Can't find anyone to do school run - please help!

[katalex]

I work full time - 3 days at home and 2 days in London. My manager lets me do the school run when I'm working from home. My sister is currently helping me out on the days I'm in the office but she can't always do it and she is moving several miles away in a couple of weeks. Dh can work from home but often has meetings that he has to attend in person, so most of the time we can muddle through but sometimes I have to tell my boss that I can't make it into the office. My company closed the building I was working in back in April and I found a temporary internal job to keep me going for a bit. Pretty soon I'll have to find another job and most likely it will be 5 days a week out of the house so if I can't find anyone to help me I'll be in trouble because my dh's wages don't cover all of the bills.

I've contacted 27 childminders within a 2 mile radius of our house and the school but they all go to other schools. The school suggested the name of a childminder who goes there but I found out from CFIS that she's not registered anymore. The school won't have breakfast/after school care until October 2010 and there are no local nurseries that drop off at or pick up from our school.

I've contacted CFIS several times and they have given me some contacts, all of whom have said either that I should contact the CFIS or they are unable to find anyone either. Are there any alternatives to cm and nursery?

Does the school have a weekly newsletter you could advertise in, the rules regarding childcare are different if its for less than 2 hours so worth looking into someone already at the school.

Check the other childminder becuse if she only cares for over 8's she does not have to be ofsted registered.

That's a good idea Dan, I'll ask in the office.

Dd's 4. Perhaps I can ask her if she would consider re-registering with Ofsted.

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I know it is meant to be registered now, but this is real life. What about another mum? There must be someone nice who would do it to be kind or for a few quid in the household kitty.

Thanks for the suggestions. I need someone to look after dd from 7:30am til school time and then from school pick up til 6 or 6:30pm (depending on when dh finishes work) and give her some tea, so teenager not really practical (not that I know any). I'm sure it would be ok to ask another mum in an emergency (iykwim) but ideally I need someone 2 days a week every week, potentially going to 5 days a week depending on what work I find (if any). Dh only works from home when he has to. He needs to be in the office most days. I might ask some of the other mums if they know of any childminders - I only know 2 of them to talk to so far as dd has only been in reception for 5 weeks. Maybe one of them will say that they're willing to help out or know of someone who can, even if it's not completely official.

maybe see if any uni or sixth form college childcare students would be interested - ring local sixth form college and ask the tutor for the childcare course someone maybe near you who would welcome the experience and pocket money - would be looking to pay about £50 a week for the hours you want for a childcare student equally they maybe able to do more hours in schools hols (obv for bit more money)

are you in outer London? if so try simply childcare (google it) - you can place an ad and read everyone else's ads.

or try gumtree or nannyjob.

given all the other options you've tried it sounds to me like your only real option is to basically employ someone. you should be able to find someone using the above, or local ads, but if it came to it you could try an agency.

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If someone comes to your house and looks after dc before and after school - then they dont need to be registered... advertise for a school before and after nanny?

Thanks guys, will definitely try all of those suggestions.

hatwoman - I'm in Kent but not far from some towns which I think are considered to be outer London.

A part time nanny? Might appeal to a nanny who wants to bring her own child with her.

Do you have space for an au pair?

give the people at Simply Childcare a ring - the are incredibly lovely and helpful - when I used them a few years ago they did some parts of, for example, Kent, Surrey, Essex - and I know they were trying to expand, so you could well be in luck. (It's a listing magazine basically - nannies/minders/mothers' helps etc put ads in and families can put ads in too>

another idea might be a try to find a nannyshare - maybe someone who has a pre-schooler and would like to cut the cost of a nanny a bit? (and that might work well for school holidays too). I'm sure there's a nannyshare website and you could advertise/ask around at school.

we found people to help out on gumtree - I think from my experience that the evening is much easier to find than mornings - try gumtree - had loads of relies from this - sometimes suits nanny with own baby or school finishing times permitting nanny with a school age child.

The cm you found - is she not registered with Ofsted, ot is it that she's just not registered on the CFIS database .

I ask because I am very definitely still Ofsted registered but choose not to be registered on the 'available' list with our local FIS because I believe they give too much info out on their listings - and they hadn't sent anyone my way in 2years when they had my details anyway.

Worth checking out maybe...

I found a uni student who lived around the corner. She was happy to come in and give DS1 his breakfast, play with him for a bit then walk him to school. It didn't interfere with her day and she made a bit of money - she did come recommended though as she babysat for friends.

If there are any colleges near you offering childcare courses it might be appealing to a student to get some experience and cash?