calling CM - term time only, during school hours

[Strix]

I am just wondering if you this is something that would be of interest to a childminder, or if you would laugh at me.

I am trying to reduce my commitment to the greedy taxman; and am therefore pondering the idea of an au pair / childminder combination rather than a full time nanny.

I have:
DD aged 8 (or will be when I go back to work in March), full time school
DS1 aged (almost) 6, full time school.
DS2 aged 3 months in March.

So, I have just dropped from full time live in nanny to au pair for this term. In a few weeks, I begin maternity leave, when I won't have any childcare. So, when I go back to work (full time) in March, I am thinking of the following arrangement:

Live in au pair to get all three kids ready in the morning and get them to the school gate for 8:45. Pass baby to childminder, who would work:

term time only
8:45 - 3:15
I will not pay for her hols or sick leave or any other time she is not available for work.
I will pay 100% for any time we are on hols, bbaby sick, or any other reason we don't don't show up. I would like to define term time by the school calendar.

I would obviously need to find a childminder who looks after school aged kids and drops them at the school gate. So, then (I'm hoping) she would have a vacancy for the duration of the school day and she could look after my baby and then pass him back to the au pair at the gate at the end of the school day.

So, is this too much faffing around? Do childminders prefer to have the school day free? Or might I find someone who would agree to term time only, school hours only?

Honest opinions please! If I am dreaming, please tell me so.

I thought I would advertise in the school newsletter/grapevine in about Feb. so as to target the childminders who already frequent the schoolgate.

i have children who do these hours term time only and i love it

have alot of before and after school children so to pick up baby/ drop off baby on playground suits me well

also have children holiday time only and this agains suits me

at the mo i have 14 children on my books some only do 1hr per day with me others do 2 days (its like a jigsaw) but it works for me and parents

with a baby term time only i charge quarter fees in the school hols but once they are at school ie before and after school only i dont charge in the hols

What would you do in school holidays? Might be a bit of a stretch for the au pair to cope with all 3 of them all day every day. But then that rather depends on the au pair...

Some CMs might do it but if I were a CM and I had an under-1 space in an area where there was demand then I'd prefer someone full-time 8-6 to fill that space up.

Oh, I didn't think about the fact that they will only have 1 under 1 space.

For school hols, I would play it be ear really. Either the au pair could have them all (for significantly increased pay of course) or I could put the older two into holiday camps and the baby maybe into creche/childminder/etc.

Any au pair I hire will have to be on the more responsible / mature end anyway as she may get overnights dropped on her. I would of course negotiate all this upfront.

We have an au pair now who is awaiting her first teaching placement in Germany. Just after she arrived ok athe day she arrived I was sent to Aberdeen for work so she was well and truly dropped in the overnight bucket. She was fab and it worked. But, normally, she is below the tax threshold and it saves me lots of £££.

I do this too! All the mindees I've had from tiny are now at school. Because I'm not prepared to let any long term children down, it has meant that I am full before and after school and holidays, leaving 3 9am - 3pm termtime only spaces available.
It does work well I've found as in holidays and after school we can do activities / outings that wouldn't be possible with a pushchair in tow.
I'm sure you can find a minder who will suit your needs.

I think you really just need to contact CMs and ask. I personally have no choice (dh been out of work for a year) but to work to the max and therefore have my maximum of 6 children under 8 every day. I have more than 6 throughout the day on certain days and so 2 of the mindees 'share' the day (one is here from 7.15am til school drop then another arrives at 9.30am for the rest of the day). Anyway, as long as I could fill the before and after school spaces with another mindee, I'd be happy. I'd say the au pair would need to be at the school gate BEFORE due and never late as obviously this could put the CM over her numbers. But sounds fine asking and I certainly wouldn't laugh at you :)

Hi Looney. Yes, of course I will have to contact childminders to see if any are interested. But, I just wanted to get a feel here first to see if I'm likely to hear that I am bonkers.

Oh, that wasn't a dig What I meant is that you won't be laughed at for asking but that we all may do it and that the CMs in your area may not so my opinion was it was a perfectly fine ask :) Good luck, hope someone can help you :)

Yes I would do it but I would also charge slightly more per hour than the going rate around here, I then offer adhoc care in the holidays. Ring round you should find a cm willing to do that.

The only thing I would add is that you might be more likely to get someone, or get someone you prefer, if you are not too inflexible about what you will and won't pay for. Childminders decide their own terms and conditions and you might find you would do better to listen to what they are prepared to offer, work out the figures and then decide, rather than rule people out who don't exactly fit the terms you have decided upon. When you work it out over a year you may be surprised to find that someone who for example charges half fees for your holiday and theirs or who has three days paid sick leave which they then don't take is actually less expensive overall.

oh, yes. I agree. The stuff I typed in OP were more of a wish list. I do accept that if everyone in the area has a stantard term in their contract, then I would regard it as normal market condition and probably agree to it.

I like the idea of the school hours, I am sure it would appeal to many.... Good luck.

As someone who is just starting on the route to becoming a CM, I would be very happy with term time only. Probably something to do with being a teacher previously and used to having school holidays but also because I would prefer holiday times to give my own Dc a break too.

I am thinking of not charging for school holidays if they don't use me , thus encouraging parents to take their own holidays at these times.

All but one of my current mindies are TTO and school hours only, in fact I usually collect them at school at 9am and return them there at 3.15. 2 of them have siblings in my children's classes which is how that started. I now charge a slightly higher rate for TTO chn rather than a holiday retainer as I find this easier. It works well for me as I have more time for my own children without detracting from the care of the mindies. I'm available on payg during the hols but that is rarely used.

Thanks everyone. I can see that it is not a wild out of this work proposition. As I don't need this childminder until mid March I think I'll put the word out round the school gate and do some local advertising around mid January.