What do you do for childcare in school holidays if you don't have family/friends you can ask for help?

[Roxetta]

I'm thinking ahead a little here. I want to get back into work and develop a good career but with DH being Forces and us/those around us moving a lot, I'm wondering what childcare options there tend to be in school holidays? Are there normally holiday clubs etc for school aged kids? I'm new to all of this as my eldest DD has just started reception. Thanks for your help :)

We use a mixture of local holiday clubs, key is to plan and book areally early.

I take some time off around club days and use child care vouchers through the work voucher scheme to help pay for it.

I don't work because of this problem! There are lots of holiday clubs near me (London) but I'd have to use them for the entire time and would cost me hundreds every week for 2 children.

I don't work because of this problem! There are lots of holiday clubs near me (London) but I'd have to use them for the entire time and would cost me hundreds every week for 2 children.

This is my concern. When DH is away for long spells, it'll only be me getting annual leave to take care of the DC meaning I'd be an arm & a leg covering school holidays 😩

If you use a childminder weekdays instead of after school clubs they may well have room for full time during holidays. Mine did and then we calculated 39 weeks at term time hours and 13 weeks at full time hours (minus bank hols) then split it by 12 so I paid the same every month.

We have various clubs we can use.
There are a few sporty ones which look interesting but unfortunately for us only run for around 6 hours a day which isn’t long enough work wise.
We use one in a local nursery which is open 8 till 6 and takes kids up to 11 years old, unfortunately though there isn’t so much for them to do there and DD7 is already complaining of being bored.
I know a lot of childminders also do holiday care but really it all depends on your area

Annual leave
Purchased leave
Childminders
Holiday clubs

Stressful and costs a fortune!

Covering childcare during school hols (particularly the long summer break) is tricky when you both work

I worked part time and myself and a friend with similar age children who also worked part time helped each other out by looking after each others kids for a few days on our days off

My parents don't live locally but would usually visit during school hols to provide childcare for 2 or 3 days

Tennis summer camp for a few days

Me or DH used annual leave to cover any gaps

Where I live there are quite a lot of holiday clubs. They aren't cheap but there is enough of them. Quite often schools have leaflets for the holiday club providers that go in book bags so you might get a feel for what's on offer.

I'm NC with my parents & DH's parents can't be relied upon at all. The also all live 8 hours drive away. I also feel the D.C. suffer with having their dad away so much I'd feel so guilty putting them in these clubs all the time and like a PP said, the club may only offer 6 hours which isn't much use.

Spend a fortune on holiday clubs. Argh

Same as tulips , ds goes to his childminder, I pay the same amount every month, so holidays are not too expensive

In your situation OP it might be wise to look for a job in a school or term time contract

I know that is easier said than done but if your DH is away and can't do his share of childcare during school hols then that will obviously make things a lot harder

Would an au pair be possible for school age children?

We have a WhatsApp group and try to coordinate holiday clubs so they go at the same time as a school friend. We’ll also use the group to arrange play date swaps around parent schedules (so if I take leave 1 day I’ll invite 4 of their friends over that day, and the 4 parents reciprocate separately so 4 days of no holiday club in exchange for 1 days leave). 5 weeks annual leave a year leaves 8 weeks holiday club per year, minus about 1 in summer, 1 in Easter and 1 at Christmas thanks to play dates = 5 weeks spread over the year to pay for.

Holiday clubs, you get 8-6 type ones run by the afterschool club company or 9-4 ones that are more specific like stagecoach or dance schools.

Swaps with other school mums.

Careful use of holiday / working from home / time off in lieu - I can't do à whole day working and looking after DD, that's taking the piss but she can be picked up at 3.30 and sat in front of a film so I can do another 90 minutes work.

Both sets of grandparents live overseas but would come over to the UK during the holidays or when DC’s were old enough, they would fly over on their own. The rest of the holidays were covered with my and DH’s holiday entitlement and a variety of different holiday clubs. Holiday clubs get booked up quickly, so book early.

I find a week or two of PGL per year takes the pressure off annual leave entitlement a bit. Often you can get a 2 go for the price of 1 so it works out reasonable when you account for the food and the cost of taking the children places as you might if you were home with them.

If they are away overnight then depending on your job you can see about doing some extra hours for some time off in lieu when the children are home again.

Loads of holiday clubs where I am. Cost around £170 per week, per child.

School holiday clubs, sports club camps and reciprocal play date days.

I’m self employed so I just stop work during school holidays. When I take on new clients I explain I can only work during term time.

Its not just the holidays - what will you do in term time? Schools hours are around 9am-3pm - ish. Most people's working day is at least 9-5pm (with a commute on top).

Factor that in when considering what hours you'll be able to work and how much wrap around childcare will cost.

In a similar situation we use a childminder for before and after school and DS goes there in the holidays when we can’t cover it. What is helpful is that DH gets block leave in the school holidays so that covers a lot of them.

Look around you and see everyone else managing it, and have faith that you too will figure something out!

That said, the fact that I'm PT and we get 2 days a week covered by me at home anyway is hugely helpful. 2-3 days of hol club is a very different prospect to a whole week. Also my work are quite flexible and happy for me to work extra hours one week (if I've booked a 5 day camp) and take extra days off the next.

Good holiday clubs don't need to advertise much but you hear about them on the grapevine. We favour the outward bound ones with zipwires, kayaking etc, mixed with a very low key, free flow one that is very popular with littlies. They buy in a couple of outside providers for an hour or two each day, so there will be a bouncy castle or a sports coach, or pottery painting, or a mobile farm - the sort of thing people pay good money for as party activities - and they provide other activities alongside. Children can bring their tech, raid the library for books... it's quite chilled.

Sports camps are often really cheap & popular, stuff like drama tends not to be. Mix in a few days of camps with bits of your leave and your DH doing some when he's back, I think you'll be surprised that it's more manageable than you think. I see other people doing swap with friends too, and as you get to know your DD's classmates this will get much easier. It doesn't work for us with DS's autism.

Could you get a term time style job?
So working in schools, local authority etc?

Could you get a work from home job?

I want to work in accountancy but have no experience in that area yet (currently looking into qualifications I can do). Not sure if there will be all that many options for home based/ term time jobs in that field for someone with limited experience. It's an option I'm definitely looking into though.