School newbie - talk to me about half terms & holidays

Also, are either of you working part time? As soon as my youngest starts reception, I am going to ask to donsome extra hours during term time, maybe 1 day a month, to give me a couple of extra weeks that I can take during the holidays.

We do a mixture of family, swaps with classmates, clubs run at activities she already attends eg drama/dance workshops, loafing at home while we work from home and a sports club. Sadly there are only 2 in our area which cover a whole working day and they're expensive so can't/won't send her all summer.

The summer holiday spreadsheets start as soon as the May half term is over - my colleagues and I all start organising it that week.

The Christmas holidays are the hardest as very little else is open.

Start saving now for the summer- put away some of the money you may save from.nursery fees ending, or it comes as a huge amount in one go (between 25 and 30 a day in our area)

Holiday club. Not a specific activity club, just a general holiday club. They took them from four years and mine loved it. Made loads of long term friends and became experts at Super Mario.

Our school nursery and our local private nursery both operate holiday clubs, which we use, along with a mix of staying at grandparents etc occasionally. Ds was able to go to those holiday clubs from starting reception year, so no issues with him only turning 5 in January. Possibly because they are both operated by nurseries so have provision anyway for younger kids.

Lots of school holiday clubs do school hours rather than longer days...so if you're managing now with him being at school, you'll probably be fine with a school hours holiday clubs. My dcs school used to run one in the holidays...lots of leisure centres do too.

DS was definitely in a holiday club in the October half term and he wasn't five til the January. I think this was one attached to a school (not his) that also had a pre school so they could accept ones slightly younger. But yes, we got through the first year with a mix of A/L and clubs. This year (he's in year one now) we've been able to do shared days with other parents. So I'll have DS and a mate on a Wednesday for example and my friend will repay the favour on the Friday.

Some schools do their own holiday clubs, does hours? Otherwise you will need to find a local one.

Wow do you mean from October? I'd look now as unlikely he's 5 by then it's hard to find clubs that take 4 year olds. Also 9.30 start 4ish finish usually so personally I'd look for a childminder.

Kids often need to be at least 5 years old to attend a holiday club. You may find a childminder who has a place for an extra child in the school holidays, or nurseries/preschools with the same.

Your local council should have a service for assisting parents in finding childcare, google your local area and childcare and see what comes up.

Holiday clubs, there will be some locally to you, usually run by local authority / nurseries / schools.