Impossible to find an afterschool nanny in Windsor...

[Longtodolist]

Is it just me or is it incredibly difficult to find after-school /wrap around childcare outside the bigger cities? I'm a single parent and have just moved to Windsor from London and don't have any family nearby. I have tried various apps, childcare platforms and agencies to try to find a nanny/housekeeper who can cover 16:00 - 20:00 each day, with the option of some additional hours to take it to 25 hours per week, and then longer hours during the school holidays. Most of the apps seem to cover London only and the agencies have said that part-time nannies are like gold-dust and there is a gap in the market due to restrictions on au-pairs after Brexit.

The only thing I haven't tried is facebook - but I came off it 10 years ago to improve my health and privacy and I'm reluctant to rejoin.

What do other people do in this situation? Is there another route I should be looking at? My office is in London (I only need to go in once a week) and I'm seriously considering moving again at the end of the school term to a bigger city such as Bristol, Oxford or Cardiff where there might be more people interested in a part-time job and I could offer longer hours because I would have a longer commute but it seems ridiculous to move house and change the kids school after only one term just because I can't find flexible childcare.

Sorry for the long post but I'm finding it all a bit stressful!

Have you tried word of mouth? Or class WhatsApp group?
Or ask someone to post on a local fb group for you?

From a nannies point of view; I can't take on an after school/wraparound job as I need to work near full time hours in order to pay my bills and mortgage. Because these jobs quite often need more hours in the holidays, I can't take on a second part time job in the mornings.
You might have more luck if you can keep the hours the same year round and use holiday clubs during the day.

What about an au pair?

Thanks for the suggestions -
@SheWoreYellow - the Class What's App group is a great idea but the school term hasn't started yet and I was hoping to organize things for the first week, otherwise I'm going to have to take time off work to cover 16:00-20:00 and then work from 20:00-midnight to make up the hours.

@ThisIsStartingToBoreMe - Brexit has unfortunately massively reduced the number of au pairs coming to the UK.

@NannyR - I agree that most nannies are looking for longer hours. We were lucky to have a brilliant nanny before the kids started school - 55 hours a week so more than full time. But we don't need those kind of hours now the kids are in school so I was hoping to find a student looking for a part-time role (this is what I did to pay my way through College).

I have a lovely woman to do afterschool I put up a post on local facebook group. She brings her own child though (same age as my middle child) which made it more appealing to her. Very much a babysitter rather than a Nanny (doesnt do homework or cook) more microwave and fun times. We hammer the homework on my days off/ do project stuff at weekend/ reading at bedtime.

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You pay full time hours all year round because you’ll need full time in school holidays anyway

I presume you have tried ChildcareCoUk and have tried looking for a childminder instead of a nanny.

I do part-time nannying but I do whole days, not just before/after school care. I'm not sure who a 4pm-8pm job would suite - maybe a college student but they may not have finished college in time.

ThisIsStartingToBoreMe - Brexit has unfortunately massively reduced the number of au pairs coming to the UK.

But you only need 1. I'd go back and look at that option to be honest. And brexit hasn't had any impact on au pair's outside the EU so you've still got all those candidate's

Those are really long hours for a student and not what I'd consider after school care. I'm guessing you want them to do dinner and bed too which is really more of a nanny role.

I have had no trouble in a much smaller place than Windsor getting a childcare student to do school pick up until 6-6.30pm.

Are you looking for a babysitter + housekeeper? This might be the issue as both as one person is hard.

Also try nextdoor.co.uk. This seems to have a lot of interest.

After-school nannies are really hard to find as nannies don't generally want to work those hours. A nanny with their own child might possibly be interested? Otherwise most after-school childcare comes in the form of clubs or childminders.

When DSS was young, his Mum wanted a nanny for after-school so she just had to pay a full time nanny who walked the dog, did ironing etc during the rest of the day.

It’s not being in Windsor. I’m in London and know loads of families looking for what you describe - we are all struggling.

