Looking for thoughts and opinions on Out of School Care! (Questions involved!)

[OSCUCL]

Hello!

We are a group of students from UCL working on a project about the current state of provision of Out of School Care (OSC) for children over 4 in the UK. Part of the project is to propose an online platform which would allow parents to easily find and access childcare, as well as providing a forum for parents to discuss issues relating to OSC. We’re really keen to hear as many thoughts and opinions from parents as possible, so it would be great if you’re interested and have a bit of spare time to answer any or all of the questions below. Any responses we get would be very useful in guiding our research, but answers will remain anonymous (no usernames/identifying information will be included in research).

1. Are you a parent of a child/children aged 4+ years old?

2. How do you (or how would you hypothetically) find OSC?
a. Word of mouth
b. online website/forum
c. social media
d. school

3. What kind of care do you use for your children's time outside of school?
a. Nannies
b.school providers
c.other private provider
d.informal

4. Would you be willing to pay any subscription for an efficient online service devoid of agency fees?
a. yes, weekly
b. yes, monthly
c. yes, annually
d. no

5. What would be the main aspect you are looking for in an online forum for OSC?
a. A database of information on OSC
b. Information on policy change and activism related to OSC
c. a discussion page where I can talk to other parents
d. finding available OSC providers

6. Do you feel like you have enough information and a clear idea on the OSC available to you within the UK ?
a. Yes
b. no
c. more or less
d. other

7. What is your opinion on the current state of OSC in the UK?

8. What kind of information would you want to have availability to?

9. Who is the person in the household that takes care or organising OSC?

10. Is it difficult to find OSC for a more specific age-range?

11. What information would you need to have readily accessible in a forum for OSC?

12. What are your main expectations for this sort of forum?

I'm amazed by your list of options nannies listed ofsted childminders omitted yet most wrap around care is provided by after school clubs then childminders.
Lists of ofsted registered providers are available from local councils and private businesses like childcare.co.uk and pacey.
By law all paid for non family childcare for under 5s that is in the providers own premises must be registered if it exceeds 2 hours a day. Many school clubs do not cater for under 5s.

OP - you'll get more responses if you set up a proper survey.
This site here is the easier to create one on and it very straightforward, although your dissertation supervisor should be able to assist you if you're stuck.

www.surveymonkey.com

But yes, you need to expand section 3. So, (a) Nannies (b) before/after school clubs (c) Childminders (d) informal e.g. friends or family (e) other and then a text box to write in what form e.g. au pairs.

Good luck with the dissertation.