If your child has SN and you work, how do you manage after school care?

[lougle]

DD1 goes to special school. I have DDs 2&3 also, both going to the same MS school.

I can arrange wraparound care for them, easily. I'm struggling with DD1, though.

Her school bus comes in at 3.50 - to our house. Will not divert in any way.

DH doesn't finish work until 6pm. If I was to do what I want to do I may have days when I return to the house at 7pm ish.

What do you use for care?

DD's school has an afterschool club.

But now I work school hours and she has 6 weeks playscheme a year and we use holidays for the rest.

My mum and auntie used to watch her but they are 75 and 77 so it got a bit much.

I have negotiated working school hours only with my boss & do some work from home, but I am limited in what I do from home.
Before ds2 was at fulltime school I used a childminder, I have also paid for a mothers help to come to my house.

TBH the p/t help to come to the house is what works best for us. I advertised and have some lovley applicant in the end I went with a friends aunt. Happy to be at home, let the kids be themselves while she got the dinner started did a little ironing or whatever needed doing.
It also meant we had soemone ds2 knew as a babysitter.

Not there yet. For now, I have a nanny who doubles as household help while my daughter is at day care in the mornings.

Having said that, how does it matter if your child has special needs or not? Do you mean you find it harder to find after school nannies/childminders or you mean your child needs you around after the school? The reason I ask is that I am dreading school for this very reason.

I'm confused why the bus wouldn't drop at a CMs (for example). My dcs' CM had a special school bus bring a mindee to her for a few years, and, when I worked in Sp School, I know quite a few of the children were dropped at CMs. The only thing they had to do was be the consistent afterschool carer - you can understand why they can't be dropping people off all over the place on different days, as it would throw their 'route' right out.

The County Transport Policy says:

"Journeys for which we are unable to provide
assistance
We provide assistance for journeys from home to school. We are unable to
provide assistance for journeys:
? where you have expressed a preference for your child to attend an
alternative school which is not the nearest appropriate school
? between one school and another
? to work experience placements
? to dental or hospital appointments
? if your child is sick and has to be collected from school (or returned
mid-week if attending a residential school)
? to or from a location that is not your normal home address, for
example, a childminder?s house or a friend?s house
? to or from respite care or place of temporary residence."

It's that restriction which puts all child-minders out of the equation - I have to have someone who is willing to come and get her from the house, or look after her at the house.

I can only afford to do the thing I want to do (study) if I rely on the childcare grant, which will only pay costs if the person is ofsted registered, which means that I wouldn't be able to use a nanny or mother's help.

The only way I can see that I could do it would be to use the 'Buddy' scheme (£5 per hour) for DD1, then the wrap around care for DDs 2&3. That means that I'd pay £12.50 per day for DD2, £11.75 per day for DD3 and £20 per day for DD1. That's £221.25 per week.

The course would pay up to 85%, so we would pay £33 per week, possibly a bit more.

However, I'm a bit reluctant to do it that way, because it means that DDs 2&3 wouldn't spend any evening time with DD1 in the week. I really don't want them to be so 'segregated' just because DD1 has SN

It might be simply a case of accepting that I can't do it.

We've tried all we can to enable one parent to pick and drop off as after school all my son wants to do is come home and relax in his own environment.
Therefore I have cut down my hours to 2 days a week when my partner works from home and then I am off the 3 other days.not ideal as really need to work more hours but we are managing for the time being.For the future we have considered employing someone to pick and drop off-have no idea if this person exists!

round here we have no childcare available for children like my Dd1 (asd). in the end i had to reduce my hours and I now work school hours only.

could you study P/T?

It's the SALT course at Reading. 4 years, full-time.

Sounds absolutely flippin' amazing, to be honest. But the hours are spread far and wide. I phoned today to enquire, and because of the nature of the course, there are lectures from Medical Consultants, the school of psychology, etc., so they are at odd times to fit in with their schedules.

They've said that going from last year's timetable, they had around 8 weeks where there was an 08.30 lecture and a 17.00-18.00 lecture on the same day.

