After school arrangements

[Duplolego]

Hi I was wondering if anyone can help me or point me in the right direction. Basically my LO has just started nursery and I am a full time working parent. I have no family support where I live and my only option is to try and find a babysitter or childminder to do the after school pick up and an hours childminding before I can pick my LO.

Apart from the option of childminding, does anyone know if schools offer anything? Like afterschool clubs for nursery children? My LO is three and as oppose to a private nursery, I place them into primary school nursery but now stressing over how I can arrange pick up for them. I have had a look at the childcare.gov site and hardly anyone offers after school pick ups. I am so stressed about what my options are. Can anyone help point me in the right direction? Please...

Our before and after school provision takes the nursery children too.

So it's worth asking the school? Whats the rate like where you are, I would only need it twice a week.

My son’s private nursery does wrap around for school nursery.

Have a look online for local childmind3rs who drop and collect from that school.

My school doesn’t take nursery children in the after school club as they are only in for the morning sessions and after school club runs from 3.30-6.

Does your nursery not stay open then? My son's nursery was open 0730-1830. Is your child in a pre school as that only normally is open 9-3? Most pre schools close in the school holidays too

Yes it's a pre school. Under the 30 hours scheme.

Definitely ask at school. Our morning sessions from 730-9 are £5 and afternoon sessions 3.30-6 are £10. Flat rate, you pay the same regardless of whether the child stays for half an hour or the full session.

What hours are they doing at the primary school’s nursery?

9 - 3.15 so full time. Most kids in the class only get half day sessions and only a handful of us parents have our lo's in as full time.

Is the pe school closed in the school holidays? How will you manage those?

Yes it is. Holidays are not a problem as I can leave him with my parents. They live 20 mins away and are elderly but it won't be possible for them to pick him up on the two days during term time. I can drop him in the mornings to them in the holidays before work. So that is not an issue for me.

My DD is in Upper 6th and she picks up a little girl a few days after school and walks her home/plays/does tea and bath etc. Is something like this an option?

Are you walking distance? Also my local fb page is full of these queries and loads and loads off ppl come forward.

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No offence meant, but why choose a childcare provision that doesn’t meet your requirements?

You might find a childminder willing to collect, but a lot won’t do that for very good reasons. Most CMs want to build positive relationships with families and promote children’s development. That’s nigh on impossible when you’re reduced to little more than a taxi service to make up for the less popular hours that the local nursery can’t be bothered with.

On top of that, collection from nursery is likely to disrupt the day for other children in a CM's care, or clash with times when their parents want to pick them up from the CM.

Given that nurseries and childminders are subject to the same regulations; follow the same programme of learning and development; and commonly offer the same funded hours and other money-saving schemes, it might be worth considering a switch to a childminder who can cover all the hours you need, rather than using a nursery which isn’t doing the whole job. It could also give more continuity for your son, rather than him being bounced from pillar to post unnecessarily.