[Forum] Can’t find a childminder in Bradley Stoke

Children on rope. [by: Keith Laverack; licence: CC BY-ND 2.0]

I am contacting you today to try and reach out to any childminders who may be able to help me.

Me and my partner, Joanna, are struggling to find anyone able to help out with picking up our child Jack from Meadowbrook Primary School and looking after him for an hour. We were caught out with after school club because we didn’t realise parents were booking it up last September! We were talking to someone from the school over the six week holidays about getting Jack into after school club; they told us that when she got back off holiday she would sort it. Then she told us it was full with just two weeks left before full term started!

So we have had to ask a family friend to help us out, but there is no guarantee this can last.

We have tried official childminding websites and even spoken to a couple of childminders directly. We have had no response from anyone…

I am beginning to feel cursed!

Our hands feel a little tied right now. Neither me or my partner can take part-time at the jobs we currently have. I am only able to do late shifts due to the recent bus timetable change meaning I am unable to get into town on time for an early morning shift and my partner can start no earlier than 8am, finishing at 4pm.

As you can understand, we are desperate – in a bit of a quandary.

We have been told after school club may have a space after the October half term, but that is a long shot.

I was hoping you would be able to squeeze a small ad or piece about this in the next Journal in the vain hope someone would actually be willing to help us.

Any help you can provide would be massively appreciated! Please call me on 07766 861239.

Rob

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  1. Hi, after speaking to you earlier today I have, as promised, placed your requirements on a closed facebook page for childminders. Ive had one response so far and passed on your number and will continue to keep the request posted. Sue

  2. I had the same problem 6 yrs ago when my son started Meadowbrook but he did get into after school club in the end starting of part time then building upto full time. I was amazed that at the time the after school club attached to Meadowbrook was the only one in the area and considering that there are several primary schools in Bradley Stoke I think this is very bad planning. I’m not sure if this is still the case but it seems like it is, something needs to be done about decent child care around school hours as more parents are having to work full time.

  3. Definite opening here for several new childminders in this area to kick start their career. With such a shortage of childcare places perhaps some entrepreneur may open another after school club

  4. Hi Rob,

    Have you had any luck with finding a childminder?

    I work for a company called Care.com (https://uk.care.com) and I thought it may be of use to you! We’re an online community to help families find childcare in their local area – and we’ve got lots of carers near you.

    If you just pop in your postcode in the top right hand corner you can search our database of childcarers. As you do the hiring yourself, you will need to pursue reference checking/DBS checks and if you choose a childminder, check their Ofsted registration too. But we have lots of advice and tips on hiring here: http://blog.uk.care.com/safety-centre/

    If you need any more help, though, please do get in touch with our MemberCare team at membercareUK@care.com and they would be more than happy to help you.

    Let me know how you get on 🙂

  5. Hi Rob, have you tried Kids Klub, who are based out of the Holy Trinity Church Hall? They take children from a number of the Bradley Stoke primary schools and provide a bus to collect them from school to Holy Trinity (my daughter just started school this Sept and does a couple of evenings with them).

    I’m not sure if they cover Meadowbrook, but it’s worth phoning to ask. Judith Hadley runs it and is very helpful. I’ve copied the link here http://kidsklub.com/ and the telephone number is 01275 390002.

    Good luck, Rachel