What to do after mat leave?

[careerchange456]

I love teaching and I love working in schools but I cannot find a way to make teaching work for me at the moment. DH works away and I would have to do all the childcare drop offs. There's nothing around us which allows drop offs before 8 so that's a non-starter. I could bring my DC to childcare nearer to work but I have no idea how I could manage once DD starts school next year as the breakfast club at our catchment school doesn't start until 8 and there are no childminders in the village.

I'm starting to think about alternatives. I've read all the ideas about what teachers can do and a lot of them just don't appeal. I'm an experienced primary teacher but my passion now is the teaching and learning stuff from a management level. I do love teaching but it's not my driver anymore. I much prefer having whole school impact at a more senior level.

So my question - what can I do from here? Any suggestions for jobs/careers that are more similar to the SMT type roles rather than class teacher? I'm so limited in my view of what might be out there.

Is it the childcare side that's putting you off? If so, could you get a nanny? We currently have someone who does 7am to 9am each day for us. We've previously had before and after school coverage, and full days. If you're not in London you'll pay less than £10 per hour so for more than one child it's not too extortionate (and much more flexible than nursery/childminder)

I've considered a nanny - didn't think I could get one just to do before and after school care though! Was it easy to find somebody willing to do that? And do they just do term time or do you pay them for the whole year? (Apologies for the questions!)

We were lucky as our first one was a friend - good for her as she didn't want to go back to work after mat leave, and good for us as we trusted her with the kids. Since then we've had two more, and odd hours haven't been a problem. We are in the North West and value attitude/care etc over qualifications though, so that might make a difference. We pay for term time plus five weeks paid holiday. We generally use them for a day here and there over the holidays too though - but mostly so that the kids keep that connection.

Childcare.co.uk is a good place to start looking.

Would any of the childcare providers be willing to flex on the 8am start time? I’m a teacher and when my children were small I had the same problem- nursery opened at 8. However when I investigated further they agreed to open at 7.30 though it was double fees for that half hour. A couple of the other parents were teachers too and used this arrangement. Once the kids are school age then a cm would be more flexible- preferably someone with kids at same school who is doing the school run anyway

I think I would investigate local childminders. Otherwise could your child attend the school you teach in? We have that situation at our school and it works well