Nannies in London - how does it work?

[Emmylooagain]

Hi, excuse my stupid questions but we are looking at a possible move to London. I will have a 4.2 year old and a 18 month old. I am anticipating that the 4 year old will go to nursery or pre-school (not sure what it is called in London) and then the 18 month old will also go to nursery. However, we would be needing a nanny to help with drop-offs and pick-ups I think. Are people available for that type of work generally? At the moment we have a nanny who works for us 6 days around 8 hours per day but she is very flexible and can start earlier and stay later type thing. However, this is in Australia where it is unregulated. I am not sure if it's more formal in London and if you have to have a nanny full-time etc.? Any insights would be welcome? Also what is the standard hourly rate? We pay our nanny per hour.

Thanks very much

I think you'll find childcare very expensive in the UK especially London.

You could either pay a full time nanny and have her look after both children, there are plenty of activities to keep them busy. Depending on when you oldest was born he might be in reception at a school so nanny could so drop offs and pick ups.

If oldest is at school then they might have after school club and you could have youngest in nursery then there are after school nannies who could do pick up from both (some also do the drop offs as well).

Could also look into a childminder for youngest for full day and childminder could do drop off and pick up for oldest. Childminder works in their own home.

If you decide on a nanny remember you will need to employ them and there is plenty of threads here to help with employment advice.

Do you know what area you are moving too?

Before / after school nannies exist. There are also childminders who will do before and after school care (though in that case the care is at their home, not your home). Not sure on costs, it can be very high in London - have seen childminders advertise at 9 per hour, per child. As the work is part time, the nanny may well be wanting 12/13 an hour, possibly more. Probably best to look at adverts and see if you can get a feel for it. Try www.childcare.co.uk for example.

Pre-school may only be 9am-midday, or it may only be midday-3pm. Some may be 9-3. You may or may not get a place and you may or may not get any funding towards it. Also try to look longer term, what happens when oldest starts school? They may well start school this September depending when they are 4. Contact the local authority for the area to which you will be moving to find out school admissions policy.

Pre-school is not likely to be open all year round. Nursery is more likely to be open 50 weeks or more a year. Do check though as some nurseries may be term time only.

What start and finish time would you need each day? That may be the thing that determines the type of care needed, as nannies may start work a lot earlier than other types of care provider.

Before and after school nannies do exist but they tend to be more per hour (to compensate for not being able to work in the middle of the day). Some people also pay them a retainer to be available if a child can't go to nursery if they have a cold etc.

Your 4 year old will be in reception in September, what are you going to do about school holidays?

Your 4 year old would go to pre-school (also called nursery school) yes but that is usually only mornings, say 9.30-12.30. Until September when they would start school (but that finishes at 3.30). And your 18 month old is a bit young for nursery school yet, it's more usual to start at age 2, 2.5 or 3 (you get 15 hours free nursery school per week from age 3).

Your options:

Full time nanny who does pre and post nursery for DC1 and all day for DC2. Expensive - 10 net per hour is standard london rate, that is probably 12-13 gross and then there is employer tax too. And you're paying nursery fees too.

Childminder - who looks after DC2 all day and will do pick ups and drop offs and pre and post nursery for DC1. Quite a bit cheaper than a nanny. However less flexible about hours and holidays and also you have to drop off in the morning, they won't come to you unlike a nanny.

You'd have no problem finding either I expect. Depends on your finances really!

If you think you'll go the childminder route, I suggest you first work out which nursery school and school your DC1 will go to, as most CMs will have certain nurseries and schools that they will and won't pick up from (because it fits with their other charges/their location etc).

Bear in mind that in some areas of London, nursery schools and schools are incredibly oversubscribed - you will need to do your research carefully to ensure you can find a place for your DC1. Sorry!

We've been speaking with French Nanny London who have been really helpful and offered me lots of advice when I wasn't quite sure which childcare option was going to be best.

Good luck with your search!