What did you do when they went to school?

[burnishedgold]

Will shortly have three pre-school kids. Eldest at p/t nursery and shortly going to school, middle will start a few days nursery next year. Have a lovely nanny who does 7 to 7 four days a week (DH and I alternate the fifth). Just about to move house and trying to figure out longer term budgets and art of the possible.

Private school is a possibility, but when they're all at school it will be a real stretch, possibly past breaking point, to pay fees plus nanny. What does everyone else do at this point? Have thought au pier but that means bigger house, and even with breakfast/after school clubs, I'm not sure we could get enough flexibility from work (and the there's the holidays) and I can't see a nanny wanting to work just drop the hours we need. What did you do in practice?

You can get after school nannies who cover holidays when you need them.

Where is the issue? Is it the 8-6 day? Most schools seem to offer this? Playschemes pick up most of the school holidays but with 3 that isnt cheap!

Childcare over the next few years could change quite a bit... if 30 hours free childcare and Tax-Free Childcare schemes take off. Schools may see more investment in before and after school clubs (currently were I am in West Surrey, not all schools have an after school club so the school day is typically 9am-3pm). Care during school holiday periods are available in some places but certainly not all and many seem geared towards children who like sporting activities, which not all do.

Private school is a possibility - so that may mean a longer school day and more facilities on site but may mean long school holidays. Some schools will have school holiday activities and others won't.

My employers have been great as they kept me on when the youngest child went to school (I do three days per week). I am now a nanny/housekeeper, so have more housework tasks than I did before but I am still around before, after school, for days the school is closed due to a lack of heating or plumbing, snow days, early finishes and teacher training day - oh and we have had a school which closed on polling day. So when looking at schools, look at the academic calendar and see how many days they have scheduled for closure and ask about how many days in the past they have had unexpected sudden closures.

Your current nanny does 7-7... why those hours? Does moving house change the hours you need them? Will you still need the 7am start time and 7pm finish time once children are at school - look at hours other providers operate.

30 hours free childcare is only for pre schoolers though, or have I got it wrong?

Yes - so the 30 hours childcare thing would be something to look at sooner than the point the youngest child starts school. In a couple of years time it may be so common that it is very similar to having children starting school at age 3.

Thanks, we're in London so even with a good commute it's 45 mins each way. Adding in commute to school and we would both struggle to get to and from work in time, even if one did drop off and one did pick up and we worked when the DC have gone to bed which we do now. Suspect we could both WFH once a week which would help, but we'd still struggle with holidays as no family near by.

What did I do? Well, I ended up leaving a well paid job because I couldn't juggle it all (OH away a lot).

Me and DH both work shifts (I'm a nurse he's a chef) we have a childminder down the road who the DDs adore and is very flexible, happy to do an extra hour before/after the odd Saturday morning all holidays etc
Childminders are often cheaper than nannies as well could this be an option?
We are also in London

We have an after school nanny - some are quite happy with the part time hours, especially if they have a young child of their own they can bring along and they may not want to work full time. They enjoy the extra cash during the holidays too.

Main issue for me has been handling the holiday hours/bank holidays etc given the monthly salary is so variable depending on school holidays. It's sorted now (nanny "earns" hours per month depending on how many she's done based on a formula) but it was a bit of a headache, even with a nanny payroll company!

If it feels like it could be a bit of a stretch, could you just start with state schools and go private later? Even if you stretched to three sets of fees now, you need to factor in fees getting a lot higher for older children. It might feel more manageable to go down the state route for a few years so you're not overstretched.

We have a live in nanny to make it work with three at school. She works/ is paid for 7-7 5 days a week. Although actually works 7-8.15 then 3-7 in term time. I keep thinking we will change to an au pair as cheaper but chicken out in case not reliable. Serious ££ in total though with private school. Need to be on £250K plus In London I think.
Many more options if you don't need the 7-8am pre school.