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?

morethan is a non worker on tax credits - she thinks we can all 'choose' not to work - always posting the same sort of crap.

I paid for the after school care's holiday club at £16 per day and claimed childcare tax credits.

Parents would take DCs away for a few days now and again.

You get paid not to work?!

Fuck it why did no one tell me this before??

if it doesn't work for you then you don't work until it does

Er, yes, MoreThan , of course, but this thread was really about sharing experiences and ideas about school holiday care, so as to give people some practical options and ideas to try. Because of it I am certainly feeling more positive and I hope it's helped others too.

About the not working part... some of us have mortgage and bills to pay as well as children to feed.

It's so difficult and it shouldn't be.

I worked out I won't be able to work until 2021 and I'll have been unemployed for ten years then. Fantastic

Oh and some of us do worthwhile and socially valuable work, and in some cases have trained long and hard to do it.
'Just give it up...' - utter tosh

I have been lucky with shift work,but I start thinking about it the minute I get my 6 month rota that covers the summer (often before Xmas or january) and imeadiately try to condense my hours and book my leave in those 6 weeks. An example is working 4 13 hour night shifts consecutively 3 of which are friday/sat/sunday (+ thursday usually)thereby racking up 52 hours (I am contracted for 28) so I effectively have 2 weeks off except that Friday which dh can cover or do a child swap.I will usually work another 3 day week when they go to gps and we have 2 weeks off as a family (not always consecutive). This year will be a little different as I am now doing an office hours job.Luckily gps will have them for a week and I have booked 2 weeks of camp.

The idea that the rest of us don't understand what it is to have made "huge financial sacrifices" makes me

Yes, because that's what sitting on your arse on benefits is, isn't it? It's "making a huge financial sacrifice"?!

Every parent on this thread makes massive sacrifices every day to raise their kids, keep their family together and keep a roof over their heads. The idea that someone who simply chucked in their job has more of an idea about sacrifice makes me piss my pants laughing.

Sheitgeist.

Yes, of course your thread is about sharing care, but some comments are just ridiculous.

As a sahp I have covered the odd day for friends of my dc, and been an emergency contact for a few of their friends when their parents haven't had anyone else.
I have never been asked to cover for school holidays because there has never been a problem accessing this as far as I'm aware.
There are clubs at every imaginable venue, nurseries, family (for some), residential courses/clubs.
Comments such as national problem, are a bit silly tbh.

In addition, its pretty obvious if you can't afford something you can't have it whether that is childcare or a new car.

Rocket
No, I wasn't prepared to work for nothing, for it to cost me to work, whilst paying somebody to look after my dc when I could do that for free.

And if you have a child with SN, it's even more difficult to find childcare.

I thank my lucky starts I didn't work/need to work during school holidays when DS1 was younger. Because I just couldn't have.

morethanpotatoprints When I went back to work I was £100pm better off after paying for childcare. Most would say that wasn't worth it. But My DC are now older, DS ! & 2 doesn't need after school care, and I am payed much more than I was when I started. For me, working for very little initially was worth it. I'm glad I was prepared to do it.

No one said it was a "national problem" MoreThan , but I did comment on how widespread a problem affordable holiday care was for those of us without family support (as most posters here have attested) and a national strategy would help. Why not? In Norway and other countries childcare costs are capped and heavily discounted for second and subsequent children. Parents are actively helped and encouraged back into the workplace.

Even here wraparound care in schools is becoming more widespread, with breakfast and after school clubs in more and more schools. Then it just stops in the holidays.

As far as silly comments are concerned, I do think "just don't work" kinda tops them all.

I work part-time and am on a zero hours contract. Everyone moans about these contracts but they are perfect to me - I work just school hours in term time plus one full day when they go to their nans for tea. During term time I dont have to work a minimum hours so they will spend maybe a day at one nans half a day at the others and if theres a bank holiday my Dh doesnt work so sometimes I may only do 8 hrs others 32! Because Im paid hourly the months where it falls to a 5 wk month I put that extra away towards the hols and also same with holiday pay - we automatically get paid 1 extra week every 3 mths so I put that away too (generally I just take 2 weeks hols in the middle of summer even if cant get away)

I work full time and have two primary children. We just have to do a rota in holidays.

Monday - my mum has them for a day
Tues - DH has them
Weds - I work from home and take them to a holiday club
Thurs - holiday club
Fri - I have them for the day (annual leave).

It's not great but cheapest way we can do it really.

This thread has been really interesting. I'm about to go back to (paid) work full time after 8 years as a SAHM. I've been volunteering for the last three years, but that's been school hours and not in holidays. I am excited about working and it's a great job, but I am terrified about the holidays Bought a massive wall chart today, ready to meticulously plan the summer. Can I ask what people would do with a year 6 DS in this last term of primary? He's turning his nose up at the thought of after school club (not sports clubs, which he does and loves). My friends's same-age DS walks home and lets himself in for an hour. I don't thikn I'm happy doing that, though, seems a bit young, but I may be out of touch. Round here, it seems that once you get to secondary, it's accepted that they come home and let themselves in.

My year 6 in the last term of primary did exactly that. Walked home (25mins) and let himself in for an hour. Two months later at high school he was having to do it twice a week permanently so this was good practice. One less new thing for us to worry about in September as well.

Same here. But also have Dd (8). One night a week they are dropped back and let themselves in. I get home about 45 minutes later. I always call them to check they are home safe.

I have 3 jobs which are all zero hour contracts- it works very well for me as I only want to work 2 or 3 days per week.

My preschooler and 2 primary aged dcs go to a childminder but in general I just don't work much in the holidays as childcare for all 3 all day costs quite a bit

Thanks, CPtart and Stillwishihadabs. It's a 10 minute walk home and would only be on the days he doesn't do sports clubs. This is all new territory for me, v helpful to see what others do.

For those of you who do childcare swap with other parents, how does it work if you've got more than one child? I did it last summer for a week, but I only had DS to deal with, now that both children are at school I can't imagine asking another parent to take both kids, plus I don't think I could cope with 4 children (if I ask someone with 2 kids).

Tiggie do it with someone who has similar aged children, and for shortish days. Or use it alongside paid childcare. Sometimes the older ones are fine at gym camp but the youngest share playdates. Or both families book children into fun 10-3 clubs and share the wraparound.

I actually find 4 easier than 3, apart from notbeing able to fit them in the car. I line up playdates so both DC have a friend at the same time. They pair up. With 3, one feels left out and it gets v high maintenance. This might be particularly with us because mine are boy and girl and have v different interests. One having a friend over and the other not is the worst of both worlds.

Holidays with kids are def expensive..sigh.. I have so many friends who have to take days off and unpaid leave during the school holidays, it's really difficult. I lived abroad so many years, it's def harder without parents or in-laws. Got to open my own business almost 2 yrs ago and i can finally balance my time better and i dont have to worry about asking a boss about holidays...

When my DC were little I worked five evenings a week. DH would come home to a cooked meal we would eat together and I would leave for work he would clear up, help with homework and bath and bed.

When they were late primary to year 9 I changed to office hours and shared holiday care for DC and DM's with DSIS, BIL and DH.

Wow, such a lot of complicated setups and arrangements. I think I would need to draw diagrams to understand your arrangements, mummc2 !

I think you're all brilliant, and it makes the world of work seem so much less daunting hearing about all these experiences.

We manage by rejigging shifts and hoping for a lot of luck.

We won't spend any time together and I'll have only had 3 full days off this Easter holiday and not one bank holiday weekend day. But we have managed without paid childcare and only one morning to the grandparents and that coincides with usual visiting time.