Breakfast club + after school club VS childminder

[Thefuturelooksbright]

Hello all I'm new here. I'm planning on moving to the South East London area this summer with my 2 boys (ages 7 and 5) and I have a question. I'm not originally from the UK and have luckily had free childcare in this country since having my children. When I move to the city, I will have no family there and will need before school and after school care for my boys as I will be working full time. I was wondering what other single moms in London do that are in this situation and most importantly, I'm wondering what the cost will be (roughly). Working in London means getting paid a lot more than I make now, which means less money for tax credit are there any programs to help with childcare? I don't even know if all schools offer before and after school care which is why I'll need to look at the option of a childminder. I've played with the thought of getting an au pair but I don't think that's realistic at the moment.

Thank you for any help or suggestions.

Do you know how the school admissions system works here? Without knowing which school your DC are going to, you won't be able to begin the hunt for a cm.
Not all schools off before & after school care. From previous threads on MN, what they offer & how much it costs various hugely. Some seem to be a couple of quid whereas DD's is £6.50 an hour but the after school fee is a minimum of 2.5 hours. CM here charge about the same per hour & some do have a minimum number of hours but others don't.
DD does a mixture of cm & wraparound. The advantages of cm are a home environment, proper supper, gets a chance to really chill (can just read or watch TV), is away from her school friends.
Advantages of after school club are that, as it is on-site, DD can do after school clubs (like gymnastics & football) & then go to the after school club.

Ours charge £3.50 for breakfast club (8am-9am) and £6.00 for after school club (3.15-5.30). So £9.50 per day if you were using both daily. No idea what childminders charge.

We use a child minder because we rely on her to care for the children during the school holidays

Do child minders only charge per hour or is there an additional cost for more than one child?

I am in Scotland op so the costs probably won't be the same.

Childminders charge per hour per child: the going rate here is £4 per hour per child. I pay my cm weekly so pay more during the school holidays

I use a childminder because i need childcare throughout the year, summer, easter, christmas and ten school club doesnt run during those times. It also doesnt even run on all the days school is on! Our breakfast club is open from 8am and costs 50p per child. After school club runs from 2-4 for children up to primary 2 (so aged 6) and from 3-5 for primary 3 to 7 (age 6/7-11) i work until 5 PM and can take 15-20 mintes to get through traffic so afterschool club is no use for me. My childminder charges £3.80 per child. No reduction for siblings. Includes all food whilst they are there. All trips and she gets them little gifts for birthdays and easter/xmas etc. She is also flexible where possible if i have to work a different day.

Thank you for the info ladies. I'm so lucky at the moment that I have free child care. It's split between daddy and the grandparents. How can a single mom of 2, even on London salaries, afford £600 a month for childcare?!? I might as well get an au pair 😖 Is anyone using an au pair or know anyone who is?