Teacher trying to work out childcare options

[Teachermum2b]

Hi I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on childcare options. I'm a teacher and I was just wondering if a nanny or childminder would charge for the school holidays. I know nurseries do nowadays and as I get 18 weeks holiday I just want to know if it's realistic that I would be able to find an option where we wont have to pay for 18 weeks extra childcare which I obviously wont be using. Any advice gratefully received.

No state school where I live in UK has so many week's holiday. 12 plus 5 inset days a d most parents find that hard to cope with for childcare. 20 weeks seems excessive. Do understand private schools have more holiday allocation but have longer school days to compensate for the total hours teaching.

Even if you go for term time it might be state school ‘terms’ you pay for I.e only non paying 12 weeks or so a year. I know it’s hard to believe when you are pregnant or have a newborn but actually the thought of having a few weeks a year where you have time off and paid childcare would actually be amazing! You can always drop kids in late/pick up early or do 3 days a week instead of 5 on the weeks you’re off but paying but having that balance especially for teachers who are usually exhausted by the end of the term I think it could work!

I am a term time only childminder. I follow the Norfolk model calendar (as that is what my school where I do the majority of my school runs follows) and close 14 weeks a year. My dc go to a secondary school which is run by an academy they get different holidays although only by a couple of days. Sometimes if they are at school I will offer to open as extra dates but don't have to. As I chose to open term time only I don't charge anything during holidays.

I know where I am lots of childminders do term time as it suits those with older DC. I know several parents at the school my DD attends childmind for teachers children.

A nanny with a school aged kid might be interested in term time only especially if you were ok with them picking up their child after school, they are likely to charge a cheaper rate if you allow it. A childminder similarly

I'm a childminder who has term time only & all year children. For term time only I often offer to spread the cost over the year e.g. 10 months over 12months so that you & I can budget expenses & income accordingly. I know that some minders don't like doing this because of the extra work involved if the child leaves part way through the year, in working out who owes what fees wise, but is actually quite simple to calculate. Also I generally suggest that, especially with a young child,that they attend once or twice a week during the holidays so as to not forget the setting & giving the parent a chance to have some 'me' time or prep time for the new term.

All settings are different. Only one of the nurseries I looked at offered term time only, and they charged an extra 10% on their day rate so it barely saved anything (and I hated the nursery). All the other nurseries didn’t offer term time only - they were full with year round kids so why would they want a child who will only pay 3/4 fees.

On the other hand every childminder I spoke to was happy to do term time only. I too work in a private school so get more holiday than the standard 13 weeks. My childminder will not charge me during state school holidays so I will end up paying for around 3-4 weeks of childcare I don’t need throughout the year, but this will allow me to go in to school at the start of the holidays and have some me time if I want it. You may find CM are happy to do this but not your full 18 weeks holiday. Also some may charge a retainer during holidays eg half fees, but mine doesn’t :)