After and before school care only

[GraciousPiglet]

Hello hoping people can help me here.

I'm a teacher and I need to leave the profession. I am hoping to take a year to retrain in some way. Into something not childcare or education based.

In the interim, I was considering setting myself up as a childminder who only offers before and after school care. There is a real demand for this where I live. I would just be looking to make a bit of money each month to keep me ticking by whilst I retrained.

What are the logistics involved here? I assume I need to be ofsted registered etc? I would not care for any children under the age of 4 so I assume that makes some difference? What do I need to 'offer' in terms of learning? Anything? Obviously I wouldn't just plonk them infront of the TV and would organise things for us all to do like baking or craft, but I know that childminding young children involves working to the EYFS and keeping records of progress etc. Is it similar with older non EYFS children?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Not planning on starting anything until covid is very much under control so that doesn't need to be a consideration.

They have done their learning at school it’s about fun.

I do a mix of structured activities crafts , painting, games,outdoor playboy free play is also really important they have been told what to do at school all day.

The children here do a lot of role play. Also very important to deal with what is going on. Kiddo zoom yoga we often do before school.

Yes you need to register with Ofsted,

Have you thought of becoming a nanny instead of a childminder?

A friend of mine was a childminder but only took teachers children, so she could have half term off with her own children!
I don't see why you couldn't dictate which hours you work - obviously pay will be less than a full day though. I think you need to contact your local council who will advise on health and safety and other things needed to start up.

Parents will love you! A teacher supervising homework sounds ideal. Bit of tea, chill out with games, dvds etc. Don't overthink the activities. A bit of down time after school is what's needed. A trip to the park on the way home from school?

Yes - register with ofsted. Lots of childminders do this. Reception children count in your 5+ ratios, but are still in early years until they're 5, so you'd need to be on that register.

As I entered early retirement this is what I chose to do.
With the best will in the world I assured parents that I would do my best to oversee school/homework but the children were certainly NOT interested in this after school. Practising spelling and simple maths was a lot easier before school.
I had parents enquire about a hot meal and others saying they wished their child to not eat or just have something light. This proved to be a little challenging as I would have some children eating me out of house and home on too many carbs. (I decided to go down the route of free snack after school) because they weren't allowed to eat when they got home and others only wanting a packet of crisps because they wanted to play and their parents had warned them not to eat too much. I always checked with parents that offering occasional crisps was acceptable. .Fresh fruit was always offered (peeled and chopped) but not always appreciated. Grapes were favoured so I always had those available.When I restart I will only offer a hot meal and provide a typical meal plan to parents to overlook.
Late payments were a problem with some parents who kept ''forgetting'' to pay on time but this was easily solved when reminded face to face.
Only one parent (had a lovely child) became a problem and constantly tried to ''haggle'' i.e paying for 10 minutes less as she was early. I would recommend charging a set amount for a session and being very firm in the formal contract.
Hope this helps although I have just realised it's perhaps not what you were asking for!

No @fliss444 that was incredibly helpful!

My intention would be to offer a hot meal as standard to those who stay past 5pm and just a snack for those note. I'd be feeding my own kids anyway and would make the meal during the day.

I like the idea of supervising homework but I think practicality wise it's not doable. I could happily provide a space for them to do their work but that's about it, as the house I can imagine would be quite noisy and the space I have to work in is in the middle of it all!

Can I ask how much you charge and how much you earn after all expenses etc?

It actually sounds a lot more straightforward than I was expecting!

I don't want to be a Nanny @diverseduvet as I want to work from my home and do thinks by my rules. I also have my own two kids to look after. I don't have a huge house, I wouldn't be able to have that many children, 4/5 maximum I think.

Would definitely do trips to the park in the summer etc and lots of nice chilled activities like I do my own kids once school is over. I'm glad it doesn't have to be formal at all. I know if I was sending my son somewhere I'd want him to be able to chill infront of the TV for a bit too if he wanted. A home away from home with a familiar face and a family feel. That would be my intention.

It sounds quite promising. Just have to look at the figures and work out how much time I need to do the course and make sure it allows enough time for that.

I guess parents might be a bit reluctant to sign up if they only knew I'd be in business for a year though... Hadn't thought of that

Hi @GraciousPiglet.

Last March I was charging 4.50 an hour with a free snack and basic breakfast (Cereal,toast,fruit,etc.). The children usually had their breakfast before arriving or brought their own. This is the average hourly rate where I live. I later discovered that a childminder local to me charged a flat 9.00pounds for a 2 hour session with extra for a late pick up. Earnings are very dependant on how many children you care for. I had 5/6 children on average per afternoon and 3 for drop off. I only provide wraparound care (not holidays) and didn't work on a Friday.

I've just completed a tax return (well my husband did it!) and will not need to pay any tax.

If /when I open up the business again I may consider charging a little extra for a hot meal but will check the local market first.

There is a huge demand for wraparound care and not enough childminders providing this care in my area.

Re you informing parents that you are only going to do this for one year perhaps you could say you MAY/POSSIBLY only do it for one year?

When I had my Ofsted visit prior to opening the lady said that at the end of the day parents just want their child to be safe and happy and this has proven to be the case.

I have missed my little ones and hope to manage another couple of years prior to retiring completely.

COVID has been tough on children and whenever I see a parent they tell me how missed I am. It makes it all worthwhile.

@fliss444 thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Currently the school charges £8 for breakfast club and £15 for after school club. Flat rates and no food provided bar a slice of toast at breakfast club.

So £4.50 an hour sounds about right. I suspect I could charge slightly more than after school club as the demand is definitely there and I would definitely offer hot food to those who wanted it.

Since Covid I no longer offer wraparound care for school children, preferring to look after EYFS only & I reduced my working week too. I found it very restrictive with getting my own children to routine GP or dentist appointments when there were so many parents to inform, different finish times etc especially when I was extra busy during school holidays. I also found it hard coming home with so many children when I’d been looking after under 5s all day starting at 7am. My house is much calmer now especially with lockdown 3 having home schooling going on & dh working from home, it was the right decision for me.

Your ASC charges the same as ours/mine and I charge £10 before school (don't do hourly as someone paying £4.50 could take a place) and £18 after school until 6pm or £25 for both and although more than the school club I always have a waiting list. Seriously consider whether you want to do doing a hot meal - don't underestimate the pain of a group of fussy children, big appetites, cost of food, mess and time away prepping/serving meals I say this as someone who recently finished a bit earlier and stopped hot meals and my life is transformed!

I agree about the hot meals. They will all be STARVING after school, so give them a snack then and let them go home for tea.

I’ve found our wraparound school children want to either have a chance to run about outside or to play computer games (when given completely free choice). Obviously we have crafts, board games, books, gardening and other activities available but the children themselves would favour those. None of them are interested in being helped with homework they just want to chill and play. As a child I’d have wanted a quiet space to read a book for an hour.