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View Full Version : schoolies is where the money is?



jadavi
25-04-2012, 07:49 PM
Sorry for such a bad taste / crass title but thAT IS what I am asking...

If I have my quota of three little ones its about total £80 a day for 6 - 9 hours.

I haven't started before/ after schoolies properly yet but am building up to it...
Another local childminder has about 8 she walks home with plus I know she is booked up with little ones all week as she's the only one in her town. If it's £15 per schoolie like most people seem to charge on the forum, then it must be another £120 a day just for three hours or less! Full capacity would be a thousand pounds a week!!
Plus even more in the holidays.

Do many people do multiple schoolies?

Apologies again for talking about money but we all have to make a living...

miffy
25-04-2012, 07:54 PM
I have far less schoolies now than I used to have - there is much more competition for the business from nurseries, after school and holiday clubs. Local schools don't promote us as they want parents to use their own after school club.

I also think schoolies are hard work, they eat more too so less profit and in the holidays, want more in the way of entertainment so are costlier.

Miffy xx

onceinabluemoon
25-04-2012, 07:56 PM
I make hardly anything form my schoolies, they are all term time only and 2/3 go to the after school club after school because "its cheaper than me" (it isn't)

Milli147
25-04-2012, 07:58 PM
I think you're right, I know a CM who makes a lot of money doing after schoolies, BUT she darn well earns it! A house full of 8 year olds all evening after having had/still having three tinies since 8am? Most times I see her she is completely frazzled, though I have to say does an amazing job of appearing calm and lovely to the children!

rickysmiths
25-04-2012, 08:03 PM
Sorry for such a bad taste / crass title but thAT IS what I am asking...

If I have my quota of three little ones its about total £80 a day for 6 - 9 hours.

I haven't started before/ after schoolies properly yet but am building up to it...
Another local childminder has about 8 she walks home with plus I know she is booked up with little ones all week as she's the only one in her town. If it's £15 per schoolie like most people seem to charge on the forum, then it must be another £120 a day just for three hours or less! Full capacity would be a thousand pounds a week!!
Plus even more in the holidays.

Do many people do multiple schoolies?

Apologies again for talking about money but we all have to make a living...

You could just do after school for that rate!!!

I don't think I would want that many on my own and with three little ones and you have to take into account the effect on little ones.

Also remember you can't have more than 6 under 8s on you own.

But yes if there is the demand locally and you have the energy then there is money to be made in the after school business.

When my children were first at school I did only before and after school care and had up to 8 plus my two every day am and pm and some in the holidays and I sold Dorling Kindersley Books in the day time. I loved it.

bezi123
25-04-2012, 08:24 PM
Well I sure hope so, as when I am registered, thats all I will be doing as I am a mother/baby swimming teacher during school hours and an extra £1000 a week would be nice:laughing:

However in reality I'm only charging £3.50 an hour to compete with after school clubs and I think it will take a while to business up, so I doubt I will earn anywhere near that amount! Although I do live directly outside a large primary school so hope that helps as I can just put a poster in my window to advertise!

Chatterbox Childcare
25-04-2012, 09:04 PM
I don't compete - I charge £14 per child per night and I have approx 9 per night plus my little ones

It is very hard work and I don't finish until 7pm most evenings tidying up and packing away

jadavi
25-04-2012, 10:05 PM
Thanks. So it really can be quite lucrative then ....

Demonjill
25-04-2012, 10:08 PM
we dont have the option of that many children up here in scotland:(

so no £1000 a week for me -:laughing: not that id want loads of nippy schoolies anyway :laughing:

Twinkles
25-04-2012, 10:12 PM
But they're SUCH hard work !!!! :panic:

Give me a houseful of babies any day ( No Mr OFSTED spy I don't have a houseful ! )

butterfly
26-04-2012, 06:17 AM
There is a lot of money to be made in after schoolies but they are a lot of work! They eat a lot, tehy take up a lot of room, they're difficult to entertain, they squabble, and generally their parents are not interested in their behaviour or anything else because they see you as a babysitter!

I wouldn't do it for all the money in the world!

mama2three
26-04-2012, 06:23 AM
There are relatively few schoolies to be had here - most go to the ( very very cheap and flexible ) after school club. They only pay for sessions used , no charge for sickness or other days off. childminders simply cant compete.

At another local school my close friend has a few schoolies - not the numbers mentioned on here though! 2 or 3 . She manages a day off in the week and works only 8-5.30. Im working 5 days with los 7 - 6.30 . She earns £400 a month more than I do. Not that Im jealous or anything:rolleyes::laughing:

jadavi
26-04-2012, 06:28 AM
Haha
Yes thats the trouble - them being hard work , also once you're doing it there's no real end in sight as wouldn't want to mess about the parents.
Do people try and take them to the playground or park every day? Weather so unreliable tho!! What do you all do?

marnieb
26-04-2012, 06:38 AM
After almost 3 yrs of minding I started with after schoolies last week, boy 7 , 2 girls age 11, but they c all fall on different days, and so only last Thursday had them all, but it meant I had 8 kids ( 2 my own! ), 7 to feed at tea time.

