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Original poster

Holiday childcare for early secondary child

28 replies

Tiddlywinkly · 03/04/2024 08:04

Genuinely not sure how this works. Please help wise mumsnetters!

Eldest (DD) goes to secondary school September 2025. She'll turn 12 that month. She'll also have a younger sibling who'll be 10 that year.

Holiday clubs seem to stop at 11. My DH and I have flexibility and can WFH some alternate days, but not all.

What do we do with DD? We can't leave her by herself. What age can you leave them? To make it even more complicated, my younger child currently loves holiday clubs with his sister, but would not be happy to go by himself.

I suppose I could hire some sort of babysitter? Any advice welcome. What did you do? Thank you.

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BananaLlama123 · 03/04/2024 08:16

I left both my older children on their own from age 12, and will be doing the same with my youngest who goes into Y7 in September. I usually take October half term off and we cover Christmas between us, but come Feb half term she'll be with her siblings. Assuming no ND or other vulnerabilities, a 12yo should be fine. We do tend to stagger our work days, so I do 7-3 and husband does 9-6 so it's not a long day, but that's all

menopausalmare · 03/04/2024 08:12

My two are 12 and 10 and I need to use up some childcare vouchers. Barracudas runs activities for 10-14 year olds and the activities look good. Is there a similar scheme near you?
I wouldn't leave a 12 year old home alone all day, for boredom reasons as much as safety.

MsAsparagus · 03/04/2024 08:08

Why can’t you leave her by herself? There’s a reason most holiday clubs aren’t run for high school kids. If it’s not every day, it’s a great opportunity to develop some independence.