working school hours

liley9

i currently work three days a week in customer services tues,wed,thur 8:30 until 5:30 but this week my little boy has started school and i really want to be the one taking him and picking him up so i am thinking of changing my job to fit in with his school hours.It would be no good asking my current employers because they dislike the fact that i work part time now. Does anyone know who are the best companies to apply to that help working parents.

msmicawber

You'll get more opportunities for working school hours if you apply for anything in education itself such as schools, colleges and universities, or companies and local authorities providing services to schools. The down side is that the money tends not to be very good.

liley9

thanks i was wondering about working in the school itself i expected to take a pay cut anyway but would the schools expect certain qualifications or would i be able to do these courses while working there

filigree_2

Until a couple of years ago I worked as a classroom assistant in my son's school, 25 hours a week term time only. The rate of pay is somewhere between £7 - £7.50 per hour in London, which is better than most retail vacancies for instance. The pay isn't great but you can't beat it for child-friendly working hours. I didn't need any special qualifications but you do need a good standard of English and numeracy. I got into the work because I was known to the school as Chair of the PTA so they approached me.

That school is in a tough area that has trouble recruiting staff, and if you live somewhere nicer you might find that the school is more demanding about qualifications etc. I suggest you have a word with your son's school secretary at first, to find out how the land lies. Hopefully they can tell you if there are any vacancies, and what qualifications are needed. I know that some qualifications can be taken as day release while you work.

More recently I've started working in admin in a University, 9-3 and much better paid! The college closes at Easter and Christmas so I only have to find childcare in the summer. It may not be suitable while your children are littlies but I find it works fine for my son who is at high school.

Rachie_B

if you want to go down the teaching assistant route etc then you could volunteer at a local school,get your foot in the door,gain some experience and complete a course whilst you are at it

there are distance learning TA courses you can do or through a college

other idea is to become a registered childminder ? which is the route im going down at the moment

im the same as you ,my youngest starts fulltime school on monday and i want to be the one dropping him off and picking him up etc
i was a nursery nurse before i had him but nanny / day nursery jobs tend to start early 7am ish and finish about 6pm !

and ive ran a pre school before so want to try something different

in the meantime while i wait for registration to be completed which can take 6 months + ive been told ! i have taken on a few cleaning and babysitting jobs

Good luck with finding something