School holidays - to club or no club

[Elfie23]

Hi all,

DC is 10.5 in year 6 and off to secondary school in September.
In the school holidays I've always used the same club since DC was in reception and they've always been happy there and made friends etc.

She didn't go at Xmas because I had the whole two weeks off work (bliss!) but this time for February half term I have to work as others are off.

More recently I've been doing a switch with a friend with a slightly older child (12, yr7) in where we will have the kids at ours a day a week but they are allowed to go to the local shops and park and come and go as they please.
I was supposed to have friends DC on the Monday but they're now going away for the weekend and won't be back, so I've said to my DC she can stay at home with me but I'll be working so she'll have to amuse herself or she can go to the club.
She wants to stay home, told me the club is boring now - I knew this would happen eventually but was kinda hoping to get to the summer at least!!

What does everyone do with their late year 6 / early secondary kids in the holidays?

For context I work full time and am a single parent. DC is my only child and for some reason although she has friends at school we never seem to hear from anyone at the weekends etc only if we make contact first - DC doesn't really have a bestie at school so I'm hoping this will all change at secondary!

Any ideas gratefully received x

You are working from home? Keep her at home.
If you have a commute and aren't based at home it's a tougher question.

It's a tough age. I did a few things:

send mine to my parents for a few days
Work from home more than usual to cover
Swop with a friend who only worked term time - her dd would come to mine when I was wfh and mine would go to her when I was in office
Their dad would cover a few days

Appreciate not all may be available to you.

Are there any clubs aimed at older children near you?

Mine are 17/13 now - I am still not keen on the 13yo being solo for 13 hours. Just seems a long day.

I send them to Westfield now with £50 each and they can be there hours!

She is plenty old enough to stay at home with you WFH, the policy in our house is not to disturb if door is closed as I'll be in a meeting.

The only concern really is that she's getting enough entertainment, I usually go for a walk with them at lunch time. It's only a week, it's good for them to have some unstructured downtime.

I would send DD to the club until she finishes primary, it might be boring but if you have no alternatives (e.g WFH) then she's got to suck it up. But she's 10 she is perfectly capable of keeping herself entertained (provided no SEN) if you are WFH.

Dh worked nights, and when he was sleeping during the day DD was left on her own. We lived in a small village though with a big garden, so she could walk the dog / find a friend / play outside or inside.

Sorry I should have mentioned - I can wfh but it's crazy busy at the moment so I usually only get one day at home. So I'm okay for her to stay home for a day a week but she gets bored after a while and although she doesn't 'bug me' much I do get questions mum can I do this or that etc.

It's the other days really. There's only a youth club at the local adventure playground which I've suggested before but she wasn't keen. It's a tricky inbetween stage!