A Mum here completely new to the world of childminders

[Rollergirl1]

My DD will be starting school in September and be mornings only for the entire first term. She currently goes to a private nursery 3 days a week, as does her 23 month old DS. The nursery are offering morning or afternoon sessions to cater for children starting school part-time but this arrangement will be no good for me as I have no means of picking DD up from school and getting her to Nursery on the days that I work.

So I think my only solution is to go down the childminder route. And if I am doing it for my DD then it seems sensible for my DS to go too.

My question is will a childminder pick up a child from school at lunchtime if it's very likely that they will be collecting again at usual school end? And do you pay the childminder for the time that your child is at school or only the hours that the children is with the childminder? And finally what kind of timeframe should I be working to for placing my children in Aug/Sep? Am I too late trying to sort out now or do I still have time?

As your child won't be attending school F/T at first, you might find it difficult to find a CMer with a space

A couple of years ago I had 19 enquiries for that sort of care.

Generally with under 5's (or more correctly Early Years Children) you can have 3 under 5 - but your DD will take up a space

Will your CMer be dropping off as well if so I would plan on paying for the whole day

Once your DD is in school F/T she moves age band and you should just pay for before & after school

I have had a booking for September since October last year, but I will have a space I imagine

Good luck

I negotitiated payment for the time that the child was with me whilst the child was doing pt school hours, and yes I would do 2 pickups a day because it will be for a limited period.

No payment for the time the child is at school because the parents took responsibilty in this case for their child when at school. If you want the CM to be first contact ( and some Cms don't like doing this because of bringing sick children into their setting) then you may be asked to pay for the service.

You need to get your skates on though, because you will need to think about settling the child/ren in ( sorry, am being a bit thick and can't decide if you want to place 23 month old with CM too)with as long a lead-in as you can, so for a Sept start I would want to start settling in from say the begiining of August.

HTH

I would do it. For half days I would charge a whole day, but once in full time school, they are only charged for before and after school. Hope this helps.

Thanks for your responses, really appreciate it.

Katymac: Do you mean might be difficult getting a cm with a space because she will take up one of the under 5 spaces rather than the next band up? I would need the cm to drop off too.

BALD: Am still undecided about whether to move DS from the nursery but seems daft for me to be dropping both children at different locations in the morning. And if DS was at a cm instead of Nursery he could (place permitting) attend the pre-school for the school which is something that my DD has missed out on.

I have got a list of the closest, registred childminders from the DirectGov website. Are there any other places I can get lists from?

Contact your council Families Information Service for the childminder vacancies list.
DirectGov still is not fully operational in all areas and may contain inaccurate information and may be missing information.
DirectGov should give you the contact details for your local Families Information Service.

Your DD's school may be able to give you a list of local CM's, you can also contact your local Sure Start centre, if you have one and The Families Information Service will send a list of all carers that collect from your DD's school.

WRT charges if I drop off and collect I charge whilst child is at other setting. If I collect only I charge from point of collection. When at school I charge for time child is in our care.

You will be looking for 2 places, both in EY age group so if I were you I would get a serious wiggle on.

The other option is for you to take one early years space for your dd & then when she starts full time school is to move your ds into that early years space. Then you will be only doing the double drop off for a limited period of time, using only one early years space which would be more appealing/possible for a childminder who would also like the idea of continuity of care for a family & use of an early years space for a longer period of time.

But I do agree with the others start looking now as before/after school spaces, especially when part time do get taken up quickly.

The reason I think it might be difficult is that lots of parents using FT childcare end up with this sticky predicament when they start school

It makes those places very much in demand

Nannynick: When I look at my council website (Surrey County Council) for the Families Information Service it directs me back to the DirectGov website I have already mentioned. I have found a Family Information Directory that gives me pretty much the same list of childminders but doesn't tell me any information with regards to vacancies.

I have emailed a whole host of childminders that are close to the school. Fingers crossed I can sort something out.

Badgerhead: Yes that could definitely be an option. I guess the main thing for the immediate future is sorting the appropriate wraparound childcare for my DD. DS can stay put if need be.

Surrey are hopeless, I've been moaning at them for a while now. Its better than it was but not great. If you email Surrey FIS or call them they should be able to help. Vacancy detail may not be that uptodate as it needs providers to tell them regularly.

[email protected]
0300 200 1004
www.surrey.gov.uk/fis

Thanks for that Nannynick.

I have actually just had a call from one of the childminders that I emailed telling me that she doesn't have a place but she is going to circulate my details amongst her childminding group and thinks there are a few cm's she knows of who may be able to help.

Much appreciate all your wise words Mumsnet.