Active discussions

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

Original poster

Argh what do you do if there's no after school club and no CMs collect from the school?

41 replies

TheScience · 24/04/2014 14:11

Just that really - DS1 will be starting primary school in September and it has no ASC. There seems to be very few CMs in our area anyway and I haven't found any that collect from his school. I'll also need care for a baby.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
FunnyFoot · 24/04/2014 14:13

Are you unable to collect from school because you are working OP?

If you are unable to find childcare then the only answer is to speak to your employers about alternative working hours/job share.

BobTheFly · 24/04/2014 14:13

Contact the FIS and see of there are any new ones registering / have no details online.

NigellasDealer · 24/04/2014 14:13

choose another school with an afterschool club?
find a CM that has a kid at the school - just keep asking.

NigellasDealer · 24/04/2014 14:14

and welcome to eleven years of hell

bakingtins · 24/04/2014 14:14

Have you established there is no after school club in the area? We had a similar situation but there is a local after school club that covers several schools, they collect the children in a minibus. We also used a CM in YR, try advertising on local Gumtree sites to find someone who collects from your school. You can't be the only parent who can't do pick-ups.

LadyMaryLikesCake · 24/04/2014 14:15

If you need care for a baby too are you able to get a nanny? If he/she's registered you can get help under the childcare element of the child tax credits. I think they cover 70% up to a certain amount (you'll need to check this though).

PeterParkerSays · 24/04/2014 14:23

We have the same problem. I'm afraid you need to find some way for you / another parent to collect your child from school. If it's anything like DS' school, they will ask if you want an after / before school club, but not until October when you already have other care lined up, then be surprised when potential take up is low so they decide not to run it.

PatriciaKrenwinkel · 24/04/2014 14:26

You need a nanny/nannyshare.

deepinthewoods · 24/04/2014 14:28

Change jobs?

I became self employed and work from home so I could work flexibly and fit around school.

LadyMaryLikesCake · 24/04/2014 14:58

I'm far less stressed now I work from home. Ds is now 15 but the childcare has been a constant worry over the years. If you can work from home then you should.

Forago · 24/04/2014 15:14

welcome to my life - childcare (eso in the holidays) is a constant source of worry and stress.

IME you have 2 avenues, assuming you can't/don't want to change school or job. Find a new or existing childminder who will start picking up from that school in September - just because they don't now doesn't mean they wont consider it - spaces in the car come up, new CM who is flexible etc etc - be quick though as all the September arrangements are being made about now. Or, find a nanny/nanny-share.

LadyMaryLikesCake · 24/04/2014 15:28

I haven't always worked from home. I moved ds to a private school as the school days were longer, thus removing the need for a nanny/childminder/after school club. Tricky if you have a baby too Sad

Original poster
TheScience · 24/04/2014 15:42

Our first choice school does has great wraparound care but we didn't get it, and the other two local schools don't. No chance of choosing another school in a city with a shortage of school places unfortunately.

I earn about as much as a nanny so that's not viable either.

I have contacted a few local childminders and none do school runs or do school runs to this school. I will get back on to the FIS though and see if they know of anyone else.

I will just have to try to change my hours/find a new job I guess!

OP posts:
Cindy34 · 24/04/2014 17:29

Have you asked the school? They may know of minders who collect from the school. They may have a newsletter in which they permit a small advert.
When looking at childminders using online databases, use the postcode of the school not your home. That way the closer the childminder is to the school the more chance they may pick up from there. Ask FIS for a list of childminders based on distance from the school.

mum2030 · 24/04/2014 17:37

Bit confused about if the person will need to care for the baby and the after schooler. If it was just after school, we used to use students from the local university who didn't mind working part time and were cheaper than nannies. Also, because they were earning below the earnings threshold you could pay less as they weren't paying tax so their take home pay was better.

But I'm not sure if I'd use one for a baby.

Also we had a nanny with her own child who wanted part time hours who was also prepared to work for less than a full time nanny because she could bring her little boy with her.

ProfYaffle · 24/04/2014 17:42

I'd second asking the school. Our school doesn't have an afterschool club either but as a consequence there's a reasonable number of CM's who meet the demand instead. Schools are required to at the very least 'signpost' parents to after school childcare providers. Ours does this by keeping a list of CM's who do school pick ups which parents can have on request.

Original poster
TheScience · 24/04/2014 18:04

Yes there's a baby too so if I could find a CM with spaces for both it would be ideal.

The other option is nursery for the baby, although this is much more expensive than a CM. Or possibly nursery until 1pm for the baby and then some kind of student/babysitter who could do the afternoon and school run. Starts to look expensive and complicated though!

I have an appointment to speak to some kind of home-school support worker on Monday so hopefully they will be the person who can direct me to after school care.

OP posts:
DoItTooJulia · 24/04/2014 18:11

Start an after school club! With the profits from that and a breakfast club, plus the childcare savings, because you'd have to give up your job, you'd be right!
If I didn't have my mum to help I'd consider something like that.

Lilaclily · 24/04/2014 18:13

But who is looking after the baby at the moment ? Are they both in nursery?

Original poster
TheScience · 24/04/2014 18:19

I am, I'm not back at work until September.

OP posts:
kavv0809 · 26/04/2014 23:11

Sorry to be dim but what is FIS?

vestandknickers · 26/04/2014 23:15

After school clubs are not meant to be childcare.

abitofanangrybird · 26/04/2014 23:33

A local nursery does drop offs and pick ups for several of the local schools and runs an after school club until 6.30. They also take babies in a different room. Are there any nurseries offering a similar service near the school?

Dragonlette · 26/04/2014 23:46

vest afterschool club in this context is wraparound care and absolutely is a form of childcare. Op's not talking about choir or sports clubs run by teachers, she's talking about an afterschool club which is a registered form of childcare and paid for in the same way as you pay for a childminder or nursery place.

I really feel for you op. I had a similar problem at one of dd1's primary schools but managed to find a cm who was willing to take her as she had a child who was starting at the same time as dd1. I didn't know what we were going to do otherwise, we tried every cm in the town, and even a couple in surrounding villages. Have you tried asking the council? They'll have a list of registered childminders and people who are in the process of registering, even if they have no online presence. My current cm isn't online but I found her by word of mouth.

duchesse · 26/04/2014 23:57

We were in the same situation and this was one of the reasons we opted for a free school 12 miles away vs the village school 3 miles away. Sorry not to be more help.

Swipe left for the next trending thread