Do you have an after school nanny or housekeeper arrangement that WORKS? do tell...

[elliott]

Sorry for yet another thread (you can tell I'm preoccupied with my current childcare crisis!) but I am sure there must be loads of you out there in the same boat as me - I want to hear how you make it work!!
I need 2 days a week after school care for ds's aged 6 and 4, together with occasional full days during school holidays. I would really like this care to be with one person at home, so that there is flexibility about how they spend their time and they (and I!) build up a relationship with one person. it would really help if the person could hang around for a couple of years too!
If you've got something similar, please let me know - how you found them; what you pay and whether this is employed/self employed; how long they have been with you; whether they also do housework or just childcare; how you cope with varying hours in term time and school holidays...any problems/difficulties etc...

Thanks!

.

Have you thought of a childminder?
Mine does what you want and i feel my kids really enjoy the novelty of going to her house.
She is indecribably fantastic.

My friend found such a person via Gumtree. She was advertising for a live-out aupair, but got a lady who has a teenage son and an 18mo who brings younger child with her. She picks up children from school and takes them to their home and does homework, tea etc. She is also available during the holidays for various days/part-days. The parents still use their leave as well and the school run a holday club for some days each break. So far it has worked very well (and her ds1 has leaped forward at school as he isn't totally worn out after afterschool club).

Yes, I have thought of everything! But in the course of thinking about it I realise that I would much prefer someone at home, as we have now. There is also only one possible childminder available and she's not really all that near to our house - will certainly check her out though. I guess I thought that it might not be possible for them to do playdates or activities if the CM has other kids to think about...

Thanks Ladymuck - you don't happen to know whether this person is employed (i.e. they pay tax and NI) or do they just pay her gross for the hours done like you would a babysitter?

My children mix with other children at the childminders 9thus eliminating need for me to do tedious playdates!)
We are in a small village so they are all from the same place anyway.

elliott - I have that sort of arrangement, but different from what you want in that it isn't just 2 days a week and occasional holiday days: mine is 5 days/wk and full-time in holidays.

Point in telling you this is that the big issue with after-school jobs is that they are only part-time, so can't pay a living wage (unless you make it bogglingly well-paid for the hours) - and as absolute natural consequence of that, your catchment of applicants is limited: to people who (a) have another PT job/other kind of commitment & want to fill in the gaps (which naturally affects their flexibility); or (b) don't actually need to rely on your job but are doing it for extra pocket money (which might affect their reliability).

Which means that after-school people, even closer to FT like mine, are hard to find ... and your arrangement might be even harder. (PS - re pay: I do pay a nearish FT rate to my nanny, smoothing out a proper FT rate in the holidays to beef up her PT rate in term-time.)

But - that's not to say it's impossible - you can get lucky - like LM's friend - the "local granny nanny" is often the solution. Or student - are you near any colleges?

On the other side of the coin, if you were looking for PT morning help you'd be inundated with applicants, as those hours are when all your local au pairs (which, of course, all do the after-school stint in their host families) are free.

So ... have you considered an au pair?

Thanks Bink. Our current arrangement is with a nanny who had another 3 day a week job, so obviously we might be lucky and find someone else with a similar arrangement. I am planning to do a big recruitment push via agencies, gumtree and the local universities, but its a bit too soon to do that for Sept so I am reduced to sitting here worrying about it and wishing it was sorted (and asking mumsnet!)
I have thought about an au pair but can't really stomach the loss of privacy and hassle of looking for one for the amount of childcare we need...

I can't remember off the top of my head how much she pays but I know that when I heard the amount I clocked that it would have been above the tax/NI free amount, though we have very long school holidays (eg almost 4 weeks this Easter). However the parents are in a line of work where paying cash in hand wouldn't be disastrous, so it wouldn't surprise me if that is what they did.

OK - you're a forward thinker!!

I'll answer the qu's I left out - I found mine through an agency (KiwiOz): they were happy to recruit for me on my nearish-FT basis but I am not quite sure whether they would deal with v short-hours jobs - give them a call? - (if you're in London, that is); she is employed (eligible for childcare vouchers too); been with us 20 months, hope it continues; no general housework - but invaluable input on homework, which is the essential; no difficulties, 'cos she's fab.

We have tried Gumtree a few times and the quality of agency applicants was always higher. But I think Gumtree would be the right route for your mix-&-match search. Also, isn't there a nanny-share site called sharingcare or similar? - maybe that would also help.

Thanks LM. I am too law abiding to pay cash in hand unless it is legitimate - but have never quite got to the bottom of where the boundary is between cleaners and babysitters, who get left to sort out their own tax arrangements (or not!), and nannies who are employed. I suppose the thing to do would be to find the right person first and then take advice about whether they can be self employed.

Yes, nanny told us she had taken a new job for September last week, leaving me with far too long to have to cope with the uncertainty!
Recruitment is always hard because our nanny market is quite small and agency options limited - never get any hits on the nanny sharing site (Newcastle). tbh I think a postcard in the local shop might be as good as anything! I suppose I have to decide whether my prime need is for flexibilty (so maybe look for a student) or stability (so look for nanny share).

The other thing about my nanny which is pure bonus is that she has a flatmate who is a supply teacher - so when my nanny goes off on her honeymoon in May, her flatmate is already lined up to stand in for her.

So - worth getting to know the supply-teacher community? (Not sure if Newcastle has as big a one as London does.)

Yes, that's another good thought.

Another vote for gumtree which is how we found our student. The hours work for her (3:30 - 6:30 three evenings a week)and as she has no other work shes below the threshold for tax/NI complications - winners all round! As someone else said you are unlikely to get both flexibility and staying power, well be glad if she stays around for the next academic year but aren`t neccessarily expecting it. But the children have adapted really easily to changing after school care (she is the sixth in four years)and all prefer comng home to the after school club.....my older two (10 and 8) just need supervision and a meal making for them, but are happy to do their own thing in the house or outside after school.
Good luck with your search - something always comes up