Childcare for Over 12s? Does it Exist?

Prudent

TeaCake wrote: »

What about getting in contact with your local college to see if any of the mature students on a childcare course would be looking for any extra money? They'll have a CRB to show you and references from the college or placement available.

This is just what I was going to suggest. Also an undergraduate looking to get a place on a teacher training course would welcome the experience.

Spendless

I would suggest seperating the childcare needs of the 9 year old and 12 year old. The eldest should be able to be in the house after school in term-time for a couple of hours with some ground rules. Start now with leaving him/her whilst you go do a grocery shop etc. Mornings - well I am very impressed with FBaby's child who is the same age as mine letting her/himself out-not sure my DS is as capable -he'd remember to go to school but probably not about locking the front door My DS does leave the house early though at 7.30 so is unlikley to be last out.

If you haven't got adequate childcare for the 9yo, then realistically you aren't going to be able to work outside of school times, but it would be a shame to turn down a suitable job, due to problems with the older one that will only be for a limited amount of time. When is s/he 13? My friends with older kids said they found a big change between 12 and 13 when they were off out with mates all hols.

gardenia101 wrote: »

I was hoping to go back to work after 18 months out with health problems & had an interview that I think went well last week. So I thought I'd follow up on the childcare arrangements I had loosely put in place...

BUT the childminder who'd held places has now given them to someone else who wants to start this week (fair enough, I'd do the same). I need a childminder to collect from primary school, of which there are 3 with no spaces!

Another childminder will have them, provided I pay for 52 weeks/year & pay for full days for 2 kids even though I only need after school for 1 & before & after school for the other. Feeling a little ripped off (although I can see why she'd prefer to have kids all day) the deciding factor was that she wanted me to collect my son from school & deliver him to her house after school! Can see that going down well with my employers

So - holiday clubs around here all take primary school age only, OK for 1 but not for my just turned 12 year old! I've no family anywhere nearby & the few friends I have either all work full time, or have their own family care needs. I don't drive so limited to public transport which is unreliable in my area, and yes, I'm a single mum (ducks...)

Any ideas anyone - term time only jobs are few & far between & now I have kids at different schools I have 2 sets of TDDs, so that is an extra 10 days of cover I'd need. Beginning to think work just isn't going to happen due to childcare problems, which I thought I'd left behind no they are older

I'm tempted to think she didn't want the job? Sounds more than a little OTT to me wanting full day rates for before and after school and you to drop them off at her house. :eek::rotfl:

liney wrote: »

Without arranged activities I would suggest:
If you work locally, your 12 year old could come and meet you for lunch at work a couple of days a week. They spend some time getting to a fro on the bus or walking and you get to check up on them. Have a picnic!

Depending on the employer you take an afternoon off as holiday each week during the school holidays, meaning morning home alone only, then you arrange for a friend to come over one day, and her to go to a friends another day.

I really love this idea. I am 2 local bus or train rides away from home but very short walking distances between my house and workplace and the stations/bus-stops, with a cafe on the Ind estate where I work -definately nto picnicing area though:D. That would fill my DS's day up for several hours meeting mum for lunch - am banking it for future. :beer:

Our local private school runs a holiday club that takes till age 13 that's cos they are the only school in the area to run from nursery/reception age to 16/18 without changing schools. It is also handy to cover inset days if they are tagged onto a school hol as they are frequently slightly out of sync with state schools. That's also an area you could look into.:)

PolishBigSpender

Wow.

No-one would ever dream of "childcare" for a 12 year old child here. In fact, such a child would likely be ridiculed.

Spendless

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Wow.

No-one would ever dream of "childcare" for a 12 year old child here. In fact, such a child would likely be ridiculed.

It does make you wonder why so many don't stop in Poland.

gardenia101

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Wow.

No-one would ever dream of "childcare" for a 12 year old child here. In fact, such a child would likely be ridiculed.

So what do you do with them all? Would it be acceptable to leave them on their own for long days, weeks at a time?

TeaCake wrote: »

What about getting in contact with your local college to see if any of the mature students on a childcare course would be looking for any extra money? They'll have a CRB to show you and references from the college or placement available.

I did try this at our local college, but they seemed suprised I was asking - said they "Didn't supply anything like that". They have also cut a lot of the childcare/child development courses they used to run (& the on site nursery which is sad for those needing it to go to college).

heretolearn wrote: »

Is there a school friend with a SAHM? She might be willing to have him over during the day for a week or two, in return for a bit of extra money, in an unofficial way. It's not like sending a baby off to a childminder, if it's a friend he would visit a lot anyway, what's the difference and there's no need to faff about with childminder registration etc, as it's just not the same. She is doing you a favour and you are paying her 'expenses'.

I will look into this, but I struggle with asking people for help as I'm rarely in a position to be able to repay the favour. My 12 year old has a few good friends but their mums all work, but I think this may be the best option so thanks :beer:

Your family are not nearby, but again, can son go and stay for a week? Grandparents/aunties etc can be such a help. At 12 he should be able to get their by train etc if they meet him other end.

All my family are either old & too ill to cope, or young & all working full time. We're a very small family that haven't bred well! The dad is around but in the forces, so hopelessly unreliable for childcare planning. He'll help out if he is around, but that isn't very often.

