What happens to children over the summer?

[Randomfires]

Have I missed something because I’m sure the government said that there were to be childcare schemes set up but I can’t find anything further on this since early June.

Husband and I are keyworkers and the local holiday summer schemes are all closed. Some of the schools are doing a play scheme but not ours. Really confused as to what we’re meant to do when schools shut in 3 weeks.

Not many students etc will have had dbs checks which are essential if you are going to leave your children with people you dont know or even people you do know

Some university students will have a recent DBS. Any in teacher training or on medical courses. I worked for the county council in my 3rd and final year and had one. Might be worth contacting your local university, if you are near one?

Parents who are also worried that plans for schools Sept re-opening are not yet clear may find this website useful www.septforschools.org/

What kind of employer says you can't take annual leave in the school summer holidays? Don't they like having parents working for them? Is this the same for your DH? I'd be looking for a new job. As you both work surely you can afford more than £100 a week childcare, it must have cost loads more than that before she went to school. Hopefully you'll find somewhere for her but I suspect it's going to cost you more than £20 a day.

I’m a police officer. All my AL must be submitted a year in advance. On top of that my force have cancelled some AL, put a ban on booking any more over the next few weeks and it has been cancelled rest days galore sometimes at very short notice. DH has a job which means summer is one of the busiest times and therefore cannot take AL either.

There are no holiday/sports/summer camps running in the area, which is what we usually use. DM usually helps but is currently undergoing a treatment which affects her immune system and so is not in a position to assist. ILs will cover a week or so but live miles away. Childminders are full. We are pretty much screwed.

I do get frustrated with posters who are completely unable to understand that there are clearly regional variation/limitations in provision, or that things are in any way “normal”.

It is also very common in construction to have to book leave months in advance, or even to be told when you can take some/all of it.

@Oblahdeeoblahdoe

What kind of employer says you can't take annual leave in the school summer holidays? Don't they like having parents working for them? Is this the same for your DH? I'd be looking for a new job. As you both work surely you can afford more than £100 a week childcare, it must have cost loads more than that before she went to school. Hopefully you'll find somewhere for her but I suspect it's going to cost you more than £20 a day.

Anywhere that's had to cut staff to the bone because of recent issues?

Anywhere that does their busiest trade in the summer months?

Anywhere with a high number of term time staff?

Anywhere that can't afford to have all of their staff who are parents off at the same time?

Not sure why people are being so odious. I'm in the same boat. Zero summer holiday cover in my area because of Covid-19 restrictions.
Normally I would use a holiday club like the op. I don't have any family nearby either.

In our town we have loads of DBS checked uni students. They all work in the blooming summer camps or nurseries every summer normally lol and as lifeguards, and in term time volunteer with brownies or cubs or are employed to run after school clubs. Who do you think normally works at summer camps? 😂😂😂 Here there is one manager from the council and twenty odd ‘random uni students’ that come back every year. First aid qualified, DBS checked. Completely used to working with kids. And would have been working with yours if the summer camp was running lol.
Mine don’t need childcare these days. They get paid to provide it

@Randomfires

And, like many posters on here, I fail to understand how worrying about how you can carry on doing your job whilst having children so asking for advice on a parenting site would make some people so ANGRY!!!

Probably because as a parent, you're choosing not to take responsibility for your situation.

There's two of you.
If one week is with grandparents, you have 4.5-5 weeks to share between yours and your ohs annual leave.

I'm not sure what is so hard about that!

If you've used your annual leave, then that really is your issue to resolve.

I suspect that you've got such a prickly response because you've included the 'key worker' bit in your OP. Those trying to work without 'key worker' help have been having exactly this panic every day since March so are somewhat less sympathetic I suspect.

Some summer camps have opened up around my way but with very limited capacity.

See if there's a childminder with any spaces even if it's just random days. Otherwise I think you might have to cover it with a patchwork of childcare swaps with other families and unpaid leave if necessary. That's what I'm doing. It's totally rubbish.

If you've used your annual leave, then that really is your issue to resolve.

But there are no tools to resolve it. She’s not a worker of miracles.

I’ve hired temp nannies before to cover 4 weeks of the summer holidays, and ad hoc days/weeks in the year. When DC were smaller. Expensive, little interest in nannies in my area in short term work. none of the nannies were v good IMO, and one was v bad. Assume now that the market has changed and that there will be people with no prior experience seeking work, and more nannies looking for work. But will still be expensive and a matter of luck finding someone good/available.

Blimey OP, you've attracted some genuine shitforbrains responses here.

