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Paid childcare

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

What do I do next?.... (hand holding required!)

10 replies

laura032004 · 31/10/2007 09:36

I've found a nice sounding girl looking to start as an aupair mid-November (eek, just two weeks away!).

She's answered all the questions on the questionnaire well, sounds nice enough, and is really keen. I suspect that's mainly because her best friend is currently working nearby, and there aren't many aupair jobs in this neck of the woods. That's fine by me. Her friend isn't that close (train ride away), but I think it's great that she'll know someone nearby as DH will be home at the weekends, so hopefully it will give us some breathing space. She's agreed to a one month trial, as we've got somebody else potentially interested in starting in January, but DH is away for 3 weeks in November/December, so it would be great to have a spare hand then too.

Anyway, what do I do next? She's given details of two previous childcare roles, but has no written references? Would you try and contact them? She wasn't an aupair for them, more of a daytime babysitter I think. They're French families, and my French is v.basic.

Sounds a bit too easy to say yes, we'll see you on the 15th!

What do you do with regards to picking them up from airports? We'd happily pick up from Exeter, or even Bristol, but Gatwick / Heathrow would be a 8hr round trip for us, probably more like 10 hrs to arrive on time. Would you say that she needed to fly to a local airport, or get a train? Or would you pick her up from where-ever?

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Bienchen · 31/10/2007 13:04

Hi Laura,

I always contacted families for references. Even if your French is basic, it's worth for peace of mind.

Depending on where girl lives she may not be able to fly to a local airport close to you. I'd check whether you can fly from your local airport to one near her. Failing that, I think it is acceptable to send her a train or even National express coach ticket if her English is good enough to make the necessary connections. Just make sure there is enough time to catch trains/bus...

Good luck.

Lorayn · 31/10/2007 13:07

There are people who live in France/speak french on here that I would think would be happy to help you with the references.
I can think of one in particular but I'm always offering her up to people for advice!

ScaryScienceT · 31/10/2007 13:52

We are London area, so we just pick up from whereever, but you can ask her to take a train to get closer to you. This is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

It's a pity that she misses Eurostar in Waterloo by 2 days, otherwise it would be an easy walk along the platform to get a train to Exeter.

Families traditionally pay for the cost of transport within the UK - the aupair pays to get to London, for example, and you would pay the cost of onward travel.

As for references, I never bother with them.

laura032004 · 31/10/2007 17:48

She seems to have done a lot of travelling already with her degree, so I'm sure she could manage to get a train.

If anybody would like to offer to make a quick phone call for me, it would be much appreciated (when I say mine is basic, it's probably limited to asking for two coffees and the way to the swimming pool!). Would obviously pay for the phone call etc.

SST - what do you mean by the Eurostar? We are flexible with dates, so if this is something that would be easier....

Thanks for the idea that we pay for the travel in England. Seems like a good compromise if we can't pick her up in person.

Thanks for all the replies

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laura032004 · 01/11/2007 10:24

bump

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ExplosiveScienceT · 01/11/2007 10:29

Eurostar is moving from Waterloo to St Pancras on the 15th November.

DumbledoresGirl · 01/11/2007 10:32

If she is flying from Paris, she could definitely fly direct to Bristol airport. Dh does it all the time.

laura032004 · 01/11/2007 11:49

She lives in Nantes (how do you pronounce that?). I've suggested the ferry from Roscoff - no idea how viable that is. It's really cheap though - only £35 single. Multimap reckons it's 3 and a half hours from Nantes though. However, if she flies to a London airport, it will be an even longer journey in the UK, whereas the ferry brings her in 15 minutes from where we live.

Any ideas on how you check trains in France? Just wondering if she could get a train from her home to Roscoff. Sure she'll check all this out, but just like to know myself. She might be 20, but I'm still a mum. Should I try and drop that now?

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Weegle · 01/11/2007 11:55

Ask for email addresses for the references, then you can get a written translation.

Agree with the others, get her to use public transport to get as close to you as possible without unreasonable changes and pay for that part of the journey. Our German au pair wanted to fly to Stanstead whereas we live down the road from Gatwick so I asked her to take the train across London (which we would have paid for) because I didn't fancy the drive with my baby in the car. Surprise surprise she found a flight to Gatwick which just involved her travelling an hour from home in Germany rather than 10 minutes!

laura032004 · 02/11/2007 07:33

Her dad is going to drive her to Roscoff, so she's coming by ferry. Great for us

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