Costs

[mademoiselleB]

I am based in North London(Barnet) , how much will such a service cost me for either scenario
School drop off at 08.45 so that the register can be taken at 09:00 School is approximately 1.2 miles away from home. School pick up at 15.00 back home. How much will this cost me per week?
School drop off at 08.45 so that the register can be taken at 09:00 School is approximately 1.2 miles away from home. School pick up at 15.00 back home stay with the child till 19.00. How much will this cost me per week?

How many children - just the one? What age?

Care at your home will be very costly, as it may be 1:1 care if you only have one child.

Would you consider taking your child/children to a nearby location in the morning and collecting them in the evening?

What time would someone need to be starting - is that the 08:45 at your home, or is that the time they really need to be aiming to get to school?
Is the 1.2 miles walkable - is there a footpath all the way? How long would that take in say the pouring rain of Winter - 20 minutes or so, possibly longer.

A quick google found me details that one childminder in Barnet charges... £6 per hour. No mention on their website of any minimum charge, so I would guess that you would be looking at £12 per day for just the school run.

A before and after school nanny could easily cost you £10+ per hour... so say morning 1 hour, plus 6 hours in the afternoon (though it could be more than 6 hours as the nanny would need to be at the school before 3pm I would expect), so could easily be £70+ per day, plus employers NI, plus mileage/expenses.

Do you think an aupar would be cheaper to have a live in aupair? If so what are the going rates she will drop the child off to school for 9 and she will be free till 3 when the child has to be picked up till 7, with some house work cleaning and ironing , its a two bed flat.

If you have an au pair, she will need to have her own bedroom. Doesn't sound like this is do-able if you only have a two bed flat, and you have a DC.

I am a single mum so she would have the second room to herself , i just do not know what to do whilst working full time and sorting out the childcare which is costing me a fortune

Well the au pair system worked well for us. An au pair lives in, and works about 25 hours a week. The actual cost in terms of payment is a lot less than a childminder would be (I'm not up to date with current costs, so best check), but the girl lives in, so benefits from food and lodging too (at no cost to her).

You're supposed to allow plenty of time for the AP to go to English classes (which doesn't seem to be a problem in your case).

They do childcare and light housework, but shouldn't work for more than about 25 hours total each week. They are also available for babysitting, as they live in. Childcare could include walking DCs to school, collecting them and looking after them until parents get home.

We had arrangements with our APs that we paid a bit extra if we asked for a lot of baby sitting (unusual - we have NO social life), and had a succession of great APs - about 7 or 8 over a 10 year period.