pick up ages from school

[JPsfriend]

I would like to know your views on the age of collection from school. My boys are 11 and 8 and I want them collected from school but my cm wants them to walk to hers. She says that as they are older they can walk and she does live just down the road from the school , but I feel as she is getting paid from 3 she should pick them up. (School finishes at 3). My other problem is I don't have a contract, I have asked for it and she says she has lots of paperwork to do and I'll get one. I'm at college so I'm not actually paying her as the college is but I still feel I should have a contract to say she will collect them from school. I do allow my kids to walk home on my days off so I feel that in some respects they could walk to hers , however if my kids are not home by 3.10 I'm out in the street looking for them. I asked her how long till she looked for them and she couldn't answer. Is it my responsibility to get my kids to hers or for her to collect? Is this something that the contract would specify? I have thought about changing cm but all the cm 's in this area are all friends so I feel I can't ask them what they do without them knowing . Thanks

All the CMs near me pick up from school. It's up to you to decide what you'd like her to do, but it would need to be clear that she is not responsible for them until they arrive at her house. I wouldn't do it.

Sounds like you need a new childminder!

Whose responsibility it is to get the children to her house depends on the detail of the contract you have with the CM. This should have been agreed before she began caring for the children and should be detailed in the contract. I think most CM would expect/be happy to pick up an 8 year old, but a lot of 11 year olds make their own way home. If you told her that the younger child usually walks home with the older sibling, this may have led her to think that is the arrangement you proposed to continue. I think you need to say that you are not happy with them making their own way and ask whether she will collect them. She may expect to be paid a bit extra for the added time and possibly cost of going to get them. If she can't or won't, you can look elsewhere for childcare, but you will probably need to give paid notice.

I do think 8 is a bit young to be walking home from school unless it is literally moments away with no roads to cross & in a safe area. However, I actually think it's irrelevant as she's being paid from 3pm, presumably it was part of the agreement that she would collect them so she should bloody well collect them! Very different if you (ie THE PARENT) decides they can walk to hers but it's definitely not her decision to make & IMO she's very cheeky (not to mention lazy) even suggesting it.

Sorry just reread op and realised this is a new arrangements not her suddenly announcing she's no longer do pick-ups, so I'm afraid it's down to whether she'll pick them up or not! If she won't then you need to either decide if you're happy with them walking home or look elsewhere. Duty of care wouldn't start until they arrived at her house.

What are her reasons for not wanting to do the school run? Does she have babies/toddlers who are napping? Is this a new arrangement or is she trying to change the agreement that has been out in place previously?
My eldest dc changes school next year at nine and she will be walking herself to middle school a mile away so eight isn't to young to walk if it isn't far IMO. The eleven year old could definitely be walking to school by himself. But I know that in some areas this just isn't the done thing and some schools are really unhappy about children walking themselves home. If she won't budge and you want her to pick them up, you might have to find someone else.

Thanks for your help. One of my concerns was that she wouldn't give me a contract. I kept asking and was told she had lots of paperwork to do or that she was ill. today I said that I was entitled to a contract and if I didn't get one I would contact the care commission. I got a text back saying I was giving her too much grief and she was giving me 2 weeks notice.

Oh dear & although it might be a pain I doubt you'd ever have got a contract & she sounds a complete PITA a bit flakey. Well shot of her.

To be honest, I'm not surprised. the fact she didn't want to do the school runs and wanted the children to make their way to her house by themselves said to me that she wasn't particularly bothered. Some childminders just don't need after school children to make their business successful and maybe this childminder is one of those. (That said she shouldn't have said she would do the job, if she wasn't prepared to do it properly. That is frustrating for the family involved and very unprofessional).

Her refusal to give you a contract is still worth reporting, surely? I couldn't leave (as in, she wouldn't have let me leave him) my child till I had filled in all my CM's paperwork.

I don't think there's anything wrong with children who are old enough, walking to the CMs house. As for the I pay you from 3 part, I find that a little bit petty, I actually used to need to set off 15-20 minutes before school finished - should I have charged from 2.45?

I actually charged a flat rate for after school pick ups, so it wouldn't have made any difference. Wether I looked after the children from 3.15 pick up or from 3.30 when I got home. (Yes the 11 year old used to sit on my wall and wait for us to arrive back - at his parents request).