How do parents drop children off at school if they work 8-5pm

[Mrstumbletap]

DS goes to school next year, and I'm trying to fathom how people drop off and pick up when they work longer than the school day. What do you all do? Childminder? Childminder then breakfast club? After school club?

[JassyRadlett]

Looking at the other thread on the number of activities that some kids do after school, I think my kids have a more chilled time at afterschool club!

Definitely. DS1 is in Reception and he struggled with afterschool club for about a week and now adores it. Low key activities and games if they want to, TV or a film if they want to, playing outside if the weather is good, and a decent tea. Pretty similar to what he'd be doing at home, and the numbers never go over 30 kids. It's much less full on than his nursery.

Plus the social cachet of older kids knowing their names and acknowledging them outside of club time. Huge deal to the Reception set.

[starsinyourpies]

Make sure you have a plan for holidays too!

[JassyRadlett]

Where are you based, OP? If any of us are local we may be able to help out with info.

[Mrstumbletap]

Oh blimey I think I'm panicking more now

Yes have DH and he will be able to do drop off sometimes but won't be able to pick up on those days if he goes in later.

An au pair, but dont they then have to live with you?

Nurseries round here don't have the service of dropping them I don't think the one he is at currently goes up to 4/5 years old.

I am part time so one day a week is all sorted, it's the other 4 I just don't know what to do about.

I will ring the schools and ask for childminders that do drop off thank you, good idea.

Can't really change my hours I'm a school teacher in a secondary, with a 45 minute commute. I have looked for more local schools but then I would have to go full time, and find wrap around care 5 days a week

[holidaysaregreat]

Don't panic - I am also secondary school teacher with commute. It all worked out in the end. I was never lucky enough to get a full day off a week! So I would keep hold of that day off if you can.
If you can possibly get OH to do all morning drop offs then it won't be such a long day for reception class age.
There should be after school club places if you apply as soon as you get a place sorted in April. I would try to keep it as simple as possible and try not to confuse things with different people doing things on different days. We ended up using in laws for the first couple of years for drop offs.
Can you leave on time at least one day a week so you can pick up more like 4.15/4.30ish rather than it being a v v long day? Hard to do I know.
Also if you only have one day off per week, you will want to spend with your LO and not having other kids back home.
It could be worth asking if you can drop hours slightly? Even if you went to 0.7 you might get an afternoon off or a later start one day. My school is v inflexible and we get a 2 week timetable do each week is different.
The ideal for the children is prob only a couple of days in after school club max - so if at all possible aim for that? If not possible then you will all survive.
It does get easier once they get older - they can do more clubs/sports things/go back to people for tea etc and getting ready in the morning is easier too.
Hang on in there!

[Stillwishihadabs]

If dh does the drop off, could you go in for 7 then finish at 4 rather than 5 ? Could you do 4 days over 5 with a couple of 2pm finishes ?

[Cuppaand2biscuits]

If you have an idea of which school dc will attend then you should speak.to.their office. They should be able to pass on details of local child minders or other nurseries or services that help get children to school.

[holidaysaregreat]

still she is a teacher so can't dictate what time she starts/finishes - lessons are timetabled so have to happen when they are timetabled.

[Stillwishihadabs]

But usually all done by 3 in most secondary schools ?

[ClassmateHB]

Most secondaries round here finish classes around 3-315pm. That's not what time teachers can leave though.

[IamNotDarling]

Most teachers I know leave school at 1700-1730 then have to do pre/mark in the evenings, so not sure what the face is Classmate.

[Hulababy]

It varies how many parents manage it.

When DD was smaller at primary, her school day was 8:30am to 3:30/3:45pm, but you could leave in supervised playground from 8:15am. DH did the drop off on his way to work. I worked PT when she first started, so most days did the pick up. One day a week she went home with a friend. Other times she went to ASC on site, which was open til 6pm. She could have gone to breakfast club from 7:30am.