BUT - I'm loving it!! Ds 8 had a pal to play with and the 11 yr olds love the bables, and yesteday we made cakes.

The money is good - an extra £70-90 a week extra, which I am saving to pay for our family holiday this year.

Roseolivia
26-04-2012, 06:44 AM
I have 3 after schoolies, 2 are siblings. Some nights i may have them all other nights i may have 1 or none. Generally i only do 2 nights per family so it's not too bad. They are really well behaved and get on great even though one is an 8yr boy.

nokidshere
26-04-2012, 07:04 AM
I only have one little one in the daytime and most of my custom is schoolies. Most nights I have 8 children in the house and its sort of organised chaos and noisy!

I love the interaction with the older ones, especially after talking Thomas the tank engine and zinga tinga most of the day :D

But.. they are harder work, the noise levels are high, they eat tons, they do squabble more than little ones and the 7-9 year olds tell tales!!!!

However, its worth it for 2.5 hours each day - a lot of work concentrated into a short space of time. The average cost (some only stay an hour) is around £9 which works out at approx £360 per week. But once I have taken my costs off that (including the cost of a full meal for them all each night) its not as profitable as it could be.

Its definitly not boring though :)

gegele
26-04-2012, 07:05 AM
how do you count £1000?

I wouldn't do that many after school as i haven't got the space and truth be told I couldn't deal with the NOISE!!!! I think you need a room separated just for them LOL. put CCTV in it and hide at the other side of house with babies ah ah ah aha ha

DD is 6 i have 1 6yrs old before and after school and for a while i had a 7yrs old....plus DS who's 4........the noise is unbarable!!! and 1 is only there for 2h!

during the holidays they're really expensive as well as they pay for all outing, you need more recources and more expensive ones. as much as you can entertain a toddler with a few books, a few boxes and 2 crayon and 2wooden spooo it's not the same with 8 8yrs old!! and they eat ... a lot...often :laughing::laughing::laughing:

i think that if i was to work with 8after schoolies i wouldn't have any little one so no little ones toys or ressource in my house and so more space for big ones... I'll spend my day at the gym to have the stamina to survive all of them ah ah ah ah

buzzy bee
26-04-2012, 07:06 AM
I have 4 schoolies 2 nights a week til 6.30pm and I get just under £80 for the 3 hours work.

So yes the money is good for a short amount of time BUT they are much harder work than little ones (in my opinion). I'm seriously considering stopping but the money makes it hard to refuse!

helengreen13
26-04-2012, 07:18 AM
I love my after schools and have 12 most nights as lots are now over 8. there is a good mix of boys and girls and really don't find them hard work at all. Boys play football, go on trampoline or down to park. Girls love arts and craft, dressing up or writing stories.

jumping j
26-04-2012, 07:33 AM
I just have one after schoolie at the moment, about 2/3 times a week.
Then if the hols I have 2 ad hoc.
The older they get the more work they are.
They eat more, want more entertaining and always want to know what we're doing next, even when they've not even started the activity we're about to do
Saying that all my after schoolies are girls and lovely, during term time they're happy to play with the dolls for an hour, do some craft and have something to eat then go home.
It's the holidays that are a pain:blush:

ziggy
26-04-2012, 07:35 AM
Here in northern ireland we can only have 3 schoolies and i charge more than most at £3.50 per hour so sadly i wont be making alot. And i wouldnt mind few more after school but not sure i would be so keen during rainy holidays

guest3
26-04-2012, 07:55 AM
I have 1 baby through the day and 1 before and after schoolie 3 days a week.
He is definately hard work, always wanting someone to play football with him (if I say no, he pesters my 13 year old who is really good with him but obviously doesn't want to play with a 5 year old all afternoon!) If no one will play with him, he spends the afternoon sulking, annoying the baby and asking for his daddy! :(

JCrakers
26-04-2012, 08:30 AM
Theres a minder up the road who just does before and after school. I was actually working out the other day with hubbie that she must earn more than me.

She always has between 6-9 children morning and eve. So she works 8-9 and 3-6 so 4 hrs a day, 20hrs a week and gets time off in the daytime to do her own thing.

So she works 20hrs a week, I work 50hrs and we worked out if she charges £10 for afterschool care and £3.50 for the morning session thats £13.50 per child x 6 is £81 per day and thats just for 6 children. Over 5 days thats about £450 a week.