I think it’s particularly difficult this year due to 1) no new au pairs 2) brexit/covid causing a lot of people to move back home and 3) lots of people who’ve been wfh during covid and getting by without childcare or on after school clubs, now realising they are back to commuting and will need longer after school care,

I do think there's also extra pressure as so many after school care clubs have shut down and never reopened. So many families need care and you're competing with them to find a suitable candidate.

how about a child minder?

I work as an after school nanny (full time in holidays) and bring my daughter with me. If it's something you'd consider feel free to pm me a link to your ad if you'd like me to share it in one of the nanny with own child Facebook groups.

We have an after school 'nanny' who is a student. She's young (18) but picks up the kids from school, walks home/takes to park, plays with them/supervises TV watching and makes them pasta or similar for tea. She has charge of the kids but either DH or I are WFH so in the house. She doesn't put the kids to bed but will start the wind down for bedtime.

We had to be flexible and take the days she didn't have classes/placements but it's great so far.

We got our first mother's help from childcare.co.uk around 5 years ago which was a similar set up (a student teacher) and then this one was word of mouth through her. We've also had a bit of success with the local nursery - some staff were looking to pick up additional hours but obviously it is only on days they finish before 6pm.

We're in a small commuter town for Edinburgh and childminders are practically non-existent. We've had loads of trouble getting a cleaner as well, it is a different kettle of fish compared to the city.

Do you need to 8pm every day or just the day you go in? Most cms will do until around 6pm some later and would maybe consider 1 day a week....look at childcare.co.uk

I think perhaps you need to look at how the role is coming across in terms of how much you are asking the person to do. I think a lot of people who can do those hours might already have a job, and when I worked in childcare, I didn’t really want to take an extra evening job that involved doing homework with the children, cooking, tidying up/light housework and prepping the parents’ meal. A lot of people did seem to expect too much.

Apologies if that isn’t the case, but you might get more applicants.

A further thought: do some maths and see how many hours/week you are offering on average through the year. If you need full time during school holidays, and especially if it’s private school/longer holidays, you may find you are edging closer to 30/35 hours on average which is what some nannies seem to be looking for as a minimum. If you are above 30 hrs average and point this out in your advert you may get more interest.

We have just found our after school nanny through childcare.co.uk. So would definitely recommend that route.

We have just found our after school nanny through childcare.co.uk. So would definitely recommend that route.

That's a really helpful recommendation, thank you. I had a quick look at childcare yesterday as from next week I'll be needing a new after school babysitter.

OP, have you thought about approaching the local college? I’m sure there’s a education/childcare type of course, if not in Windsor, in the Langley campus, so you might find a student or someone who’s just finishing?

Thanks for all the suggestions.
@minipie, that's a really good suggestion about the 30-35 hours average across the year as the role is more hours than that. I am going to amend my ad on childcare.co.uk

Tbh it was difficult before brexit. We moved out of London 9 years ago and ended up building a flat above the garage for an au pair as the only after school nannies we could get weren’t great.

Personally, I’d get a nanny for the full day when you’re in London. They can do kids rooms/washing/prep stuff etc when kids are at school and you’ll be covered for sickness. I’d then ring around all the local babysitting agencies and see if any will do school pick ups. You’re not going to get the sand person each week, but it’s better than nothing.
If you’re really struggling, use sitters.co.U.K. they won’t pick up from school, but will be around if you pick up abs then need to work.

Is it just me or does anyone else find it annoying the when paying rent or mortgage or any bills for that matter companies don’t get that you can only pay a third to half in term time. Because your employer only pays you for a few hours before and after school.
Of course you could get a second job to fill the school hours but when the children are sick or off for teacher days you are expected to cover. Plus what jobs are there between 10 and 2 on?
I know a nanny my employer doesn’t realise I’m human and have to pay bills etc ha ha ha !!!!!
Yes you won’t find many people who can survive on silly wrap around hours . Use school wrap around care, or pay a childminder.