Which childcare solution would you recommend for me?

[Humphreythehamster]

Hi, I hope you don't mind me posting in this section but I am looking for advice on which type of childcare would be best for our family.

In September I am hoping to return to college to do an access course, we would need 2.5 days of childcare for our 2yo and school collection for our 7,8 and 9yo on the 3 afternoons. I looked at nursery for our youngest and ASC for the eldest 3 but it's horrifically expensive. As I wont be earning any money and DH is earning in the nasty pocket of too much for any TC or other help but not quite enough to do this easily, I would appreciate any help you can offer.

Would a CM/nanny share/live out au pair work? Also how do you find them?

If the nursery and ASC option was too expensive for you then so will a childminder. This is because we charge per child.

A nanny or nanny share sounds like the best option for you as they charge one hourly rate for the whole family.

Thanks Nick, do you have any suggestions on how to find one?

Total cost of having a nanny - read this thread as the cost will be quite a shock to you I expect. However you are not looking at 5 days per week, so the cost will be less.

I can't work out exactly what hours of childcare you are needing. I would suggest you do work that out before doing anything else.

So what days of the week, what start time, what finish time.
Then look at if it's all year round or only during some parts of the year. If only part of the year such as Term Time only, then it does create complications, such as with Annual Leave Calculation.

Consider practical things like Transport - how will a nanny get your children to and from school, assuming that would be part of their duties?

Consider what you will be able to pay someone. Take account of all the costs you can calculate (see the link earlier to costs of a nanny). That way you can decide upon a salary figure, which can then go in job ads.

Recruiting a nanny can be done initially online via job listings sites such as Childcare.co.uk, NannyJob.co.uk and Gumtree.com (not childcare dedicated).
The clearer the ad, the less timewasters you will get with luck. However you will need to go through applications and decide who to arrange to meet.

you can also try posted an ad on your local netmums page.

If you decide to go along the nanny route, I would get someone who is on the voluntary register for homechildcarers with Ofsted. That way you will know they are insured (Public Liability), are qualified, have an Enhanced CRB and a 2 day paediatric first-aid certificate (Ofsted are really strict about this, despite being in my 2nd year of paediatric nurse training and working for st john they still made me go on a course!). The other benefit is you can pay through salary sacrifice, vouchers or childcare tax credits effectively saving you a third off your outgoings.

Hope that helps

That way you will know they are insured (Public Liability), are qualified, have an Enhanced CRB and a 2 day paediatric first-aid certificate.

Ofsted does not insist on it being a 2 day (12 hour) course - that is however a requirement for Childminders. The course for a registered nanny can be shorter but does have to cover specific things as detailed in the guide to registration.
Don't assume a nanny has a suitable first aid course purely due to them being Ofsted registered - check the certificate yourself, as Ofsted has found that some people on the register do not have a valid certificate - example.

Ofsted registered nannies must have public liability insurance. However parents should ask to see evidence of it being in place as on some Ofsted inspections it has been picked up that registered nannies do not have it. Example (this one didn't have insurance or valid first aid)

The qualification required to be registered could be a distance learning course done over a short period of time. Whilst being better than nothing at all, it may not mean that they are qualified to a level which you might expect. So check qualification certificates yourself and ask about course content. Some people on Ofsted's register have been found to have no suitable training -example.

Just wanted to highlight that someone being registered by Ofsted does not mean that they meet all the requirements. Some do seem to get through the registration process, some may have met what Ofsted checked initially but have let things like liability insurance and first aid lapse. So when interviewing nannies, do check documents yourself, don't rely on Ofsted.

Thank yoiu all very much for all the advice, am trawling through all the info now :)

Note: links provided at Sun 29-May-11 22:29:48 no longer go to the correct place, due to some strange thing Ofsted do with their website.