Otherwise it's a shame in a way about minimum wage for things like this. At one point I employed a 'mothers help' as they were called, youngster about 20 years old who would keep an eye on him after school while mainly doing all my housework, and did the odd week in holidays, all for about £3 an hour. But it's not so easily affordable now.

Now than sounds wonderful! I may also investigate this for the future should I ever be offered a job. Not holding my breath though as Im partially sighted & that tends to put employers off . I didn't get the one I was hoping to so I'm going to leave it for a few months & hope my eldest matures a bit. I'd be rather worried that she wouldn't lock the front door, or remember her keys, or leave the windows open....

Thanks to everyone who has replied with ideas.

Biohazard

gardenia101 wrote: »

So what do you do with them all? Would it be acceptable to leave them on their own for long days, weeks at a time?

Apart of growing up is to learn to be a responsible adult. A 12 year old will be 16 in four years time and they need to learn to cope on their own, so might as well start now.

What hours will your job be? Is the school close enough for the 9 y/o to walk back? Can other parents pick up the kid from school?

gardenia101

Biohazard wrote: »

Apart of growing up is to learn to be a responsible adult. A 12 year old will be 16 in four years time and they need to learn to cope on their own, so might as well start now.

What hours will your job be? Is the school close enough for the 9 y/o to walk back? Can other parents pick up the kid from school?

Schooi days aren't the problem - it is what to do with them in the holidays! The job would have been full time & I was 11 weeks short of cover after using up all my annual leave (due to 10 different TDD/inset days). That would be assuming my employer would have agreed to give me all my leave during school holidays, as many places I've previously worked in ration school holiday leave so everyone gets some time off with their kids.

I'm happy to leave my eldest alone for a few hours after school, but not for 9 hours, days at a time, either alone or with her younger brother as I just don't feel it is safe for my 2. How many parents would honestly consider leaving their children alone for so long during the holidays?

There have been excellent ideas posted, but sadly most don't fit in with my personal circumstances. I'm sure other parents will find them useful though.

Spendless

gardenia101 wrote: »

Schooi days aren't the problem - it is what to do with them in the holidays! The job would have been full time & I was 11 weeks short of cover after using up all my annual leave (due to 10 different TDD/inset days). That would be assuming my employer would have agreed to give me all my leave during school holidays, as many places I've previously worked in ration school holiday leave so everyone gets some time off with their kids.

I'm happy to leave my eldest alone for a few hours after school, but not for 9 hours, days at a time, either alone or with her younger brother as I just don't feel it is safe for my 2. How many parents would honestly consider leaving their children alone for so long during the holidays?

There have been excellent ideas posted, but sadly most don't fit in with my personal circumstances. I'm sure other parents will find them useful though.

Would you really have 10 different inset days? Have the schools sent out a list of them up to the end of the academic year? Mine are at Junior and Secondary and there's 1 day each that doesn't match up. Otherwise they are all the same. DS has an extra day at Easter, DD has a 'random' Friday in June. Maybe your answer is to look for part time work rather than f-time work, so it limits how many days/hours youa re out of the house till the kids are older.

SnowWhiterThanWhite

Spendless wrote: »

Would you really have 10 different inset days? Have the schools sent out a list of them up to the end of the academic year? Mine are at Junior and Secondary and there's 1 day each that doesn't match up. Otherwise they are all the same. DS has an extra day at Easter, DD has a 'random' Friday in June. Maybe your answer is to look for part time work rather than f-time work, so it limits how many days/hours youa re out of the house till the kids are older.

Hi - I have 1 in Primary & 1 at secondary, and I have 10 different dates as well! Oct half term for example, DS had the preceeding Friday off & DD the following Monday! OP, I remember when my DS first started secondary school - he went from being dropped off & picked up every day at Primary, to leaving the house to get the bus at 7.45 & letting himself into the house at hometime, where he would be on his own until gone 5. It's a big step.
Good luck with your job-hunting, hope you manage to sort something out.

Spendless

SnowWhiterThanWhite wrote: »

Hi - I have 1 in Primary & 1 at secondary, and I have 10 different dates as well! Oct half term for example, DS had the preceeding Friday off & DD the following Monday! OP, I remember when my DS first started secondary school - he went from being dropped off & picked up every day at Primary, to leaving the house to get the bus at 7.45 & letting himself into the house at hometime, where he would be on his own until gone 5. It's a big step.
Good luck with your job-hunting, hope you manage to sort something out.

Do yours attend schools that aren't 'linked'? My youngest goes to the feeder Primary school for the Secondary my eldest attends ie we are in the catchment area for both schools and even if we weren't, attending a feeder Primary is a higher criteria for the linked Secondary school than if we had been living and schooling elsewhere. We also have at least 1 inset day which is the whole of town, usually the day before Autumn term starts, and they also tend to be tagged onto hols either before or at the end, so the chances are I'd get some falling the same.

My 11yo has done very similar to what you've described. The primary was round the corner from where we live and until starting Secondary he'd never been out of our village without an adult. He now leaves at 7.30am for the school bus, and though I normally finish at 3, I recently ahd a week of working till 5pm, where he was left to let himself in.