Nannies - can I offer after school during term time and full time for holidays?

[slev]

Struggling to find a childminder for DS so think we may have to go down the nanny route - at least as an interim solution until childminder spaces (hopefully) start to open up for the next school year.

Only problem is, I really can't afford a full-time nanny, and don't need one during term time. So would I have any luck in advertising for a position based on average hours over the year, which would essentially be after school during term-time and then full-time in the holidays?

Obviously I can advertise and see what happens, just thought people on here would have an opinion on whether that's even acceptable or if it's just too cheeky - bearing in mind that's it's effectively part-time pay but without the option to fill the non-working hours as we'd need someone to be full-time during the holidays.

I see jobs like this advertised all the time. Might suit someone with their own child?

Might suit someone. Holiday entitlement can be tricky to calculate - base on hours per year and be clear from start if holiday can only be taken in school holidays.

Increase your chances of finding someone by being open to having a nanny who brings their own child.

It might work for someone who works in a term time morning preschool?

We have this. We pay a blended rate so she gets a fixed amount every week, but it is worked out based on average hours for the year (we spoke to a couple of agencies who recommended this, and it is also easier in terms of admin). So during term time she is essentially overpaid and during holidays she is underpaid. It works out slightly higher per hour than if we were purely paying an hourly rate becuase there is a bit of an element of retainer/incentive in there (e.g. if the children are ill she will step in if she possibly can). We had a reasonable number of applicants, although less than when we advertised for a full time nanny. Applicants also tended to be younger/less experienced, but we were fine with that given age of our DC. The risk is that you are likely to get higher turnover as they will take the job to get experience but once they have experience they may look for a full time job with more money (hence why we pay a little extra - we are also able to give quite generous holiday entitlement). We are very happy with ours. She is Australian and only planning to stay for a couple of years, which means we will need to look for someone else in due course (I reckon we will need a couple of extra years on top of that before we can manage without a nanny), but also means I think she is less likely to leave in the meantime as people wanting full time will likely prefer someone who can stay inthe job indefinitely. I am hopeful, with the Australian nanny network, she may even be able to help us find a replacement before she goes.

We did get a number of applicants with own child as others have mentioned. I also think it may depend where you are - we are in central London and there are I think these days more nannies than jobs so it is easier to get someone willing to do more flexible hours.

I do this. Used to be I started at lunchtime, did laundry, walk dog and make a meal before doing school run and finishing in the evening. Full days in the holidays. Children now older, so I do 3 hours per afternoon and still do mostly fulls days in the hols. I get paid an averaged out amount - same each month based on total number of hours.