How much would this cost and would anyone do it? (Nanny)

[lougle]

I'd like to do a course next year. I have a slightly complicated home situation, so would need a Nanny.

I have 3 children. DD1 is 7 and has significant SN (goes to special school). DD2 is almost 6 and has possible SN but currently only family are noticing it. DD3 is 4 and has no SN of any sort.

I'd need:

-Nanny to arrive by 7am latest. Help children get ready for school.
-Escort DD1 to the end of the driveway at 8.20 to get on her school bus.
-Take DDs 2&3 to school (1.7 miles, rural) for a 9am start, in their own car.

They would then be free to do whatever they wanted throughout the day.

Afternoon:

-Pick DDs 2&3 up from school at 3.30.
-Return home to disembark DD1 from her bus (at the end of the drive again)
-Entertain children and possibly cook a simple meal.
-Look after them until 6.30.

I may not need them to do the same start every day, and I may not need them to finish at 6.30 each day - It would depend term by term.

I may need all day cover during holidays.

What's the likely cost of this for a nanny who could cope with DD1's needs (nice girl but attention issues and no sense of danger.)?

We also have a dog.

Before and Afterschool nannies exist, they may be able to do full time in school holidays. They may have a child of their own who comes to work with them - so something to consider.

What if school is shut, or a child is mildly ill and school send them home. What if DD1 refuses to get on the school bus? I have known children with SN who kick up such a fuss that the school transport won't take them. Has she ever done that, is it ever likely?

You could perhaps pay a higher hourly rate during term time and a bit lower hourly rate when it is all day care. You really need to consider who such a job would appeal to, who would take a job where they did not work say 9:30-2:30 and not be paid during that time.

Personally I would look at things based on the annual salary, total working hours over the year. If the annual salary was sufficient for what I need to earn, then I may well take such a job and spend time during the day at the health club/gym.

Could you come up with an annual salary you would be prepared to pay, then work out that would be typically based on expected working hours? When would nanny take their holiday? When would you as a family go on holiday, or stay at home and not need a nanny (such as Xmas, Easter). Nanny, even working part-time hours, builds up holiday entitlement which needs to be taken at some point. One way of sweetening the deal is to be generous on paid holiday, not just offering statutory minimum.

Well the course will fund up to 85% childcare, with a maximum of £255 per week. So that's my ceiling, really. £1000 per month, but that would have to include my employer's tax/NI.

As for holidays - there are 14 weeks off in the summer, 2 weeks at Christmas, a week at easter - so time that the nanny could take there.

Perhaps it would be better to do annualised hours? So the nanny would get the same pay per week, but have peaks and troughs over hours worked.

With regard school closure/child ill, it shouldn't make too much difference, because DH is home during school hours, in the main.

Also, my thoughts were that although 'core hours' would be as I stated above, on some terms I may only need 2 afternoons and 3 mornings covered each week, on others it may be 3 afternoons, 4 mornings, etc.

So, I thought that it might work to have that as the general agreement, but build up a 'bank' of hours for holidays?

Am I crazy?

You should be able to find someone, maybe look for an older person than your traditional nanny - more a granny perhaps?

I have someone who comes and helps me out flexibly as needed. She is an older lady and I pay her £9 per hour. She usually does about 20 hours a week for £180. I also pay her petrol for school pick ups. My children are a bit older than yours though and dont need much supervision.

Also, if your DH is home - cant he do it?

I don't think it will be easy to find

Having odd hours, part time some weeks , full time others means they can't find any other work. Most people end up paying full time hours ie 7am-6pm but this won't be possible on your budget...

When Is your dh home? Can he change hours and work in evening when home? In that case my suggestion would be an au pair for morning run with dh helping With school bus drop if needed. Then au pair in afternoon after school if dh is in house. Could your eldest stay at an after school club for a few days?

The main problem tbh is the £250 budget. That is bog standard gross pay and ni etc for 2 days max really

Sorry for confusion. My DH is home during school hours, but at work (full-time) before and after school - he's a caretaker. So he leaves the house at 06.45, comes home at 09.30, goes back out at 14.45 and returns at 18.20.

I would need the nanny to register with ofsted or it wouldn't count for the childcare grant.

It sounds like it wouldn't work then

I can't afford to top up beyond the grant. DH only earns £11k, so we really can't afford it.

I thought as much, but it was worth asking.

don't give up lougle! there might be a way round it - childminder? after/before school clubs?

The trouble is that DD1 is brought home from school on transport. County policy is that it will only deliver to home address. That really restricts our options.

I think you are talking about Childcare Grant from Student Finance.

