Need help thinking through options in London

[user1477249785]

Hi all

We are moving back to London from abroad in the summer. Just sorting out schools now for the two children but know already that they won't be at the same school. I'm trying to work out what the options are for wrap around care: one is seven and the other eight. In an ideal world, we'd find someone who could drop them off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon and look after them until we get home. I'm not super keen on an au pair because I'm not sure we have the space and I want some kind of continuity (and they only appear to stay for a year or so).

Would a nanny be interested in a job like this? What might it cost? And are there other options that I haven't thought of? Any advice gratefully received...

I would start at looking at the practical side of things. With them not being at the same school, how would drop off and pickup work? Do the schools start and finish at the same times? Does either have before/after school provision?

Look at school newsletters, calendars etc - does the school ever have scheduled closure days or early finishes.

Figure out if one person could physically do the school run - you now know the timings and can look at traffic predictions for how long it may take (add on a bit for finding a parking place) to drive or walk time.

That may or may not help in determining if you need one care provider or two.

What about school holidays, what care is needed then? Do the holidays match between the schools?

I would say to check out the local childminders too. There are some fantastic CMs out there.

For us CM works better than a nanny as it was easy to find someone who wants to just do mornings and evenings, our CM collaborates with a small group if other CMs and also two of her family are registered as qualified CMs allowing her to offer flexibility - on the rare occasion she's sick there's someone else who can step in, and if she goes on holiday she sets up another option for us.

Also the DC love the social side, they've both made good friends with other DC at the CM's.

I will be looking for "someone" who can drop my son to school and then bring back to my preferred after school club. I have never done the child care with a childminder/nanny or anyone else so I am absolutely new to this. I would prefer someone who can drive my son to school, drop and do the same after school finishes. Is it possible? So far me and my hubby has managed but due to change in school its no longer manageable from next term so any advice would be great.

Yes, there are nannies who do that sort of wrap around care. In addition, they look after children in the school holidays or when they are ill. The cost would be only a bit lower than a full-time nanny as they need to be available thoughout the day + often work 50+ hours in the school holidays. I think you'd be looking at 30k+ annually depending on the caliber of the person.

30K is too much for just picking and dropping.