing Assistant - filing tenancy agreements, sending garden notices, taking in keys for departing tenants

Community Staff - visits to shelter accomodations to do welfare type pop ins, youth and elderly engagement sessions,

Jobs Scheduler - wfh usually, calling tenants to book in their gas safety checks, sort out hotels if they need to leave their home while a new kitchen is installed etc.

Exam Invigilator in secondsry school. There is a missive shortage. It isn’t every week but if you signed up with 2 schools you could pick up work all year round.

FE college? They have a variety of jobs some of which are term time only.

Secondary schools often have more admin staff than primary so more likely to have 9:30-2:30 roles. Worth looking on all the school websites.

also the catering staff at the schools - look to see which companies all the local schools use for catering and then check their websites directly.

hotel maid - they always employ and the majority want you ending your shift by 3

Yes but weekdays they want you in at 7am.

I work in school kitchen 20 hours but there are lots of vacancies ranging from 10-30 hours where I am from. The jobs here are posted on the local council vacancies website.