working full time, child in school without after school club, no childminders

[StackALee]

How do you make it work?

Thing is I don't need anyone to do the school run in the morning. I start work at 9.30 so can do it myself and I really don't want his day to be bookended by other people dropping him off and picking him up.

I want to be involved, as does my DH.

Maybe I can get a nanny share type thing just for the three hours I need after school? Or do more research on child minders in case our bosses just can't fit our flexible working in. Crazy thing is the plan I had would have only meant me dropping 3 hours a week and DH just 2. That was until the school said there was no after school club! Now at the very least I would need to drop ,five hours a week, which I don't mind doing but will be harder for my boss to accommodate.

Hi

I live in South Wales.

My eldest is in the last year of nursery. We drop her off at school for breakfast club at 8. Nursery pick her up from school at 11:30. I then pick her up from nursery any time after 16:30. This costs us £32 a day.

In September,when she moves into reception, she will go to breakfast club at 8. Th nursery will then pick her up at 3:10. This will cost £18 a day.

Nurseries do pick up from lots of schools. some of her friends are taken to and from school by the nursery,

How over-subscribed are the schools in your area? Is another school out of your catchment that has after-school care an option? We're sending DD to a school in the next village as they have a breakfast club and after-school club, which our village's school does not. Is this an option for you?

Thanks for explaining Bill

Lots of schools in Wales have a breakfast club as it was promoted by the welsh devolved government. These are free and run for about an hour in the morning. These clubs are free as it was an initiative designed to get children in Wales esp deprived areas to have breakfast before school. A lot of parents use them as childcare but that's not an issue as it's there anyway.
If your school does not have one you need to find out why and lobby to get one started up.
Could you and /or dh have a late lunch to do the pick up /drop offs if you could find someone to do the childcare at your house?

The school has a breakfast club but we do not need a breakfast club as we can do the morning drop off ourselves.

Schools are over subscribed here and I have no chance of getting him into the better schools nearby as they are out of our catchment area and are over subscribed. I actually really want him to go to the one that is nearest to me as it's the smallest out of the two nearest andi has improved in the last two years (thoughts still not considered a 'good' school compared to some nearby).

I really don't like the idea of dropping him off at a breakfast club when i don't need to, at the very least I would like to be there for ne part of the school day.i can drop him off for ten to nine and still get to work at half past.

Newyearnewlife, will you have to switch nurseries once she is in reception? As far as I am aware my current nursery will not do this because of the distances involved. I already see parents I work with who use the same nursery as me struggling to get their children to and from morning or afternoon sessions which is why we decided to keep our son in the private nursery which cannot do pick-ups now.

Is that an option for me then? Find a nursery near the school and ask if I can enrol my son for 3 hours in the afternoons?

When I say be there for part of the day I mean continue to make breakfast as we do now and have a chat and then walk him to school down the road before leaving for work. If I put him in the breakfast club it would mean getting him up earlier and leaving him in school a whole hour earlier than he needs to be.

My DC's school is introducing an after school club for the first time next term because there is more demand for it than in the past. You could ask if there's any chance of yours starting one? The school doesn't necessarily have to run it, they can get in an external company and just provide the venue.

Or try to convince one of your local friends who is looking for a way of earning some extra to become a childminder??

Have you looked on childcare.co.uk?

I don't think many private nurseries would do pick up from reception, though you can always ask.

I am on your other thread and wonder if the breakfast club gives you and DH another point of flexibility in your working hours though, meaning you could start earlier some days and thereby drop fewer hours overall.

Anyway, off topic for this thread. I think childminders fit the bill more than an after school nanny share - there doesn't seem to be a difference to me in accountability as no one would be "overseeing" either.

Oh sorry I misread.
I was thinking that if you or your dh did b/club that would give you an hour to play with at the end of the day or give you time to do a pick up /drop off as your problem is at the end of the school day and until you end your working day.
I honestly doubt your dc will have an issue with using b/c but the time at the end of the day will be of more value to you and if it allowed you to do pick ups it means you can see his friends and teachers if needed. And it allows him and you to have more quality time at the end of the day which I dint think you get in the mornings.
I don't kNow what job sector you are in and if you have flexible working but If you could start earlier in the mornings it's also hours you don't have to cut at the end of the day.
But of course it's your choice and you may not have that option anyway.

Agree it would be better to drop off earlier at Breakfast club so you can start at 8.30 or 9.00 and then take time at the end of the day. If needs be could a friend or neighbour do the pick up and you collect him from there. Are there after school activities for R aged children, maybe starting later in the year, or something like swimming classes he could attend with a friend ?

We have a childminder but the nurseries all do drop offs and pick ups here.

Would there be any retired granny types who might be interested in the very part time role, in addition to students? I'm looking for similar on care.com currently and have had 50 & 30 yr olds apply, as well as students.

We had similar problems as our school does not have an ASC. they have tried to set one up but most of the mums do not work so there isn't the demand.

The nursery DD went to does do pickups and holiday care but was in the next town, so no help there. I found another nursery that could do pickups but wasn't really happy with it so only did it in Reception.

You don't really have much choice. The best solution is for one of you to start work later, and do the morning drop off, while the other starts early and leaves in time to do the pickups. DH's working hours made that impossible for us, so I've had to cut my hours (and my pay) down to 30 a week. I feel like I'm racing to catch up all the time.

Also would suggest if your school only has before school care, you look at shifting your day so you start early and finish early rather than start late and do drop off yourself.

do you have a spare room so space for an au pair? Otherwise, advertise for a nanny share. It's also worth asking the school, and other mums, I know someone who's currently going through her ofsted registration, she can't advertise now on the council website until that's through, but she should have it by August at the latest other mums might know someone. Also worth speaking to the other mums at your nursery, they obviously will have the same problem, if others have DCs going to the same school, you could hire a nanny between you.

I must say, I know so many woman who gave up work after having their first DC intending to go back to work once they started school. While school aged childcare is often cheaper, it's a hell of a lot harder to organise if you don't have a state school with good before and after school care! (and no, in most areas, you don't really have a choice of schools, you get the school you live closest to)

Who runs the ASC? The school or a provider?

I would think if they are already running it, then trying to convince them to allow reception age kids has to be the best solution? Although 4.15 isn't ideal. Worth approaching them now and asking what it will take to allow reception age kids?

It sounds bonkers. Do they think that all reception age children have a SAHP who then all go out to work in Y1?

Do you know anyone already at the school? They might know what others do.

I looked for a CM for my DS before he started school and couldn't find any that said they'd do a drop/collect from our school.

But when he started school I saw there were a few childminders who dropped/collected from the school.

I recently considered using a nanny for one day a week for DD and I found a possible person through a school mum.

You are doing the right thing by thinking about this now.

Good luck, hope you sort out a workable solution.

I think the ASC age thing may be to do with ratios for under fives, but I could be wrong.