Another childcare rant - how do people do it?!

[SMLSML]

If you and your partner both work how do you manage childcare? My eldest started school in September and prior to this we had wraparound care in nursery. We now use after school club, however this is committee led and we've just had an email saying it's at risk of closure due to not enough volunteers. If you don't use after school club how do families make it work? Do grandparents help 5 days a week? Honestly sick of this country not helping working parents 🫠 the irony of parents needing to be on the committee to keep it open when you're already busy working and juggling a million other school bits and pieces is hilarious to me also 😅 it's something I'd love to be part of but have no idea how if find time... Any and all advice welcome!

Do any Childminders cover the school? This was how we did it!

We had to change our working hours to accommodate because we don’t have any family to help out.

It’s frustrating but our children are our responsibility and it’s not up to the country to help us out.

We work opposite shifts. We do use grandparents very occasionally but on the whole juggle child care between us.

Im impressed with how much nursery funding is available now. We had no where near the level of funding offered now. It’s a shame it doesn’t continue once they start school.

Paid childcare. I've never heard of volunteer-led wraparound care.

The wraparound requiring volunteers is unusual - that seems to defeat the point slightly, given why people use wraparound care?

We pay, but it’s £35 a day, so expensive.

I agree the school day times are ridiculous when you work! The whole set up is from a different era.

There's a reason the birth rate has fallen through the floor. It's just too much hassle and too expensive to have children.

We used a local nursery who ran a pre and after school club, a childminder and then the school wrap around care club that also ran a holiday club.

There's no room at our wraparound and the 3 childminders in our town are permanently full. My parents do our wraparound, they live locally, are in their 60s and assure me they're happy and enjoy it but I feel guilty constantly!

I was a lone parent and had multiple part time jobs including wfh in an evening - it was the only way I could cope without help
The flexibility was the main thing and just had to struggle financially until DC were at high school

Mixture here of grandparents help (maybe once per fortnight so not loads) , paid for after school clubs, and I work from home flexibly

We can’t use after school club, so either:

• one of us finishes work to collect and then works later to make the time back (flexi work contracts)

• grandad goes, brings him home and manages snack/play etc until we finish work

We chose a school that had robust paid for wrap around care. Appreciate that’s not overly helpful, but if the after school care isn’t robust you’ll either have to pay for something else (childminder/nanny) or move to another school with a more reliable set up?

Have you spoken to the school or the loval
author about sufficient childcare places as there is finding for this to be set up in your area. There is quite a lot of funding to support!

iy is a nightmare for working parents. We used a childminder and we were v lucky to have one!!

I reduced my hours when I went back after DC2 so I could do all school drop offs and pick ups. Luckily the primary school started wraparound provision the year dc1 started school, staffed by TAs, so I was able to have a day off with dc2 and use that on other days.
No local family.

I gave up my job and became a SAHP… we had to cut our cloth accordingly, we didn’t buy the bigger house, we went without unnecessary holidays/expenditure, 2 cars down to 1 etc. More than back on our feet now the kids are older but my career has never recovered - although I don't hate that ‘this’ week when my daughter said how lovely it is to always have a parent at a school event!

People do lots of different things IME, as with holiday cover too, a patchwork.

We were in a position where we had both worked where we worked for several years and had roles where flex was not unreasonable. I moved to start at 7.30 and finish at 3, and DH switched a bit less dramatically to 9.30-6pm. So one did drop-off and one pick-up, 30 mins being enough time to drive home and walk up to school.

You need to plan ahead for it tbh, which is what people have to do.

Can you find a childminder who does after-school?

Can one or both of you wfh on alternate days? Can you tweak your hours as we did? Can you drop a day and do a trade with a friend?

We do use school wrap around care but it’s an external provider. It probably costs more then the school with in house wrap around but it’s a good system and well used so we don’t mind the cost.

One of the reasons I went for private school, it was cheaper than nursery including after school care costs, at the time none of the state primary schools local to me even had after school care. Could you look into hiring an after school babysitter? e.g. a responsible teenager / student or retired person who could collect and bring home?

Why did you choose that school with such vulnerable wraparound care? Most parents I know focus as much on the wraparound as they do the school because they need both to be a success for them to be able to work.

Given your daughter is still settling into school, I would move her to somewhere else now where you can guarantee that there is a breakfast and after school club available.

My two will be starting school next year and we don’t have any help. DP did a complete career change to a term time set up (sports coach after school) so he’ll be free in the mornings and I’ll have to deal with the afternoons. Luckily there is some flexibility in the work I do, but it’s still a headache. Otherwise, we’re fucked. I’m now truly understanding the importance of a “village”

My mum did it one day a week and the other 4 days it was me! I only worked one ‘normal’ working hours day per week. Had 1 day off per week and the other 3 I finished in time for school pick up. Now my youngest who is in year 5 I do 3 days pick up (1 day off and 2 early finish for school) and hubby does 1 and my mum does the other one. It’s a compete juggling nightmare. And that’s before you’ve even thought about the kids being ill and having to decide who has to take the day off. My hubby is self employed so if he doesn’t work he doesn’t get paid so it normally falls to me tbh.

We used flexitime and work from home Whoever was in the office dropped off, whoever was wfh started at about 6am and picked up. Occasionally if my husband had to be at a client all day I did both and then worked in the evening. My team is global though so working weird hours is equally as productive as regular ones even in terms of attending meetings/networking etc. Appreciate that’s relatively unusual. We also have grandparents that help and lots of friends happy to share

This was the only school in our even close area that offered wrap-around care for the days we needed 😅 it's honestly awful and to be honest the other schools weren't very good so wouldn't have picked them anyway 🥺 the whole thing is a minefield

You could employ a childminder to do pick ups and keep your child with them until you get home from work. That's what most people do.

Paid childcare. Seems very unusual to have childcare run on a voluntary basis and it clearly isn’t reliable for you. Many childminders do wraparound care for school age children