At my school (infants) the school day is 8:40am to 3:20pm.
There is breakfast club, run by school on site. from 8am.
There is an ASC on site which runs until 6pm.
There is also another ASC off site some go to - this also does a breakfast club who deliver children to school.
I know there are also a few childminders who drop off/pick up several children after school.
Obviously all these are paid for, and wrap around care isn't cheap.


So generally a mix of parents changing hours where they can, or working PT, wrap around care via breakfast clubs, ASC and childminders, and some informal shared/mutual playdate and childcare arrangements with friends/playmates.

[Hulababy]

Still - well yes, some secondary schools finish at 3pm for pupils. Not for the staff though!

OP - I was a secondary school teacher, with a slightly longer commute. I did do PT and worked 3 days a week. So it was only those days I had to find childcare for. But I did change the way I worked where possible. I went in earlier and on non-meeting days left as soon as possible, but brought everything home with me - I then marked and prepped at home after pick up. Not ideal but it worked better for me than to do the later stay at work.

[ClassmateHB]

I am it was at Still for the idea that classes finishing at 3 could mean the OP could leave then for pick up.

I know how long teachers work. I'm one!

[ClassmateHB]

Thankfully my school is only ten minutes from my children's school.

Which isn't so great on a weekend when I bump into every student doing my shopping, but means I can just about use breakfast and after school clubs!

[Chrisinthemorning]

Breakfast club starts at 7.30, although I drop at 8. After school crèche pick up any time before 6. It's £2.50 per half hour.

[Stillwishihadabs]

But if you were in for 7 or even 6:30 then you could do the work you would have been doing between 3:30-5:30 between 6:30 and 8:30 no ?

[Stillwishihadabs]

I didn't suggest OP could leave at 3 that would of course look unprofessional

[ClassmateHB]

Still sometimes that works. But other times there are meetings scheduled from 330, which messes leaving "on time" up.

[Stillwishihadabs]

Sure we all have that, not every afternoon though. As I said you need to be innovative and flexible to make it work.

[HainaultViaNewburyPark]

Once we'd got beyond the two fucking terms of part-time school that DD had to do because she was born in the summer we used breakfast club/afterschool club (with DH dropping off and me collecting) for R and Y1.

Then DS joined DD at school and we had an au pair (which was great for childcare, but I hated having someone else living in my house).

After which we gave up and moved them out of the state system. Their private schools had brilliant wrap-around: 7am to 7pm - including breakfast and dinner.

We saw this as an investment - it was the only way we could both keep working FT. It has paid off (DD is now in Y8, and I earn double what I did when she first started school).

[holidaysaregreat]

If primary school finishes at 3pm/3.15pm and secondary school finishes at 3.30/3.45pm and you factor in a 45 minute commute it would be impossible to be there for pick up. It would be 4.30 earliest.
still there is no flexibility in teaching - who would cover the last part of the last lesson if OP were to 'manage her time for pick up'? It's not like an office job where you can perhaps negotiate a shorter lunch or working from home occasionally.

[Stillwishihadabs]

Apologies the secondaries round here all finish at 3, I don't have an office job, my mother is a teacher and she managed to do the early start, early finish thing throughout my primary years- maybe things have changed.

[HearTheThunderRoar]

With great difficulty!

DD's school had no ASC or Breakfast club, DH worked nights Wed-Sunday and I worked full time with a 30 minuet commute, drop offs were ok as teachers were generally there at 8am and it was only two mornings a week. And when she got older, she would get herself ready on her own and walk to school by herself if DH was sleeping.

However for after school we relied on other school mums (they were a godsend), once a week I would come and collect her and take her to my work.

[Artandco]

Our primary school finishes between 3.30-4.15pm according to age. Teachers would never be able to leave before 5pm factoring in those finishing 4.15 can be collected until 4.30, then a quick finish up from the day ready for the morning. The afterschool club until 5.45 is also run by the actual teachers on rotation ie 5 teachers Monday, different Tuesday. They would be there until 6pm. School starts again between 8.15-9am according to age. So those teacher older ones have longest days