To ask how families with non teaching parents manage DCs during school holidays?

[Sheitgeist]

Just that, really.
I am an out of work primary teacher in an area where there are rarely any vacancies. If they do crop up, there can be in excess of 100 applicants. I'd gladly be a TA, but it seems impossible to get that job too!

I'm looking outside of education now, but if I get a basic admin - or indeed any other job - I'll likely get around 5 weeks holiday. DH gets 6. Our two school age children (still at primary) get 13!
If I put them in a holiday club it will cost around £250 per week; childminder (if I can find one for school age children) would be a bit over £300. More than I'm likely to be paid!

We have parents or inlaws to help out. I'm feeling pretty unemployable now. What do other working parents do?

One big issue which I think a few people have touched on is its not just a question of how much leave you have, but the ability to take it. In my workplace, most of my colleagues have school age DCs, so school holiday leave is a juggling act to ensure cover. Its not just as easy as banking leave to get the whole of_August off.

Sheitgeist you'll muddle through because you have to. Necessity is the mother of invention! It's like having a baby really, you don't have the faintest clue how you'll cope, but you see millions of other people managing so you know you'll probably figure it out too.

And you know how it is with kids, they just keep changing. We are in our 4th year and we've tweaked it every year as they grow and their needs and interests develop. YR was the hardest I think.

For anyone reading who has DC starting school this Sept, I would really recommend saving your leave this summer as much as you can. YRs do get knackered and the more leave you can save so they can have chillout time over the first half terms and holidays, the better. Plus if your school starts them on half days at first, that can eat up your leave too.

Wise word about saving annual leave Molichite. We got severely caught out the year DS started school. We booked our annual leave for our summer holiday before the school's open evening for new starters, at which they informed us the school was operating a new system of delayed start followed by half days, meaning DH and I had an additional seven full days, plus ten half days to cover that we hadn't prepared for.

Then the following Spring DS broke his arm and had to have a week and a half off school. The week he went back he came down with chicken pox, which overlapped with the Easter holidays, straight after which he had to have several more days off for surgery on his arm. We were very lucky to have the the GPs and understanding employers at that time.

We have 4 children, 2 teens, 1 in primary & 1 in pre- school (mornings only) my husband works during the day & I work evenings & saturdays. That way one if us is always home for the kids. It is a pain as i hate not being able to spend cosy evenings with my family, but on the days/eves we are altogether we make the most of it