Bearing in mind that I live an hour's drive away (traffic notwithstanding) then I'd be looking at leaving the house at around 7.30 and returning at 7pm. Neither of which is terrible in itself - one day per week is fine, but the childcare has to be right.

DH has really struggled to find a job which he is able to do and where he is valued for his strengths and his weaknesses minimised, but he finally has. He's a school caretaker and he adores his job and is adored by kids and parents alike. Unfortunately, it means that he leaves the house at 06.45 in the morning, gets home at 9.30 and is home throughout the day, then leaves again at 2.45 and gets back at 6.15pm. Not helpful

OP I feel your pain - I'm just deciding whether to sign up for a 2 year course where the contact time is in the evenings - when dh is often not here. Bit frustrating when they are all at school 6+ hours per day!

Some CM collect from school don't they? Would that be an option worth exploring?

I'd also be tempted to call the LA and discuss the issue of the transport too though. Got to be worth a try!

Thanks DewDr0p. Unfortunately, DD1 goes to school 10 miles away and DDs 2&3 are at school 2 miles in the opposite direction because we had to move DD2 from our more local school suddenly.

So, we live in village A, 2 DD's go to school at village B, 2 miles away, and DD1 goes to school 10 miles away from village A and 12 miles away from Village B.

How to Ofsted register a nanny

Lougle, is there any way you could do the 2 year postgrad course? (Same course, but squished into half the time). Have heard that sometimes unis can be quite flexible in their definition of "postgrad" for the right candidate. Don't know if that would make any difference to your situation?

They've said that going from last year's timetable, they had around 8 weeks where there was an 08.30 lecture and a 17.00-18.00 lecture on the same day

I think you're being a bit keen. Remeber, most people at uni are drunken 18y olds. As an adult with a life outside study, I'd probably just bunk the 5pm lecture, and/or ask permission for someone to audio it (plus if the lecturer is not too touchy, request a copy of the power points).

Thanks - I've posted on the CM/Nanny board.

SingySongy, the 2 year course is masters level, and they've said that they would want a linguistics degree or similar. I have Social Science degree and Postgrad Advanced Diploma in nursing.

Mareeeya - you're right...but the really important ones could be at those times I'm a geek.

Well, your problem might be Reading. It's a very academic (not quite the right word), research based course, and they're traditionally a bit more narrow in who they consider... The equivalent courses in London, for example (at City and UCL), have very different requirements from a first degree. I studied at City, and among my cohort were people with first degrees in law, drama, ceramics (I swear!), english, history, social work, teaching etc etc etc... UCL has a reputation for favouring people with a more medical background. Social sciences and nursing sound highly relevant to me! It's such a very diverse course, that universities generally welcome people from very diverse backgrounds. There were lots of people on my course with young families - it's hard, but do-able!

Could you get to London? Or is that pie in the sky?

I have an Ofsted registered nanny who (when DS was at school) did the mornings and evenings. Now DS is home ed, she takes him all day two days a week so I can work. It's really easy to get a private nanny Ofsted registered.

London would be a bit pie in the sky, I think. The travel costs would be huge.

Well it might be worth having another chat with them, and really selling yourself... they just might let you do it at masters level! :D

And if you cut the costs in half by doing it in double quick time, the childcare element might not seem so dire?

Hmm...I spoke to someone today and she said no to the masters with my degree & post grad nursing.

I suppose I could push the fact that I help at DD1's special school, have 2 children with Speech and Language issues...

The childcare cost isn't so much the issue - it's funded 85%. It's the logistics. And I need to make sure I'm not sacrificing the children for my own fulfillment.

Maybe you could ask Moondog and Working to have a quiet word with them

Hahaha never. I'm far too grateful that they bother to come here and speak with us all

would want a linguistics degree or similar

Ask how many credits minimum, then knock off something online

That's frustrating. Doesn't really surprise me from Reading though - there are so many important elements to learning to be an SLT - obviously linguistics is part of it, but knowledge of so many other things is important too. As a trained nurse, you'll have very many relevant skills, and I bet your social sciences stuff would come in handy too. There's obviously the 4 year course though - don't let it put you off... and it would be a bit less pressured too...

It's a fabby job! :D