Is this OK for a babysitter?

[Frog253]

Am returning to work in April and DS2 is going to a CM who doesn't want to do the school run.

I don't want to find another CM but I thought a babysitter could pick DD and DS1 from school and bring them home for me. She would be with the children for no more than an hour three times a week.

Does this sound reasonable, are there any issues regarding babysitters that I should be aware of or could be as simple and as informal as I am hoping?

Sounds possible, I used to do that a long time ago (would collect one child from nursery, one from school, take them both to Ballet lesson, then home for tea).

Your problem I suspect will be in finding someone who could do it. Do you already have someone in mind? Are they well known to you and your children?

You will need to notify the school as to whom is picking your children up. School may want that in writing, just for their records. They may not be prepared to release your children into the care of an under 16 year old... how old is the babysitter?

Thanks for your fast reply. I do have someone in mind and will give her first refusal of the job, she's at least 16 and lives around the corner.
I know that a babysitter works in your home but it's the walk from school to home that I am thinking about, can this still be classed as babysitting?

Babysitting, Nannying, Mothers Help... whatever you want to call it - all the same thing really I feel.

What you don't want to fall under is Childminder Registration. In England that only applies when someone is providing care for a child in their (the carers) home, rather than in the child. Also the care must be for 2 or more hours a day.
So the person you have in mind won't be considered to be a Childminder, as they will be caring for your children at the "child's own home" rather than at their home.

Thanks NN, it's just as I hoped.