If Your School Doesn't Have After School Club What Are You Doing?

[roses2]

My two children go to a small school in London which doesn't have after school facilities.

There used to be a fitforsport at the school opposite and a walking bus service but this has shut down.

There is another local school 500m away which runs but doesn't offer a walking bus service to get the kids there (they used to offer the walking bus but stopped this due to lack of staff).

I used to use an after school nanny but she resigned two weeks ago. I've spoken to three more nannies but the entitlement is just jaw dropping (one wants zero hours type contract but based on when she is free, not me; one wants £20/hour and another wants 15 hours per week at £14/hour which I just don't need and I don't want to pay them to sit their on their phone whilst the kids watch tv and wind down).

I am guessing many others have the same problem. What are you doing to resolve this?? I need ideas :(

I WFH so I just pick my kids up now.

Most people I know use a childminder for wraparound care. I used to use a childminder before WFH.

The 15 hours a week @ £14ph Nanny sounds about right, no?!

Childcare/childminders in london are all approx £7 per child per hour, so the £14ph is reasonable to me, and what I'd expect to pay.

And 3-6pm is 3 hours. Doing that mon-Fri is 15 hours, so again, what I'd be expecting a Nanny to want.

What sort of hours were you looking for?

Use a childminder. Depending on where in London you are they are around £12 to £15 for a session often including food.

Childminder at £10 per child per day - picks up at 3:20 and I collect at 5:30

I'm paying my after-school nanny £15ph.

Like it or not, that's what the market rate is right now in London.

Most care-related roles are very difficult to recruit for right now, including childcare. Brexit, covid and cost of living increases all make these types of jobs unappealing, people who used to do them have either left the country or found better paid work. I work in social care and finding carers for any age group is extremely challenging now, we have to pay more and offer more hours just as you are finding.

I can understand wanting 15 hours a week, it's not worth it for someone to commute for just 1 hour a day, they might spend more time traveling than working. Plus they could easily find something else.

I did a job where dh worked during the day and when he came in, I went to my work so no childcare needed. It cost a hell of a lot in my lost earnings, but was worth it

an after school nanny is very restricted in what work they can find in the rest of the day - £14/hour for London sounds quite reasonable.

Have you looked at places like Koru Kids? Great for after school pick up and childcare. I doubt they're any cheaper than what you've been quoted but at least you'll find someone

An after school nanny for £14ph is a bargain around here (London too!). What hours do you need? I don't think 15 is unreasonable

You are paying for the convenience of having a nanny. You have to look at it that they can't get other work and therefore it has to be worthwhile for them. I know nanny families who pay for a nanny for hours they don't need to ensure they keep them and then they cover the holidays as well.

We use a Childminder. She collects child from school at 3pm and I collect child from her at 5pm. She charges £5 per hour (just outside London)

£14ph is £7 per child so not far off childminder rates and presumably similar to after school club rates? I don't see the issue? And why would they sit on their phone? As a nanny they would presumably be tasked with interacting with the kids, taking them places on the way home from school, preparing the children's meal?

How old are the kids?

The jaw dropping entitlement isn't coming from the nannies

That nanny rate and hours expectation sounds completely normal to me (in London). If the kids are watching tv the nanny still has to be there supervising them. In theory she could be taking them to the park/hosting play dates/facilitating extra curricular activities/doing activities with them and preparing their evening meal in that time.

Exactly this. It's not rocket science.

Imagine your job only needing you to do a few hours a week. How will you pay your bills? You can't just get jobs to fill in the time based on the hours that an employer needs.

I do an after school job once a week, in addition ti my FT position, and am paid £16. And no, I don't just sit on my phone 🙄

Our childminder quit but luckily we now WFH. DH and I blocks our diary on alternate days for school pick ups in the afternoon. I think you just have to pay the nanny.

I agree with the others that also with the nanny you can get your kids to do out of school activities and play dates. It's much better than a childminder.

Yes. I would have snapped off the hand of the £14ph nanny. If you have two children, any other form of childcare isn't coming in a lot cheaper.

As a childminder with a degree and loads of qualifications in various education related areas id love to know what that's based on. We do forest school, backwoods cooking, den building, trips out, homework and 11 plus prep, arts, crafts etc all in the fee 3 hours care in my area of London is £12 and you don't pay my NI pension, sickness etc....or my utility bills.

Well, the point of a nanny is you have control. You can do the activities your DC is particularly into and have playdates with the kids your DC want to. That's no disrespect to what a childminder can do, it's just the difference between being one of several people using a service vs employing someone who's dedicated to you.

@jannier i used a childminder so I have nothing against them. Mine was in fact very good. But the problem was that she only picked up at one time at the school and then walked all the children home. She can’t drive my children to gymnastics, dance, sports and music lessons. I would have these all after school if I could. The problem is I work so these are on the weekend. And music lessons at school. This limits the choices of after school activities the children can have.

The jaw dropping entitlement comes from the lady who wanted a contract based on when she is free, not when I actually needed her. She said she would tell me on a weekly basis what days she could do and expected from me that I would commit to use her on those days.

I think you're all correct that £15/hour and 15 hours seems to be the going rate for an after school nanny. I can't justify spending £225 per week on hours I just don't need.

The school has after school club until 6pm so I plan to put the kids there 1-2 times per week (£20-40 per week). It's just a pain because it's an offsite location they get bussed to so on those days they won't get home until 7pm as it's a bit of a trek from home.

Oh well. Only 5 more years left of this until DS starts secondary school and can make his own way home.

"The jaw dropping entitlement comes from the lady who wanted a contract based on when she is free, not when I actually needed her. She said she would tell me on a weekly basis what days she could do and expected from me that I would commit to use her on those days."

That's not 'entitlement' lovely, that's just someone telling you their terms and conditions. If it doesn't work for you, you just don't use their services.

15hrs a week at 3/6pm x 5 at £14/15gph sounds normal

how many hours do you need .

maybe a cm as cheaper as no tax ni or employers in and pension