Are you in England? If so, I think it is 85% of £300, so £255 but to get that you need to be meet the eligability criteria and if your DH works then his income will be taken into account.

Have a look through this board for comments from childminders about Childcare Grant / payments from college. It's not without problems, for example payment not being made on time. So if you were to do this you will need savings so that if the grant does not get paid to you by the time you need to pay the nanny, you have the funds to pay the nanny. Problem is, savings may be taken into account for the eligibility criteria for the grant, I do not know for sure but I suspect it might be. Find out all you can about this grant and establish if you would get the max amount.

Nannies are not approved care, unless they have registered with Ofsted (in England) or other regulators if in other countries plus there is different registration process in other countries.

So if I assume you are in England, you need an Ofsted registered nanny and you want them to work roughly 26 hours a week (26 as that gives a little overlap for things like arriving at school to collect on time) and pay £300 a week including taxation and payroll costs. So you may well be looking at offering less than £10 gross per hour.

Full time in school holidays would not happen in my view as it will push your budget way out. Maybe you could stick with 26 hours during college holidays but have an arrangement with the nanny that the hours are worked over say 3 days rather than five.

The varying of needing someone afternoons/mornings/different days adds to the complexity. It also makes the job a lot less desirable in my view. I really can not see who the job would appeal to. People tend to work because they need the income and need that to be regular rather than bits here, bits there. Just my view of course, you may get lucky and find someone it suits but I think it will limit your choice of applicants.

Might suit someone whose child attends the school, as they would live local and would be going to the school anyway. The 7am start time however may put them off as they would need to get themselves and their child/children to your home for that time. Plus you may not want someone who brings their own child to work with them.

X-posted there a bit, took a while to compose. Even if you get the full amount from student finance, you still need to pay £45 a week (300-255), least that's how I read the basic info I located online.

Thank you, nannyNick. I understand the £45 to pay.

My understanding of the rules is that to retain the care, you can continue to claim even if you aren't using care If you need to pay for your ' place'.

My logic was that if there was a 14 week summer holiday, the nanny would only be taking 3 as holiday ( presuming 2 weeks taken at Christmas and Easter). That would leave 11 x £300 = £3300 worth of hours which could be used at ' peaks'.

The combination of this, plus the fact that I wouldn't need 4.5 hours each and every day, would create the buffer for the ( rare) Times where I need extra.

If the nanny was paid her £250-300 each week regardless, it would all work out in the end.

I may be naive though. DH works 30 hours for £220, so the nanny would earn more than his income.

Well holiday time needs to be paid in full so that wouldn't work.

What time do you need to Leave in the morning? Could you leave later than 7am?

I would maybe look at before and after school care at school ie:7.45/8-9am, then after school until 6. If possible for younger two. Then maybe an au pair would work for eldest depending on his needs . Is someone just did 7.30-8.20 bus, then pick up from bus at home and had one-one with them.

But would rely on an extra spare room, and about £100 a week to au pair with extra food etc.

I would take a look at after school and childminder prices. And see what is the latest you can leave and get back.

What I meant is that if the nanny isn't required to do any hours for 11 weeks, they would still be paid the £250, but would be free to find other work if they wanted to.

then those hours could be ba nked for peak times.

What course are you doing? You may find that the lectures are not all compulsory and you don't need to attend all the really early ones and late ones, then maybe you could do after school only - which opens up your options slightly.

I've been doing a masters part time at city university and if I don't have late childcare in place,I just leave. Generally they'll be lecture notes given out and you can ask to take these.

You obviously can't do this for practically though - but you could always register with sitters and use them for emergencies if your dh wasn't available.

Lectures are posted up on the university intranet - it may be the same for you. But, before that was in place, I just used to swap notes with a colleague.

Hope it works out - it sounds as though you have a lot on your plate.

Lougle don't give up. Put ads everywhere (childcare.co.uk nanny jobs etc) you just never know when an 'odd job' is going to suit someone.

I have a friend who would definitely have done this for you before she got the job she has now (if she lived near you of course!).

You aren't going to be flooded with applicants, that's a given, but you only need one perfect person don't you!!

Oh and I would only pay for the hours worked, as they are worked. Paying a fixed monthy (weekly - whatever) rate is a nightmare when it comes to one of you ending it. I'd avoid it like the plague myself.

Thank you both

The course is Speech and Language Therapy.

They have lectures from several different disciplines, so I'd have to see how it worked out.

You're right about lectures and I used to do that at university last time I was there...I just don't want to waste the opportunity either. I'm sure I'd calm down once I'd started though.