Pre and after school care

[Guest guest8040]

Looking for the low down on how this works in Oz as we won't have grandparents to rely on and both intend to work. Is it available at most schools or not attached to schools at all? What times is it available? Roughly how much does it cost? What are people's opinions of it? My 2 have attended after school club here for a bit but didn't like it as it was age 4-11 mixed and as they were 5 and 3 they got pushed about a bit. Plus their tea was provided which most days was a chocolate spread sandwich on white bread! The breakfast club was better as they only attended 7.30-9. Thankfully mine and my husbands job here and grandparents help means we have been able to juggle our hours and don't have to rely on it extensively.

[Guest salisbury massive]

Most primary schools offer a before and after school service. My own school does a 6.30am start and finishes at 6pm in the evening. I don't use the before school service but the cost is based around your income and whether you get family tax benefit part A & B. the more you earn the more you pay. My school costs $14 for an after school session and I pay $13.26. However my friend who is on a low income gets both her kids in on the same sessions for $3 per child. They also offer full day sessions in the school holidays and the cost ranges from $35 if its a basic day up to $55 if they are going on an excursion. The excursions can range from a trip to the zoo, ice skating, bowling, trips to play cafes. we had a 10 metre rock climbing wall last holiday and a basketball player from the 36r's came and taught them to play basketball. There are many child day care centres around which is where your 3 year old will have to go. Kindergarten doesn't start till they are 4 here so i would suggest looking for a kindy/day care combined centre. that way when your youngest is ready for kindy its a simple transition, when kindy is finished they can just move into the child care side of the centre. However, costs can be expensive and child care prices are set to soar in Adelaide this year. You can also get family day care (like childminding in uk) which is cheaper, my day care lady charges $5.20 an hour and she takes them to playgroups, singing groups ect. Its a tough gig finding the right balance thats for sure and it is so difficult when you get here and you have no family back up at all. I envy my friends who can off load their kids with grandparents on pupli free days, i either have to take a day off or pay up to $55 for school care. I'm very grateful we have the service though, I'd be stuffed without it. Oh also get a child care rebate every 3 months. sometimes if i'm lucky i will have overpaid my fees and they send me the difference back. hope that helps.

[Guest Pam777]

my children used OSHC (out of school hours care) they open 6.30am and at night till 6.30pm.

cost is approx $9 per morning session and they get breakfast and the evening session is about $15 and they get a snack, sandwiches etc. if you get help due to your income then the cost is less. every quarter of the year you get 50% of what you have paid out of your pocket, back from the government. vacation care is approx $55 per day.

[Guest Sachertorte]

Here in Oz the schools seem to operate assuming you have full sets of (able and willing) grandparents! There will be lots of pupil free days, days when there is NO OSHC (!!). Also consider that if you plan to take leave to cover those days you are going to be left with very little leave for your holidays. Standard leave in Australia is 20 days (rather that 25) also there are normally only a total of 10 days for carer leave/sick leave etc) So that gives you

 

It's often a very difficult balancing act for the likes of us with no family or other support networks.

 

You have to be careful with the work commitments you take on- we found one of the parents really needs to be part-time until all the kids are at school. Yes, true, there are rebates but do remember that if you are eligible for all the rebates (part A and B of the family tax benefit) then you probably won't be in those income brackets where it makes sense paying for childcare (about $60-70 per child per day) plus the petrol to go to work plus the lack of time to cook your own meals and shop where you can save! We both had jobs at the beginning, but in our case the net gain of me working was nil as I was spending more to shop online, cooking less and spending to buy lunch at work as I was in a managerial position where I had to take work home in the evening until very late so no time to make myself lunch.

 

Are you a permanent resident? That makes a difference- but as I said do your maths as here childcare vouchers are not the norm, and they are rather the privilege of a handful of large organisations.

 

In this Australia is very behind the UK

[lorluc]

Here in Oz the schools seem to operate assuming you have full sets of (able and willing) grandparents! There will be lots of pupil free days, days when there is NO OSHC (!!). Also consider that if you plan to take leave to cover those days you are going to be left with very little leave for your holidays. Standard leave in Australia is 20 days (rather that 25) also there are normally only a total of 10 days for carer leave/sick leave etc) So that gives you

 

It's often a very difficult balancing act for the likes of us with no family or other support networks.

 

You have to be careful with the work commitments you take on- we found one of the parents really needs to be part-time until all the kids are at school. Yes, true, there are rebates but do remember that if you are eligible for all the rebates (part A and B of the family tax benefit) then you probably won't be in those income brackets where it makes sense paying for childcare (about $60-70 per child per day) plus the petrol to go to work plus the lack of time to cook your own meals and shop where you can save! We both had jobs at the beginning, but in our case the net gain of me working was nil as I was spending more to shop online, cooking less and spending to buy lunch at work as I was in a managerial position where I had to take work home in the evening until very late so no time to make myself lunch.

 

Are you a permanent resident? That makes a difference- but as I said do your maths as here childcare vouchers are not the norm, and they are rather the privilege of a handful of large organisations.

 

In this Australia is very behind the UK

 

 

Strange as our OSHC is open pupil free days...only time it shuts is 2 weeks over xmas hols, which i think is fair enough

[Guest lyn]

Strange as our OSHC is open pupil free days...only time it shuts is 2 weeks over xmas hols, which i think is fair enough

 

Ours is also available on pupil free days and it seems to offer a free service on those days, too...not that I have had to use it on pupil-free days yet.

[Guest Pam777]

mine is also open pupil free days at the same cost as vacation care. only closes on public holidays

[Guest Sachertorte]

Sorry if I confused- I only meant that there are lots of pupil free days not that OSHC was not open on those days. It still costs to send kids to OSHC! For 2 kids it will be around $50 after rebate. If you are not PR double that.

[Guest lyn]

Sorry if I confused- I only meant that there are lots of pupil free days not that OSHC was not open on those days. It still costs to send kids to OSHC! For 2 kids it will be around $50 after rebate. If you are not PR double that.

 

Like I said, our OSHC is free during pupil free days from 8.30 to 3.15. They only charge for the usual before and after school sessions.

[Guest guest8040]

Thanks everyone for all the information has put my mind at rest - one other thing to cross off the worry list!

[Guest Paula H]

Thanks everyone for all the information has put my mind at rest - one other thing to cross off the worry list!

 

Off of a very long list I bet