Is there no obligation to provide childcare?

[LogonMounstuart]

I have posted before about my struggle to find childcare as DS1 starts school. There is an accute shortage of childminders and no wrap around care at the school. All before and after school clubs are linked to schools and only offer places to pupils of those schools. Massive shortage of school places with children in catchment not getting a place so no choice to move schools...

So my question is- is there no obligation e.g on LAs to provide the option of childcare?

As it stands parents of children attending my sons school either employ a nanny or don't work (neither of which we can afford to do).

It just seems so unfair that if you end up at this school you have to stop working (or in jobs that are more flexible than mine significantly curtail working hours). I need to work, but I want to too. I have worked a long time to build a successful career. I am still so stuck and running out of time :(

I'm really unsure what posters think families should be doing in advance to secure childcare?

Can you not divvy up your kids? So one continues to go to whatever childcare provision you have now and the one at school has a teenager/granny nanny to collect them and take them home after school?

childcare dot co dot uk is where I've had most success finding suitable people to provide afterschool care.

I agree it's bloody hard. I'm a single parent, no family nearby and it's caused me many sleepless nights (DS's school does have an afterschool club but it finishes 5 minutes before my train gets in )

Recheck with all childminders
Is thee any communication forum for parents e.g Facebook etc whee you could ask if anyone else on same position eg organise nanny share
Dinner ladies or teaching assistants may be interested in earning some extra cash after school?
See if any of the other sacs could help?
Have you seen likely mum website, they do after school care

Good luck

I wish I could live where some of you live where you can choose a school and take into consideration things like the childcare they offer! There were lots of families around here that got none of their school choices- their catchment school filled its places with people closer to the school and all their other choices filled from within their own catchments.

As I have said we have been looking into childcare for a long time. Very actively for the last 6 months. I don't know where some of you got the impression this was last minute. We can't continue our current childcare for our eldest as the nursery does not offer care to school aged children. I will find a slolution. I have to as I need and want to work. But I don't want that to be some random person. That was my point. I might work but that doesn't mean I don't want good quality registered child care.

Parents of pupils at other local schools have this. The Headteacher won't consider shared provision with other local schools, I have repeatedly asked. She gives me all sorts of reasons. They sound like excuses but may be valid, she would know better than I, to do with difficulties working with free schools, insurance etc.

I am sorry that childminding has become so unattractive to some of you. That is such a shame as there is a real shortage- certainly around here.

They may not be able to attend but it might be worth inviting your MP to join our meeting with the LA.

Has anyone on this list considered that the amount of bureaucratic bumpf required for child minding or after schoolyard has greatly decreased the supply of available and affordable childcare?
In the States, most childcare workers have very little training or talent. There has to be a middle ground...

The young woman who looked after my DS was NVQ level 3 qualified and CRB checked. When our contract ended (it was 6 months only), she went to work with young people with AS in a residential special school. I'd say she was eminently qualified.

I agree that schools should provide wraparound childcare but yours doesn't. Which means you need to find alternatives rather that feeling stuck

ie I take exception to you implying I left my child with 'some random person'

Sorry not implying that you left your child with a random person. More people- on here a bit- but also in RL (the Headteacher!) saying you will meet a mum, or find a teenager, or someone else we don't know and who isn't qualified and that is ok.

I don't agree that because the provision isn't there I just need to get on and find another solution. Of course I have to find another solution for September but I will also raise and represent the shortage and do all I can to ensure it does get addressed as soon as it can be. There are parents that want and need to work who are unable to do so here. That isn't good for their families and isn't good for society.

FWIW, I do agree with you. I suppose us debating the reasons why that provision is no longer there is pretty frustrating for you, however interesting and enlightening it may be :)

There is no provision at your school and none of us can wave a magic wand to make it appear before September, so all we can do on that front is to sympathise as well as offering suggestions that you may well have tried.

Going forward, I think your best bet is to go straight to the LA and to your MP and push, push, push. Demand to know what their solution to the problem is because, ultimately, it is the LA's responsibility to ensure there is adequate childcare for the Early Years, and Reception children are still Early Years.

Just not the after school children and their parents attitudes which are similar to the ops who think they should be provided with something for nothing by the state! I really do fail to see where the OP has demonstrated that attitude. You are like a dog with a bone adp. The OP is simply wanting access to good quality after school child care which she is prepared to pay for so she can work. What's your problem with that?

KellyElly I think the clue is in the title and her remarks that only 'affluent' schools have before and after school clubs. She may not mean to but it gives the impression she thinks the government should provide such clubs for all which also indicates she would want it free or very cheap.

She also says she has been looking fior care for 6 months but I am not sure how she can have because she wouldn't have known what school her child would be at 6 months ago?

No she can not plan for something like this when her children were born but if as I think she has said she has not long moved house then you would think she may have researched the availability of childcare in the area and especially if she had a child coming up for school age.

Anyhow I don't really care. An after school nanny or au pair seem to be the solution and she does think this would suit her, you can't help some people she will just have to sort it herself and good luck.

Wow, adp.

She has clearly stated she doesn't want subsidy. So for you to infer something different from another part of her post isn't very fair.

And maybe the last distance admitted of one of the schools with ASCs used to include the op's current address but didn't this year because of many siblings, a new housing development or whatever.

She may well have been exploring options for six months as a back up in case she didn't get a school with ASC, which is what has happened.

It's not common on MN to flatly disbelieve the op's direct statements - not sure why you are taking this position, tbh.

I've used all sorts of childcare and by far the one that suits me best practically is the after school nanny. If you can get this up and running it will make everyone's life easier. Children like to be at home, with their stuff.

I certainly knew which schools I'd applied to/was likely to get 6 months ago, and knew which ones had wraparound care.

