Need general advice about nannies

[CagedBird]

Hi, I'm going to be needing childcare, before and after school and possibly holidays from September.

I have been a childminder before and was thinking simply of finding one but just wanted to find out a bit of information on nannies, as this may be a bit more appropriate.

i have 2 children 5 & 3 and both will be in school/nursery 8.50 - 3.15 and so would only probably need care from 8 - drop off and then pick up - 6.00 (probably coming home earlier but would pay til then).

My question's are:

would a nanny be more suitable?

Are they registered by ofsted (as I would need to claim for help with childcare)?

Do they charge more than childminders?

What is the average charge (I'm in Sheffield by the way)?

Any help much appreciated

Before and after school nannies aren't always that easy to find - you'd need to have someone local enough to you that they could do 50 minutes in the morning, then not want to work during the day. Maybe a student or a nanny with her own child would be a possibility to widen the pool of potential candidates. Would you need full time care in the school holidays?

Nannies can be Ofsted registered, but it's not mandatory - so you'd either need to advertise for someone who is already registered, or find someone who is prepared to get registered (but the process can be time consuming and costly, and you'd need to consdier who would pay for registration - you or the nanny).

Pay would probably be around £8 an hour depending on qualifications and experience. You'd be an employer so would need to do payroll yourself or pay for a payroll company to sort tax and NI for you. You also need to pay employers NI. Bear in mind things like holiday pay, maternity, sick pay etc - you need to have a contract.

sounds a bit like hard work tbh, just thought it would work out better for the kids

I would think a childminder would work out as more economical for you and possibly provide more continuity of care assuming they're in the same school/nursery and will stay there and the CM does pick ups from there.

Do you have space for an au pair, assuming you'd be happy having someone less experienced looking after your DCs? They will do split shifts and a few things around the house. Your timetable is good for language classes (and if you're in a city there shouldn't be a problem finding them) and it would cost you £65-80 in pocket money plus the cost of having another adult in the house (which can be that again).

You would still need a contract etc but no tax/NI worries unless you pay over the threshold (about £95 a week).

No space for a live in and i only need like 20 hours a week. Just wondered if being two of them it would be cheaper for a nanny. As I said complete novice. I've contacted an agency so just waiting for them to get back to me.

If you had the space the job would be perfect for an Aupair. I'm not sure if you can find live out Aupair. Or maybe you could offer her to pay her rent?

20 hours childcare and maybe 5-10 hours around the house would be ideal for an au pair as they do somewhere in the region of 25-30 hours a week but if you don't have space that idea's a bust.

Nanny with own child? Often works out cheaper for you and the reduced hours may appeal. Or does anyone else at school have the same issue and could you share a nanny?

Local Uni student? Although finding one willing to do 5 mornings a week with a lecture scedule that fits would be a challenge.

Tbh it doesn't sound a very attractive job because the hours are so low and split, and you probably won't get the same person doing that and school hols if you need them so it's more likely to appeal the chilminders. The costs would be around equal - by the time you've factored in all the expenses I'd guess a nanny would cost £9 an hour after gross salary, employers NI, a payroll company (as nanny may have more than 1 job which makes tax difficult), mileage if she has to use her car for the school run and kitty for any expenses.