Could anyone give me some advice on Nanny Agencies?

[catrionasmum]

I am thinking about hiring a nanny , although I mainly need help during school holidays and it will be variable in the week.
My children are 12, 10 , 5 and 3, they are all in school/nursery in school terms and up until now we have managed with a combination of splitting our hols and my mum helping out.
My mum had just had a stroke and is quite ill, assuming she gets home she will not be able to- and I wouldn't expect her to, look after the kids.
However the Easter holidays are looming and i am starting to panic- is a nanny agency the best place to start and is this the kind of job that would appeal?
I would be really grateful for any advice.

I think first you need to firm up your ideas on what you need the person to do. I assume, from the variable hours, that it wouldn't be full time during term time? This is going to make it a less attractive prospect because the nanny wouldn't be able to have another job with fixed hours, especially if you needed them full time during the holidays.

With older children in school/nursery would you consider a less experienced nanny or an experienced au pair (au pair might not be an option if you don't have space for live-in or if you need homework help)? TBH even if it were full-time I doubt most nannies will want holidays and odd hours during the week although someone wanting to break into nannying might take your job.

You can usually find students looking for childcare work in the holidays, or sometimes nannies who work term time only and want to fill up their holidays.

If you need to find someone in a hurry and don't mind a temp then an agency will almost certainly have nannies on their books looking for work. If you want someone permanent then IMO it's better to spend the time advertising in as many places as possible (netmums, gumtree and nannyjob are all good options and will save you the agency fee).

Hope that helps!

Sorry to hear about your mum - hope she is recovering well.

Agencies are fine - but not all created equal imo. lots of them have good advice about what to do / think about on their websites before you start trying to find the right person. It is quite tiresome doing all the interviews but this is where an agency should have done some of the vetting for you. I would start with drawing up a list of what you need and want someone to do and the qualities you would like them to have. Do some research on interview questions (there is probably a page on here somewhere about this - someone will know I have only just come back to MN!)

I always think that getting a recommendation through someone you know and trust is the best option with childcare (I have a nanny one day a week and she came to us via this route) but understand it's not always possible. Do you know someone who may be interested in a nanny share or whose nanny is looking for extra hours?

One other thing to consider is finding a teacher who wants extra work in the holidays. I've considered this but not done it yet. If you look on gumtree or similar under work wanted you can sometimes find primary teachers who are looking for a few weeks of the school holidays which I think may work if you don't necessarily need or want to pay for a long term nanny even if only part time.

Alternatively what about signing some / all of kids up for an activity camp or sports course in your area for some of the hols if you can manage in term time?

Good luck!

Sorry to hear about your mum - I was going to say everything that Frakkin has already said.
From what I hear, agencies vary in usefulness. It might be worth posting your location on here to see if anyone can recommend a local agency. I found nannies via gumtree in the past but you have to wade through a lot of no-hopers to find the gold
Another thing to try maybe is putting the 10 and 12 year old into sports style holiday clubs for easter and seeing if you can find a childminder who has school hol vacancies.
If you have the space then I would say it would be an ideal job for an au pair - who would cover before and after school in termtime and increased hours in school hols (we book the kids in for clubs/sports sessions so the au pair doesn't have to look after them for a full day though).
Can you manage in termtime without help (is the 3 yr old in day nursery or the mornings-only type of nursery?)

Thanks very much, if we had someone full time, what would they do when the children are at school?
Would they can do children's washing , tidying rooms etc and be available if they are not fit for school ?

My problem with activity camps etc is I can't find one that takes 3 year olds and my local nurseries won't take for school hols only.

Thanks for all the advice, I must admit I am having trouble focusing on this as my mum has been so ill, hopefull things have stabilised now.

Sorry cross post- I am on the edge of Bradford,(west yorks not witshire!)
No space for an aupair and in bit of a backwater so not very appealing to one I would think!
I hadn't thought about childminders, will look up some local ones-as I say not thinking quite straight!
3 year old is in day nursery at the same school as the middle 2, eldest one at senior school and at Easter - everyone's nightmare of out of sync holidays to compound it all.

A full time nanny can do anything to do with the children while they're at school - all cooking, laundry, keeping their rooms tidy, organising school uniform/sports kits etc, buying presents, organising parties and playdates, taking them to dentist/doctor, looking after them while ill.

Most nannies would also be happy to stay in for deliveries, workmen, receive internet shopping too.