I need an after school nanny type person - where's the best place to look/advertise?

[flashharriet]

My eldest is 10 and my youngest is 6 and they have told me unanimously that they dislike the afterschool club they currently attend. I am looking to up my hours but I really want them to be happy when I'm not there. We've talked about it and ideally, they'd like to come home and be cared for here by someone, rather than go to a childminders or stay at school (this would also work better when the oldest goes to secondary school).

Are afterschool nannies like gold dust? Would students be interested do you think? Where should I look? How much would I be paying per hour do you think?

N.B. we don't have any space for an au pair.

Thanks very much

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in your position we had an afternoon nanny who wanted to bring her own child to work. she came in at lunchtime and did the child related housework and then the after school stuff. she also did extra hours in the holidays when the children were off school. we paid £7.50 per hour (this was several years ago) and found her through an agency.

That's really helpful, thank you - hadn't thought of someone with their own child(ren).

Watching this one as well, as in same position.

Does anyone have any advice about issues to do with liability and insurance. My childminder's baby nearly had an accident at our house last week when he pulled something off the wall and it nearly fell on him. He was fine, thankfully, but it has made me worry about whether we need any insurance and what we're liable for.

I would suggest contacting the local college and asking if any childcare related students would be interested in an after school job they would be 16-18yrs old and guess you would pay around £4 per hr so if 2 and half hrs an eve that £10 a eve, £50 a week for an after school babysitter. As they would be doing a childcare related course they would needa crb for their placements so you would have no concerns there.

The other alternative is a nanny with own child who would be looking for part time work and pay could be around £7-£8 net an hr.

you could try gumtree or nannyjobs - tho' the competition for after school nannies is fierce. we lined up an au pair to do the job. (I know that is not an option for you). As soon as she found a 'nanny' job elsewhere paying her for two full days, as opposed to four days of 3+ hours, she backed out. It is appallingly hard trying to find people who will do the afternoon schoolrun as the hours knock out virtually all better paying jobs they could be doing.

you could put an ad up at the kid's school, there might be some teaching assistants or other parents looking for after school work.

It depends on what you are looking for and where you are. I'm an after-school nanny, in Ealing, which may be too far for you. It is also important to make sure that anyone you are selecting, knows what kind of care you expect in school holidays. This can be full-time, or if the children go to playschemes, it could be the same sort of hours.

In my previous job, I did before and after school care term time and then a few extra hours in the hols, to take them to playscheme and collect them again. I also got paid for the holidays when they were away. If you don't need your nanny during holidays, you might find you have to pay a retainer, usually about 50%.

You would also still be liable for their tax and NI unless they were self-employed. I am self-employed as when I started this line of work, I also had a daily maternity position.

You could perhaps consider a share arrangement for after-school, or an arrangement with someone who does mornings in another job, or works a few hours during the school-time. If your employer allows childcare costs, it would be worth getting an Ofsted registered nanny, as they will allow you to use childcare vouchers and will meet certain standards in terms of qualifications, insurance, crb, first aid etc.

Two good sources of information you could try are:
www.simplychildcare.com [they have a very good childcare information pack available] and www.afterschoolnannies.com

HTH

School newsletter, local newsagents, local college recruitment office (not sure if all colleges have such things, so maybe the college library), parish magazine.

bosslady1 - not sure why your childminder was at your home. Maybe you meant your nanny. Insurance wise you are covered under your home contents policy - check with your provider for full terms of what they do and don't cover with regard to visitors to your home.

Thanks everybody, there's some really good advice and info here - will start looking!

when i was a uni student i did just this for a local family, was a great job. Picked children up from school brought them home on the bus, let them be in their own house, cooked tea, mum and dad came home at about 6.30, off i went. If you have a local uni might be worth seeing if they have a jobshop you could advertise in, esp if you don't need the summer hols. I was paid £4/hour.

Worked brilliantly 15 h a week work, paid for my weekend drinking money without eating into my socialising time.

The parents found me through the playscheme i was working at as a holiday job. So had a CRB.

Although should just add my uni degree is in engineering so i wasn't a childcare course.

I did the same at college. I looked after a 9 year old girl after school for 4 days a week. The family found me through a sports club that the child and I both attended and which I sometimes coached at. I was paid £5ph and that was 6 years ago. Do your children attend any clubs where there are helpers? This could be a good place to start looking. Summer holiday work is also ideal as students are free then also.
My course was not childcare related.