What do people do when they only occasionally need after-school childcare?

[franch]

Mostly I manage to keep my work within school hours. Up till now, on the rare occasions when I can't pick the DDs (7 and 9) up, I've begged favours: a neighbour has brought them home or they've gone to a friend's house (and I've reciprocated at a later date). It's getting a little bit more frequent now so I'm looking into alternatives. What do others do?

(From Sept, they'll both be able to use after-school care at school till 5.45, which will help. They'll also get the school bus home, which will have its pros and cons.)

There are a couple of childminders in my area who will take children on an ad hoc basis and charge accordingly. Of course they may be already at capacity for the hours you require, but you could get a couple of phone numbers to try before moving on to friends, neighbours etc.

Thanks tumble. How do you get the kids to the childminders?

The childminder should collect them from school if you use a childminder or I have a boy starting who will get the school bus to mine.

Ah ok, that's worth knowing. I have zero experience of childminders - not sure if I know anyone who uses one. What's the best way to find a good one, other than word of mouth?

Childminders should collect from school.

Are your children at preschool or school? Some staff (around here generally preschool staff or ta) do afterschool care. They do need insurance, crb etc but might be worth asking?

School - they're 7 and 9.

You can look on the ofsted website I think and it will tell you childminders in the local area.

Look for your local FIS (families information service) website, maybe ask the school office which childminders pick up from there as you may find a few mums are childminders.

Sorry franch you did put their ages in your op. I guess I was just surprised that they couldn't use afterschool care yet.

Yes the younger one is Y2 - no after-school care available at school till Y3.

In any case there will be the odd occasion when I won't be able to pick them up by 5.45, so I need to have a plan for those days.

I'm a childminder & have a couple of ad hoc children on my books - I charge a slightly higher rate than regular children (50p/hr more per child) & parents usually text asking if I'm free - sometimes in advance sometimes very last minute if their regular arrangements fall through. I collect from school & give them a snack & tea depending when they are collected. I'd ask around at school for recommendations or just look on Childcare / FIS website for local CM's & contact them asking if they do ad hoc care - you might want to have a couple lined up as its not guaranteed business so they might not always have space.

Once your 7 year old has turned 8, you don't need a registered childminder. You could just use the same friends who have been doing you a favour, but pay them. Equally if they are in someone else's house for less than 2 hours then the childminder doesn't have to be registered, so you could pay a friend to pick them up from after school club and have them for an hour or so completely legally.

Thanks for all the advice, really helpful.