After-school childcare in London

[Paulina23]

We have had a bad run with after school childcare this academic year. We use Koru kids which is generally pretty good, it just happened that the nannies did not stick around that long with other priorities coming up (family, job, Uni). We need to find a new nanny pretty soonish but it I literally cannot get anyone I have contacted to reply. Hours are pretty standard (3-4 hours a day after school until evening) so I assume the candidates must be inundated with offers from other family. How does every one finds it, is there an acute scarcity of nanny? Any similar agency to Koru in London to recommend?

Have you looked at childminders?

The problem is that it's tricky for the person to find other work that day, so their overall salary is very low. How much are you offering per hour? I'd say it needs to be upwards of £15 gross if you want someone to stay. Could you increase the hours with some cleaning?

Unfortunately there is so much demand for after school nannies, but the job itself is not very enticing as the very few hours are often not worth it. Things you could try:

• after school clubs?
• childminder (many offer after school care)
• a nanny share with a family with younger children
• offer a nanny-housekeeping position with more hours

Just to be clear, not looking at a professional nanny, but more a childminder who happens to be called an after school nanny on Koru. Most of the candidates have other occupations (notably student) or transition to another chapter of their career. The question was more if anyone feels that audience is now under increased demand, or is it just me being unlucky.

Childminders wouldn't normally advertise on Koru...to be a childminder you must be ofsted registered have you tried childcare.co.uk or your local authority

It’s because there are fewer au pairs and also more bar/restaurant/shop work too.
Flexibility might be the key..when you approach someone mention that you can be flexible on days for the right person.

@Paulina23

Just to be clear, not looking at a professional nanny, but more a childminder who happens to be called an after school nanny on Koru. Most of the candidates have other occupations (notably student) or transition to another chapter of their career. The question was more if anyone feels that audience is now under increased demand, or is it just me being unlucky.

A childminder won't be on Koru as an after school nanny, child minders work from their own home for several different families, hence why they charge less than a nanny.

You're going down the right path wanting students etc, but as you've said you're having problems with that currently, I think the fact that they are students just looking for extra hours means the commitment isn't there.

I think the ideal for you would be a TA, someone who works school hours but gets paid so little that they'll enjoy the extra cash to boost their incomes.

That being said, a lot of TAs are required to stay for hours past when the kids leave, meaning that is can be difficult to find someone who can collect at 3.30.

I did this for 4ish years, but it only worked because the child was at an after school club or FT nursery, so that I had to time to get the them after.

A website like childcare.co.uk would be your best best to find someone like this, or ever better a local Facebook group, as it's free! (I have many issues with childcare and the way it's run but that's a separate issue)

@Paulina23

Just to be clear, not looking at a professional nanny, but more a childminder who happens to be called an after school nanny on Koru. Most of the candidates have other occupations (notably student) or transition to another chapter of their career. The question was more if anyone feels that audience is now under increased demand, or is it just me being unlucky.

Childminders are a proffesion they must be ofsted registered to be a childminder, they have more regulations, checks and often more qualifications than people working as nanny's.

Try local childminders. Ask on local Facebook groups.

Does school have an after school club?

I’ve got mine from gumtree- you do have to work hard to get the right person. By this I mean you’ll probably need to meet lots of people but only find a small number who are suitable and of those a smaller subset who you actively think are brilliant. However for us it’s been worth it as I really need to feel confident in DCs care when I’m working and have had extremely positive experiences.

Over 7 years we’ve had 2 after school nannies both of whom were excellent with DC and have friendly warm relationships with us. Both have had portfolio careers (eg current nanny textile artist and this supports her as she becomes established) so part time suits them and also means they had flexibility if for eg we need full time during holidays. Because self employed we don’t pay pay their tax.

As I say you need to work hard and invest upfront but has been the best option for us.

I want to find a new after school arrangement and want to try an after school nanny but then I was reminded that I would have to sort out their tax and NI which will then become really expensive. This sort of arrangement really would work for our family though. Childminders often don't want to do after school pick ups, not when they could make more money by taking on other children who are there all day.

@WhenTheNightFalls

I want to find a new after school arrangement and want to try an after school nanny but then I was reminded that I would have to sort out their tax and NI which will then become really expensive. This sort of arrangement really would work for our family though. Childminders often don't want to do after school pick ups, not when they could make more money by taking on other children who are there all day.

Why do you say that? The normal ratio is 3 under 5 3 5 to 8 plus older children. School children do not normally impact on ability to take eyfs children.

@WhenTheNightFalls

I want to find a new after school arrangement and want to try an after school nanny but then I was reminded that I would have to sort out their tax and NI which will then become really expensive. This sort of arrangement really would work for our family though. Childminders often don't want to do after school pick ups, not when they could make more money by taking on other children who are there all day.

Nearly all the childminders, in my area including the one, I use will pick up from one and a maximum two primary schools. (There are a few schools that are basically right next to each other so this is why some do two.)

The ratios mean having older children if they will mostly entertain themselves and play with the one or more of the younger kids is good extra money. It is also a good experience for the younger children to do a school pick up especially if it involves a walk to and from a school.

Where childminders don't want to do the pick ups is if the parents are fussy or the individual child is poorly behaved, as their priority is rightly the younger children.

Most childminders around here are full or explicitly state they won't take school runs etc

@Paulina23 - hi OP - just wondering if you found a solution at all? I’m in a very similar position and struggling and wondering if there are any other agencies ( apart from advertising on childcare.co.). Also just looking for an after school nanny ( not a childminder)

I did eventually via the usual agency mentioned above, we shall see how it goes now, finding one is only the first step.