Complete novice re childcare - what do I need and how much will it cost?

[sinkingfast]

I'm looking at taking a 3 day a week job 9-5. I've got three children and ideally, I'd like someone who could collect them from school, take them to any activities and possibly feed them - doesn't matter whether at my house or theirs.

What different childcare options do I have and how much is each one likely to cost? Am in the Home Counties.

Thanks very much

What activities?

What about when school is closed / school holidays?

What time would you be back from work... before 6pm?

What age are the children? If you are not prepared to give actual ages... how many are under age 8?

Are they all at the same school? How soon till one child is at another school (eg when moving from Juniors to Senior).

Options I think from info so far would be:
After-school nanny
Childminder

May be hard to find an after-school nanny who wants to only do say 3pm-6pm - 9 hours per week. Cost could be around £100 per week.

For childminder costings, look at listings on ChildcareLink. Not all childminders list there and those that do don't always give cost details.

Oh thankyou - sorry was doing the bedtime run.

Ages are 10, 8 and 5 - activities are various on one, possibly two days - the person would need to drive (which I guess would rule out quite a few possibles).

I'd look at something different for holidays & school closures - friends/relatives and holiay clubs.

I was wondering whether students would be interested in this kind of thing (although the driving would obviously be an issue)?

Would childminders be willing to take to/collect from activities though?

So as you want activities - I guess that rules out the majority of childminders.

An after-school only nanny is a possibility. They may well be a part-time student.
Are you in an area where there are some further education colleges? If so could be worth getting in touch with the colleges to see if they have an on-site job centre, notice board in the college library, or other such places you could advertise. Also local internet sites could be worth a try for placing a classified ad.

Do you have the space & patience for an au pair? You could get some help with cleaning then too! If not nannynick is right, after school nanny is the way to go.

A nanny is someone you employ so you would need to do tax deductions etc via PAYE scheme (all very easy apparently as inland revenue help lots. Also there are companies that do it for you, at a cost.). I work as an after school nanny in Bristol and I get paid £8 per/hour gross.

Au Pair, is someone usual with little childcare experience who come to the UK to learn English. They live in and work 20-25 hours a week, and they can do childcare and cleaning. I think they cost about £70 a week but not sure.

Goods luck!

Thank you both, that's really useful