Childcare in Scotland

[Cindy34]

I am thinking of relocating to Scotland but as childcare provider I am struggling to find out how much demand for childcare there is likely to be, especially in a small town.

The town has a school with a nursery. Do children in Scotland go to state nursery at an early age? There is one private nursery, there do not seem to be many childminders, least not that I can find as yet.
If you are in Scotland, how do you find out about local childcare provision? City council is located over 60 miles away from the town, guess they may keep a list of providers.

I currently nanny, there seem to be very few nanny jobs in the area. Is that generally the case in Scotland, or is there some sort of local network for finding nannies. So far I have just looked at online listings.

I've always been in Scotland, I've 3 dc.

I've used a cm, a nanny and preschool.

I don't think Scotland is really that different to England, depending on if it's a remote/island area where family is more involved. When my dc were under 4 we lived very remotely.

Dc in Scotland start school later (earliest 4.5, latest around 4.6) due to the ability to defer entry -almost everyone I knew with dc born Dec-March deferred.

Local council area will give CM details. I found my nanny (and that was in a major city) through an agency.

Scottishfamilies.gov.uk says 6 childminders within 20 miles, of which only 1 is in the town/village.

It is quite remote but not that remote, lots of small villages around.

Good to hear that you have used an agency for a nanny, Tinies advertises jobs in the city but few are in the towns/villages.

The issue may be what employment is there locally for women who wish to work and would therefore need childcare.
Also in smaller areas, the majority of the population may be local and have family in the area who would do most of the childminding / school pick ups etc.
There is obviously much more demand in the cities where there are more job opportunities at a wage level that makes it worth while working after childcare is paid for.
Nannies are a luxury generally only afforded by those in much higher paying jobs which apart from Doctors/ solicitors etc in a small town, would generally be located in the cities too.
In Scotland children are entitled to free nursery hours from a young age see here www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People/early-years/parenting-early-learning/childcare

I live in a rural scottish village and work. I have the choice of one childminder in my village (roughly 2000 population, maybe a town?).

I would say that due to the relatively low cost of living here there are a lot of SAHMs and the mothers that do work work part time. I can't think of more than a couple full timers. I don't know anyone with a nanny.

When I worked full time I used a CM based 30 mins away, closer to my work. I know some friends send their children to CMs in nearby towns since they have a better reputation.

Im waffling but what I'm trying to say is that there's not a huge amount of work in my area and those that use CMs do so on a PT basis. Only the CMs that are very established and well known seem to be full. The after school club attached to the school only opens 4 days per week, as there are no full timers who rely on it.

To be fair, it may be completely different in an area closer to a city, this is just my experience. My sister and I often say we wish there was more choice of CMs but I can see that there probably isn't enough work.

This is probably hugely unhelpful.

I don't mean to appear sexist by speaking in terms of the "mums" but I can't think of any SAHDs in my town!

Thanks that is helpful. Part-time suits me, want to get out of the busy south east and start cutting back, enjoying my older years.

Maybe I need to look at other lines of work. There is a hotel and a large co-op in the town/village, so maybe combining two part time jobs might work.

Also remember that childminder's in Scotland have different regulations regarding ratios to what we have in England, why not contact the Scottish Childminding Association for more information. They might have more information about demand in the area you are looking at.

Yes Badgerhead is right about ratio's. In Scotland we can only mind 6 children a day including our own children. Only 3 under school age.