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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

Childcare Idea

38 replies

Ideasears · 11/10/2019 21:06

I'm a part-time teacher looking to earn more money over the school holidays. I regularly speak to parents on the school playground who struggle for childcare during the holidays. As I'm already CRB checked and I have the space, I'm considering offering childcare to parents at my child's school.
Is this a good idea?
Is it something you would consider.when looking for childcare?
I would provide all food etc and I wouldn't charge much. Maybe £10-15 for the day and a maximum of 6 children at any one time.
Any thoughts?

OP posts:
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Willow2017 · 12/10/2019 09:21

As pps have said no you can't be a child minder without 'jumping through a lot of hoops'.
As a teacher I am surprised you think.cms can just start up working with children without following strict registration requirements.
You need to do a 1st aid course, a lot of training before registration which takes weeks have a house check, fire safety check first.

Are you going to.provide snacks?
How are you going to pay for all the toys, books, activity materials, P.L.I. paperwork, printing materials for all the policies and permission forms you need for every child on only £10 a day?
Do you have suitable crockery and utensils for the kids?
Do you have kids of your own? They may hate having other kids foisted on them every day in the hols. When are you going to spend time with just them? And do not expect them to give over their toys and books for your business that's nothing to do with them.
Do you own your own house? You need to inform your insurance company they may charge more.
If not you may not be allowed to run a business there.
Car? Same as above.
Cm is costly and it takes over half the house.
You need to spend time doing paperwork in your own time, you need secure filing system for confidential info. It will take time to make policies for everything and you will need them to stop people taking advantage.
Will you be on holiday at some point? How will this affect potential clients? If they are on holiday will you charge to keep the space open or loose money that week?
You would also need to reg with tax as sole trader and fill in self assessment firms each year.
That means loads more paperwork.. income from each child per week, receipts for everything over £10 and noting down every expense in your accounts book.
You will have to pay registration fees and if you want support and more training it's good to join a cm association.

If there is a cm recruitment day anywhere near you go and get all the info you need. You can't just start up as a cm for under 8s for a bit of pin money.

Remember You don't get to keep all the money for yourself once you pay costs and tax!

The idea is fine but it's not something you can just start up with no effort or expense.

jannier · 12/10/2019 19:15

Holiday clubs run on different lines with higher ratios than childminders are allowed and often subsidized by schools in rent electric etc. So they can charge less. You wouldn't have anything left at £10 a day you certainly couldn't do outings to anywhere that charged. You wouldn't get the discounts for entry holiday clubs do either. Most childminders holiday business is from children they had as babys and siblings.

itsaboojum · 13/10/2019 20:09

Although you plan to do this with children from your own child's class, you might run into opposition from your own head, governors, colleagues, or staff at your child's school, not to mention your employer. Have you checked your contract for any restrictions on taking up second jobs?

Might you be inviting problems from parents at your own school? They’re likely to resent being excluded from your holiday care service. Or they might question its impact on your teaching job.

loooosir · 13/10/2019 21:53

If I can do this with out jumping through ofsted and registration hoops, that would be 👌

This can be done (I know people who have), but it's run as a hobby club, for a few hours each day, for over 5s. It meets the OFSTED exemptions. I don't know what they do for insurance etc, though.

itsaboojum · 14/10/2019 09:34

As you seem keen to avoid any sort of regulation, all you need do is google "Ofsted no requirement to register " and you’ll find the list. I’m quite surprised you’ve not yet done this; even more surprised you think MN is the place to engage in business start-up research.

Your tax situation will become more complicated as you will need to account for being both employed and self-employed. If you figure how to do this yourself it will only take a few hours each month to keep records and submit annual returns. A low-cost accountant can probably do it from £250+.

Assuming teaching already puts you into the income tax-paying bracket, you pay £2 of every £10 taken in income tax. Additional national insurance payments for self-employment will I think take another £1 in every £10.

HMRC (never know for their generosity) estimate wear and tear as a 10% expenses allowance in childcare. So, as a conservative estimate, take off a further £1 in every £10. You now have £6 left from the £10 daily charge, before any other expenses.

You can get public liability insurance for this sort of 'club' scheme, but the cost will be inflated by your lack of Ofsted registration and because you’re not using a publicly licensed venue. You will also need to change your home and contents policy, to allow you to use your home for business purposes: the annual premium will significantly.

You’ll need full safety and fire protection and defence equipment: main linked alarms, CO monitors, fire blanket, extinguisher, etc.

You should make physical adaptations to your property in order to be accessible to potential users with mobility issues, to comply with the Equality Act.

Because you won’t be a registered childminder, you may need planning permission forchange of use of your premises. This costs £hundreds in terms of money, time and legal fees. It can be blocked by one neighbour's object or an existing covenant in your property deeds.

If you don’t already have a first aid certificate, training will cost around £90 and take one weekend every 2 years. You’ll probably need a level 2 food hygiene to register as a food business (just to store packed lunches and serve juice and snacks) and be subject to EHO inspection at any time: difficult if you have to take a day off work for any of this.

That’s all before you’ve spent a penny on advertising, toys, resources, craft materials, or whatever the club is meant to be doing.

The paperwork won’t be as onerous as the learning records required for the early years. It’s just a few hours on due diligence, taking and keeping child details updated, safety checks, recruiting, etc.

hormonesorDHbeingadick · 14/10/2019 09:37

£10 a day. I imagine while you may for hire if school insurance, factor in ofsted registration time if needed, time written policies you will probably already be paying money to run it before you even consider equipment and food.

Then you need to consider all the problems I if being a lone worker.

Elenuta1981 · 14/10/2019 15:30

Hi! Where are you located? Thanks

Elenuta1981 · 14/10/2019 15:34

Hi, where are you located? I am looking for some childcare options. many thanks

june2007 · 14/10/2019 20:37

If looking after children in your own home you can do 2 hours a day with out being registered. I had a cm who was in the preocess of being registered and did longer days but at least Ofsted was aware ofg her and had done initial assessments. (still think she was in the wrong though.).

Nonnymum · 14/10/2019 20:41

Are you in the UK? If so you will need to be registered as a childminder before you can charge for childcare in your home.

Willow2017 · 14/10/2019 20:48

You should make physical adaptations to your property in order to be accessible to potential users with mobility issues, to comply with the Equality Act.
Not if it's her own home. Cms are not expected to adapt their own home at the potential cost of thousands for this.

Willow2017 · 14/10/2019 20:56

Hi, where are you located? I am looking for some childcare options. Many thanks

Seriously?

itsaboojum · 15/10/2019 19:07

@Willow2017

I take your point about adaptations, but that’s just one reason why proper registered childminders are something of an exception. If the OP is going to do more than 2hours a day withunder 8s, then she’s doing it as a form of 'club' where the main purpose is not childcare. That should be done on commercial premises, or would require a change of use through planning permission, meaning her home would no longer be classed as domestic premises, and so would become subject to Equality Act.

In any case, her costs will outstrip her income and her employers, school and pupils' parents are likely to object.

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