school holidays only?

[merryTissmas]

My dd is due to start school next summer, and will (hopefully) be going to a school that has before and after school clubs. We both work full-time, and will find the school day almost impossible to manage without some kind of help!

The people who run the before and after school clubs also run some holiday clubs, but I don't think they cover all the "off school" time.

Even if we always took our annual leave separately, we are not going to be able to cover all the school holidays, and to be honest, we'd like to spend some of our time together as a family. We have no relatives nearby, and even if I did fly my Mum up to Scotland as a stop-gap, she doesn't drive, we live a mile out of the village, and there is no bus roue going past our house, so they would be virtual prisoners for all that time.

My question (at last) is, do some childminders take children just in school holidays, or do they tend to have mindees that go during term and holidays. I'm wondering if this is a pipe dream?

I'm a childminder and I would gladly take on a holiday only child if I had the space, but you may find it difficult as some won't. This is because obviously we lose money if we cannot fill that space during term time iyswim. All childminders are different though some will, some won't probably.
HTH

I will take children on for school holidays only, but lots of childminders probably won't. I do separate term-time or school holiday contracts, and also have children during school holidays that are ad hoc (obviously dependent on spaces).

I have a term-time only contract with my childminder and so she is always looking for children to take on for just the holidays. Just phone round a few childminders and see what their arrangements are.

thanks, that's reassuring. Now all I have to do is try and find one...dd has been at nursery full-time since she was 4 months old, and she/ we won't know anyone at the school we hope she'll be going to.

Just check what age the holiday clubs take children from because some won't take them until they are 5 even if they are in reception.

Another option would be a Temp Nanny, though it would cost more than having a childminder. As a Nanny I work term-time only for my primary employer (teachers), and therefore I do temp assignments during school holidays. Far better for me and for the children if every school holiday I worked for the same family.

Have you checked the times of the holiday clubs? The one we use takes children from 8am till 6pm, would you be able to manage that,if you found one with those times.