@LaurieMarlow

If you've used your annual leave, then that really is your issue to resolve.

But there are no tools to resolve it. She’s not a worker of miracles.

But let's be fair, we all knew that the summer holidays were coming!

I've been wfh and teaching. A lone parent, and guess what no school clubs here either. But I, as parent, will continue as we've done since March and take my annual leave.

It's really not the government's issue, it's the parents!

Op should have planned for this eventuality in these circumstances!

But I, as parent, will continue as we've done since March and take my annual leave

The vast majority of people don’t have enough AL to cover all the holidays. Plus they aren’t always allowed to take AL when they want. I can only have one week of AL this year between now and September because it’s all hands on deck to get us up and running again.

If you’re a teacher, then surely this doesn’t apply to you anyway as your AL corresponds to when children are off?

There is no way on earth I'd use a teenage babysitter. I have been a teenage babysitter, one who was ok, with decent references, who loved children. I would have had a clean DBS (despite my regular criminal activity). I also smoked copious amounts of weed when in charge of the children (in my head, this was not an issue at the time), and turned up brutally hungover or coming down from drugs, hiding this for just long enough for the parents to leave. Many teenage babysitters will be completely fine, but I would never, ever trust it in incase I had one like me... All those parents would have said I was a model babysitter and recommended me, their kids loved me, it was - with hindsight - absolutely unsafe though.

It's absolutely shit. Our local holiday clubs are open but reduced capacity and prices sky high.
Many parents will have used annual leave / unpaid leave to deal with the fact that most children will have been out of school for 16 weeks .. and counting...Many are emotionally and physically exhausted and financially spent too.
I have huge sympathy I really do - I would raise Merry hell with your MP and local council and ask them to resolve it.
As an aside, our children's school will not be confirming return to school dates for our children who have been out of school since March 20 until the last day of term.

But the OP doesnt get to work from home Solomummy, that's the point. Wfh plus no childcare is hard. Going out to work and no childcare is impossible.

We have a Uni student who does a few hours. He's also a TA and after school club worker (but that's not running and doesn't run in the summer anyway). So clearly these people are looking for a job.
He has taken DS for a bike ride, a walk to see the swans, and played with him at home (we had a spell of about a month with no school even though DH is a KW so he did a bit of home ed). Games, a bit of art/crafts. He does this at the after school club anyway. Now he can take him to the park to play that's great.

@LaurieMarlow

But I, as parent, will continue as we've done since March and take my annual leave

The vast majority of people don’t have enough AL to cover all the holidays. Plus they aren’t always allowed to take AL when they want. I can only have one week of AL this year between now and September because it’s all hands on deck to get us up and running again.

If you’re a teacher, then surely this doesn’t apply to you anyway as your AL corresponds to when children are off?

I'm not a teacher now, I've been wfh and home schooling my child. So as I said I'll continue as I've done for the previous 4 months. Op has a partner, so splitting annual leave to cover for both of them shouldn't be such an issue.

@Porcupineinwaiting

But the OP doesnt get to work from home Solomummy, that's the point. Wfh plus no childcare is hard. Going out to work and no childcare is impossible.

Partner also?

SoloMummy I think the government does have a role to play.

One of the original demands of the Women's Liberation Movement 50 years ago was for accessible childcare, so that women could work and participate in the world.

Since that time, statutory and other childcare provision has increased so that it's possible (if expensive) for families to have both parents working.

Obviously the global pandemic has changed our assumptions that childcare via school will be there for children 39 weeks a year.

Now that many areas have no or very reduced childcare over the summer, while more and more people are being required to return to the workplace and, as pp says, many organisations are making difficult decisions about redundancies, it creates logistical impossibilities for people, especially women.

Parents can't solve the problem of summer childcare if there aren't any solutions.

Op has a partner, so splitting annual leave to cover for both of them shouldn't be such an issue.

How do you know? They’ve 5 weeks to cover. They may not have the leave. They may not be allowed to take it at this time.

And even if they can, that leaves them with nothing for the rest of the year. What are they going to do for sickness, closures, etc?

The bottom line is that the set up doesn’t support working parents in the slightest. It was patchy before and now it’s a disaster.

I've been wfh and teaching.

I’m not sure what you meant by this then? If you don’t teach anymore?

Yes, and as OP pointed out, there were government announcements a month or so ago promising 'catch up' summer schemes etc.

The hammering of local authorities over the last 10 years has become really evident during the pandemic. Back in the day, they would have had the resources to organise holiday childcare etc.

Now - no way.