To be very worried how I’m going to work in the school holidays?

[Cherrymentos19]

Single parent
Returning to work
My children are at private schools - so great during term time as wonderful before and after school activities

However the holidays are outrageously long!

Easter break... 3.5 weeks

Summer holidays... 9 weeks!

Half terms are generally 2 weeks.

I have no support locally. The children’s father will not be on hand in any meaningful way, and absolutely no point pursuing that point - because zero chance of change. Zero.

So what do people do?!

What type of job and what hours are you doing OP?

I work part time, and have an arrangement where I work extra in term time (eg contract is 3 days a week, I work 3.5) and accrue half days to use in the school holidays. Might that be possible?

I also used my annual leave and generally the kids had to do a couple of weeks of holiday club.

@starrynight21

Unfortunately this is one of the things which we all have to face when going back to work. There is no easy answer - I had this for my entire career as a mother of school aged children. I used to dread the holidays .

I used a mixture of school holiday clubs and a local child minder when they were small. Later it got more problematical . when they were old enough to hate going to the child minder but not old enough to be home alone. You have my sympathies but I don't have a pat answer for you. Good luck.

Interesting isn’t it? How have we not figured out a solution that means kids are happy and parents are able to work? I’m self employed so I don’t have holiday to take. I wfh so the kids are in the house-safe but bored. I do use holiday clubs but they’re generally 10-3 at the most. So what do we do? Muddle through. I think OP has been given a few cutting remarks but actually her question is something that I’d love to see more conversation about. Whether your kids at private or not it’s an issue (unless you’re fortunate enough to only work term time). In an ideal scenario I think there should be year round childcare or clubs available and when schools shut -even for a week at half term- these alternative’schools’ would open.

I wfh so DD slums about the house all day!

Not sure how much you earn but holiday clubs etc can be claimed back (in part) through Universal Credit just like other childcare.

It all depends on your income but you can be on a fairly decent salary as a single parent and still be eligible- I earn q well (before anyone jumps on that to whinge about benefit eligibility - I have high childcare costs and rent, and am a single parent because I left an abusive relationship- wind your neck in) and get 50% of DCs nursery fees reimbursed.

Worth checking. Also tax free childcare schemes.

You’ll have to take annual leave or pay for a holiday club/ childcare. If you can’t afford to do that then you always have the option to move them to a free state school where there are no fees or additional costs as there usually are at private schools, even with your kids on bursaries I assume you have to pay more for uniforms a d other extras than you would in a state school plus there would be shorter holidays for you to cover.

What age are your DC?

When they were younger we had a FT nanny so she covered the holidays, as they got older we had really good success with an older student (1st year uni) who kept them occupied in the day, combined with clubs and working from home. My older DC no longer need childcare so they now do a bit for the younger ones.

Sorry you haven’t had many sensible answers OP. Stating that your DC are in private school can be like a red rag to a bull and it is, in my view, a different proposition because the holidays are that much longer.

Maybe it varies region to region, but round my way there are so many great value, really decent holiday clubs that i feel a bit sorry for my kids that I'm a sahp and thus can't justify sending them!

There’s lots of options and you are very fortunate to be able to afford them.
Get a short term au pair or nanny.
Use a student looking for summer work.
Take leave.
Ask about term time only working.
Use commercial holiday clubs. Camp Suisse is very good.
Ask other parents what they do.

Are there any parental leave schemes available to you? I'm not in the UK, but that's partly how people cover it here. It's unpaid leave, but it's time off in addition to holidays. (There are also lots and lots of state-subsidised holiday clubs in normal times, though covid has limited these at the moment.)

A mix, depending on age of children:
Summer au pair, poss also wfh
Paying local student to babysit
Staying with close relatives, having them to stay ( and help w kids if they don’t mind)
Holiday club
Babysitting swap w other kids
Annual leave

I use a childminder all year round for wrap around care, but she averages out my yearly payments so all payments are the same each month, meaning I don't spend a fortune in the holidays.
Holiday clubs also very good, they're often cheaper than full time childminders too. I have used them when my childminder is off.

Oh and definitely get your tax free childcare account set up. I save about £70pm by using it

A child in my class has parents who work long hours in the tourist and hospitality sector over the summer. She has an extended summer holiday staying with retired grandparents in another part of the country. They see the cousins, get out and about and she has a fantastic time.

www.gov.uk/parental-leave/entitlement might be helpful

Holiday clubs. My 8 year old loves them and my shy 10 year old hates them but it’s tough luck. They get no choice. It’s either that or me give up my job.

People are suggesting that you get a term time only job?! Seriously... so OP may be a surgeon, an engineer, an architect, a pilot...etc. but people think she should ask for term time only hours? In which case she can say goodbye to your career or any future promotions . Or perhaps they think she should leave your job and retrain as a teacher or school admin? Presumably if this was an option for OP either work wise or financially she would have done it.
This is an issue up and down the country. The whole parenting population can’t all go term time! It would be interesting would this be suggested to a man.

Some of the posts on this thread are just horrible. Jesus.

OP says she is a single parent returning to work and the Father won't help, but people would rather suspend their comprehension and critical thinking abilities just so that they can sneer' 'why is this the first year this is a problem?' 'why didn't you think of this before picking private school?' The answer is in the OP people! Maybe you guys need to return to school - so you can learn how to read and understand written text!

And not everyone at private school is mega rich. Some people make real sacrifices, some get bursaries. Whatever. Its clear from the original post that OPs circumstances have changed dramatically and she is asking for advice about how to manage in a situation that is new to her. She's being reasonable in asking. Some of the replies here, less so.

So my DH and I split leave. With regards to clubs kids generally like them where they go with a friend. Is this an option. The other one liked was PGL type as they are too busy to be worried about friends - abseiling, high ropes etc. Holiday camps aren’t cheap but you should be able to use tax free childcare and many near us run in private school hols. Btw you should look at taking your summer holidays in the first few weeks as will be cheaper!

You say you have no support locally, can you send kids to family? My in laws live over 100 miles away, we drive the kids there and they stay there 2 weeks in summer holidays.

Are you able to work flexi? I build up my flexi so every holiday I take is only 4 days (less if BH) and a flex day, I get an extra 2 weeks doing this.

alongside @whitespotsgreenleaves, I think people are being very snidely. Especially the ones saying take your kids out of school. It’s mean. Your kids are very fortunate they have bursaries. Well done on sourcing them!

I don't know why people are being so snippy about this question. My kids are in state schools, and I'm married, so two lots of annual leave to use, and it still stresses me out!

People say "do what everyone else does" but

• I'm rural, so holiday clubs only run a week or two in the summer as there is not enough interest
• no childminder availabiliy
• nearest person on sitters.com is 40 miles away
• no family locally
• I hate the thought of never being able to take leave at the same time as DH and have holidays as a family

Though, OP - a few years in, I'm finally starting to relax a bit.

• we managed for months on end when school was shut, so a few weeks in the holidays wfh seems more doable now
• we managed a successful childcare swap last year
• I decided this year that I would take unpaid leave if I need to. My work are relaxed about that.

Look into unpaid parental leave

It's tough though. Like our society expects parents to be able to work but doesn't exactly say how they are supposed to manage when kids aren't in school.

I don't understand, you're kids are already at school-why has this only occurred to you 2 weeks before the Easter holidays?

Unless you've previously not worked?

But unfortunately like many other working parents, you will need to look into holiday clubs/ leave/ childcare bubbles and muddle through. I had to do a mix of all during the holidays.