Childcare worries

[Pickledsquirrel]

Hi, I'm looking to get my daughter (3 in March) into Madley brook nursery/preschool in Witney but will need to find someone who could pick her up 2:45 - 4pm Monday - Friday and 8am - 4pm during the holidays.
I've tried the government website, the Witney childminders Facebook page but keep coming up blank. I don't have any mum friends I can go to for advice or recommendations, should I just wait until she is 5 and still have the same trouble but try and get her into Blake's School on Cogges???
Any advice would be great, it's stressing me out and just want the best for her

Hi OP.

Does the nursery not open any later than that to try and match when you're available to pick up your DD? What time do you finish work?

I would also echo same as PP, sounds like you may need a nursery that is open longer hours and during school holidays. This is why we personally couldn’t consider preschool.

I imagine many of us are in the same boat where have our kids in nursery for working hours and then we figure out what the hell to do when the go to school in a couple of years.

It’s tricky with the hours you need. During term time the childminder will only be caring for lo for 75 minutes but they will still take an EYFS place. Many minders have a minimum hour rule. Local to be it seems to be a minimum of 3 hours. You also need them to have the full time space in the holidays which many will find hard to provide unless they have term time only children. Collection time is also close to school run hours which again can be tricky. I would be inclined to either go to a childminder for the majority/all the hours or a nursery that opens all year round. If you choose a childminder you may get lucky in that care can carry on when little one starts school

I don't think you have a hope getting someone to do just over an hour every day, I'd look for an alternative setting. Or try and flex your hours so that you can do pick up and then an hour later in the evening if you can work from home.

Why on earth would you make your life more difficult than it needs to be? Put them in a proper nursery with extended opening hours. Mine stayed in their nurseries (open 51 weeks of the year 7-6.30) until they went to school and were really well prepared. They skipped nursery at their private school and joined in reception.

She's in a full time nursery in Oxford as I work in Oxford but live in Witney.
It's costing us over £1000 a month and it's crippling us financially but I can't afford not to work.
The one at Madley is attached to the school she will possibly go to but we will still be needing wrap around and holiday cover when she goes to school. We don't have any family or friends that can help either.

You may need to pay for a fulltime nanny or get an au pair, can't really think of another solution. It's the holidays that's the kicker.

Do you utilise tax free childcare?

Childcare is, and always has been, expensive. It's temporary though.

You say "us". Can one of you drop to 4 days a week?

I'd keep her in the full time nursery for now and make sure you are on the waiting list for wrap around childminder for when dd goes into Reception. You will get the funding 30 hours knocked off the full time nursery place fee. So should be a bit more affordable.

My dc both skipped preschool in their primary school for private preschool. Being in the school nursery doesn't give advantage for getting reception place here. Check this but I'd have thought your area no different.

Once mine were un Reception they could go to breakfast/ after school club and use holiday clubs. Much better than relying on a child minder. I wouldn't have chosen a school without wrap around. As soon as you have school place sign up for breakfast and after school club and research holiday clubs to book well in advance.

Op I understand nursery is expensive but what you’re saying is that you’ll need to pay for full time childcare regardless.

I would recommend you keep her in nursery for now. At the age of 3, full time childminder (if you could even find one) during the holidays won’t be stimulating enough for her.

As PP has said, in a few months you will be entitled to 30 hours funding which should help.

Reassess things when school comes. You may have the options of after school clubs and holiday clubs, and you’ll just need to tag team with annual leave. We are literally all in the same boat.

How old is she?
Will the private nursery give a fee reduction when she's eligible for her 15 hours early years funding the term after she's 3?

Ignore what I've just said, pp have says it better with more up to date information,

Why do you want only this nursery op?

All early years settings including pre-schools, childminders and day nurseries have to follow The EYFS .

If you are worried about the learning and development requirements of The EYFS and you are choosing the pre-school based on the early education it offers and this alone.

Look for a day nursery that can do the hours you need and ensure the pre-school room within the nursery is led by a qualified Level 6 person who has a degree and holds either EYT or QTS. Note if there is a qualified teacher in the room in a nursery they can work on a 1:13 rather than 1:8 ratio if working directly with the children.

Otherwise you will need to employ full time nanny, which will cost a lot more than your current nursery fees because the majority of people cannot survive financially on just one hours work per day, especially in COL crisis .

I wouldn't worry about her attending the pre-school attached to the school she might attend. My son attended a completely different nursery to the school he went to. It did have a pre-school, but the hours weren't long enough, so it was a no.

Suggest you repost with the area/name of nursery in the title, and also on local groups.

The school does offer breakfast and afterschool club but that's for the school aged children. He then attends a local holiday club in the school holidays

Thank you, I was also unsure whether to keep her in the one she is in now until she was ready for reception, I have no issues with the place she is in but wasn't sure if moving her to the one in Witney would be better or not so she could make friends in our area.

I already work 4 days a week and have condensed my hours, unfortunately my husband can't change his

Don’t worry about the ‘making friends’ issue. They are very young to be making proper friends at this age. Plus most kids don’t go to a preschool attached to a primary school and they are all fine. Most parents find preschool hours difficult to manage if they work.

Are you utilising the tax free childcare and the free 15 hours that are about to come in place? Understand its still a a couple of months away, but just wanted to check.

My work offers salary sacrifice and we will be registering for the 30 hours in February ready for the April term