More than I earn for 50hrs for having 15 kids throughout the week... :( Shes got it good

And can I add that I myself have betwewn 3-7 schoolies depending on the day so i work 50hrs plus all the grief from the 8yr olds and there all boys.....:panic:

nokidshere
26-04-2012, 10:42 AM
I have one 2 year old during the day and up to 9 schoolies after school each day.

They are not the easy option! I might only have them for 2.5 hours (and a couple before school 7:30-9) but that is like a whole days work crammed into a very short space of time!

All I can describe it as is organised chaos! :laughing: The noise can reach crechendo (sp?) levels, there are bodies everywhere, they eat tons (I cook a meal each day), they squabble more, tell tales more, use more supplies, have more "stuff" and are more likely to be "bored"!!!

On the other hand they are very interactive and we have some fantastic dinner converstaions. They look out for each other in and out of school and love it when they are all able to play out together.

When my little one sleeps (as he is right now) I prepare the meal for dinner and precook whatever I can in advance, do the paperwork and chill for 5 mins! Its already nearly lunchtime so only another 2.5 hours before i have to pick them up - the day flies by!

The maximum charge for the 2.5 hours is 9.80 so when I have all 9 of them (thursdays) I earn around 80 quid for the day. Once I have taken off my costs I might make 35ish!

When this little one goes to school that will be me done with daytime care (although I said that last time lol) and I will enjoy and relish every single minute of my 6 hours "off" each day because I will have flippin earned it :D

silvermist
26-04-2012, 11:54 AM
Hi I have two schoolies(siblings) tues/weds til 6pm, another one on thurs/fri and one more booked in for sept. I love it, they are great fun, well behaved and love being around the baby too. Last night the two girls rehearsed and then performed a 'show' for me to watch, its brill. I really enjoy my after schoolies!:clapping::clapping::clapping:

mummyof3
26-04-2012, 12:23 PM
But they're SUCH hard work !!!! :panic:

Give me a houseful of babies any day ( No Mr OFSTED spy I don't have a houseful ! )


I agree! I only have a few after school children and my own children and I'd rather have a house filled with babies and toddlers!!

VeggieSausage
26-04-2012, 12:27 PM
schoolies are very hard work - phew I have 2 and that is ENOUGH!!

jadavi
26-04-2012, 03:45 PM
well the calculation i did was 200 x five days of the week

80 daily for her little ones (she has more tho as she has two assistants)
120 daily for the 8 schoolies at £15 each. that makes 200.

that makes a thousand a week.

gegele
26-04-2012, 05:01 PM
well the calculation i did was 200 x five days of the week

80 daily for her little ones (she has more tho as she has two assistants)
120 daily for the 8 schoolies at £15 each. that makes 200.

that makes a thousand a week.

:blush:i didn't count the little ones

the interaction is definately better with over 5. I suppose that when my own youngest will be bigger it'll be more of a temptation....
to get ride of the toddler/babies toys is really appealing!!!
and being just in front of a big green and field i suppose i could have over 7s boys play football..... lots of food for thoughts in a few years:thumbsup:

nikki thomson
26-04-2012, 06:01 PM
Well I think if you only have schoolies and your own children are similar age etc and they all go to the same school and are friends then yes I think it can be very lucrative for alot less work no EYFS for a start, and in the hols you can just throw a ball some outdoor games in the car, take a picnic and go off for the day and you wouldn't know you'd got them but throw little ones into the mix with nap times, paperwork, and everything else then I don't think it works that well in the holidays.
I know there are cm who have quite a few schoolies and little ones in the hols but trying to entertain age range 0-11yrs for upto 10hrs a day everyday in the hols is not my idea off fun. The money sounds good though.lol. X

Chimps Childminding
26-04-2012, 08:00 PM
I have 3 schoolies - not all here every day (thank goodness) and I do find them exhausting!! Tonight for instance I only had 1 and the school had a film evening on till 5.30 so she was only here for half an hour, but wanted to make something (anything). I have had 2 (very demanding) littlies all day and the last thing I really wanted was to start getting glue etc out at that time of night!

I don't mind the schoolies when I haven't got any littlies, but I find the mix of the 2 really hard to accomodate!! I wish I had a separate room that they could use so I didn't have to keep worrying about the babies getting hold of something they shouldn't or getting knocked over when they are dancing/messing about etc

louise
26-04-2012, 08:09 PM
I love my after schoolies and would find it hard to have a baby now. Currently I have a 4 yr old 2 days a week and the rest are schoolies. I have another one starting next week which will take it to 7(including ds) one day a week. I will only do it one day and thats only for an hour and a half. I think it works so well for me as they are close to my ds age or the younger ones are siblings. The group works so well and are a great group. The only problem I have is they are term time only and I only have one kid in the holidays so my wage drops a lot, so I always have to plan ahead. So I wouldn't say its truely where the money is.