Au pairs and nannies certainly aren't a solution for most people, I don't have a spare room and can't afford a nanny.

Her comment about affluent schools near her having ASC is a statement of fact (it is the same where I live) and doesn't sound at all like expecting free childcare.

While groups care is great for younger children, I do think older children prefer to come home after school to watch TV, play computer games and just chill. Especially in reception year children are extremely tired by the end of the school day. They will have already spent 6 hours in a cramped classroom with 30 other children, and I honestly think many would not want to go to an after school club given the choice. I completely understand that you don't want a nanny for your younger child as you prefer a group environment and have a small house but the older one may well benefit from a few hours of quiet/relaxation time. I would personally split them up, keep the younger one at nursery and let the older one relax at home with a nanny/nanny share/etc. Surely with the money you will be saving by no longer paying one set of full time nursery fees you could easily afford an after school nanny?

OP what about an au pair share. A good friend of mine had this arrangement, the agreement was the au pair lived at house A ( not my friends house as she didn't have space). My friend paid the Au pairs 'wages'. In return the Au pair helped her family at home for few hours a day eg dropped kids off at school and a bit of light housework, she then had 3 or four hours off before picking my friends DC up from school and watching them for 2.5 to 3 hours. It worked really well for my friend and the other family involved. Would it be worth putting an ad on gumtree or au pair world to explore this as an option??

adp I am not sure it is worth trying to explain myself to you really as you seem to be reading something different into what I say- often inferring the exact opposite so I suspect this is more about you and some issue you have in real life rather than me....

I think I have been very clear that I do not want free, cheap or subsidised care. I want high quality, OfSTED registered available care! My children currently attend an Outstanding private nursery. It is expensive but I don't begrudge that as the staff, care and facilities are excellent.

I didn't actually ask for people to solve my childcare problem (although I am grateful for many of the excellent and helpful suggestions, some of which I had not thought of and will be following up) I asked a question about whether there is any obligation to provide provision- to inform my meeting with the LA, I now know the answer to that thanks to the very helpful posts from Ptellic and others.

I can't win, I am wrong for not arranging my childcare before I had kids and you don't believe that I have been actively seeking childcare for 6 months! I didn't know which school we would be allocated but I did know my 4 choices and that my 1st choice is our catchment school. Also all 6 local schools are within 3 miles anyway!

I met with several nanny agencies (I might not think this is the best option for us but that is an informed decision as I did look in to it), spoke with lots of childminders close to where we live and researched after school clubs to see if there were nurseries that did after school care or clubs that pick up from local schools etc. I have been in regular contact with the FIS.

As I think I have already explained there are 5 fairly affluent schools and one less so. The former have wrap around care. The latter does not. I believe it would be better if there was some oversight of provision which would overcome this local inequity. Sadly with the erosion of LAs this seems unlikely. Those who suffer in my local example are the children and parents in the less affluent school as many of the parents want and need to work and are prevented from doing so.

I have discounted an Au pair- whose room do you think she would want to share ours or the kids? So hardly unreasonable to think that isn't an option. I have already explained why a nanny doesn't suit us (an after school nanny might but they are like gold dust around here- with fees to reflect that but I am looking). I will find another solution- of course I will but it will not be a great solution for our family and lots of local families are in the same position.

Thanks Eggs- I have never heard of an Au Pair share- I shall follow that up.

We have 2 in nursery now but had them so they didn't overlap in nursery for long (and saved hard for a long time to fund the bit they did overlap) so we don't actually have the equivalent of a nursery place to spend if that makes any sense as now youngest is in nursery.

And also I guess you get some free hours, OP.

Get some free hours for DC1 now. DC2 will hopefully get some too when he is 3 but that is a couple of years off.

Thanks Busy, that is a persuasive point. I think you are right- certainly nursery for some of the time for the little one but I think you have a good point about the older one needing some quieter time at home after school. I think that is a solution I am working towards.

Despite the hard time I seem to have provoked from some (checks again I didn't accidentally post in AIBU!) the helpful posts have really helped and have moved me on- thank you.

What busy describes is pretty much what children need after school and that's why people have been suggesting Grandmas/teenagers etc. OFSTED regulated care is necessary when they're looking after your children 8-6, but when they're picking up at 3:30pm, bringing them home to play/relax and making a bit of tea they really don't need to be Mary Poppins. The staff at afterschool clubs are not highly qualified.

OFSTED regulated care is necessary when they're looking after your children 8-6 And also for any parents who are in receipt of child tax credits or childcare vouchers.

All the TA's in our local schools seem to be employed to do after school care privately. Have you advertised at ALL the schools?
Quite a few friends have employed nursery workers to come in and do breakfast/take the children to nursery/school so that they can leave home at 7 and work an 8-4 day.
Many people have arranged compressed hours for similar reasons.
Neither of which get you over the 2.30 finish I appreciate.
Personally, I'd say about 50% of people I know use some form of unregistered childcare. Former Ofsted childminders, older mums, young retirees/experienced but unregistered nannies etc etc. It's not ideal but needs must sometimes.

Is it an option to try to move your DC to the schools with wraparound care within the next year or two? So you only have to suck up the cost for a short period which is less high risk financially?

I take the point that you don't need to be qualified and registered to provide good after school care. But if you don't know any grannies or teenagers then a qualification indicates a minimum level of knowledge and skills and along with registration suggests a degree of professionalism. This is reassuring if you need reliable child care, which you do if you work. You can't just not go to work because the teenager gets a better offer for something to do that afternoon! Not to say there aren't reliable professional unqualified grannies and teenagers (or that some registered and qualified carers couldn't be better) but it is a helpful indicator.

Maybe I worry too much but I wouldn't feel comfortable with someone without recent basic first aid training giving my child dinner either.