Option of 4 school days or 3 full days

[whatworkhours]

What do you think is a more practical work pattern? I have a 5 year old at school and a baby who will be going to childminder when i go back to work in the summer. My contract is 60% full time hours so approx 22/23 hours per week.

Option 1: 9-3pm x 4 days per week (meaning could do school drop off/pick up every day)

Option 2: 9-5pm x 3 days per week (would need to arrange after school care for older child x 2/week, grandparents could probably pick up one day).

I would be mainly WFH but would probably have to show willing to go to office a few times per month if needed (1 hour drive).

My boss is fairly relaxed as long as I get the work done, so no nitpicking about exact start and finish times/lunch breaks etc. Childminder has availability.

I haven't done the sums yet, but probably not much difference by the time we pay for after school care. I guess there's school holidays to consider too.
Work wise it's better to be around 4 rather than 3 days as inevitably would end up checking work emails on days off.

I used to do 3 days and it was a long day for my first child by the time we got gone from childminder it was 615/630 and she was ratty, however wouldn't have the commute now as WFH.

Any thoughts ? thanks

Personally, I'd do the 4 days with school-friendly hours, OP. Sounds less stressful in the long run and leaves you free for after-school activities as they get older, too.

Also bumping this for more opionions for you. Good luck!

Your life will be MUCH easier to organise if you do four school days. You'll never have to worry about holiday childcare or after school childcare - both of which can be hard to come by. You'll also have a better chance to build school-gate relationships.

Can you get to school I ntime? If so s hook hours all the way.

I think I might have misunderstood the school holidays thing! If you're not doing term time only yes you'll need to cover 4 days per week in school hols - but often school holiday childcare is pay-per-week anyway.

Yes, I'd do 4 school days too.

I think going to after-school childcare can be hard for some children who find school emotionally draining.

Could you do 4 in term time and 3 in holidays?

Option 1 all day long. The juggling childcare is a hassle not to be underestimated. Also if your baby gets ill (on the basis that new childcare always leads to sickness), you're missing much less work if you have to take a day out.

And yes, holiday club is often all week and/or gives a discount for block booked days

Thanks for replies, pretty unanimous.

So school holidays would have to find childcare for 4 days rather than 3, but can cross that bridge when I come to it I guess.

I think if working 9-3 I would try to book childminder til 4 to allow a bit of leeway......school pick up is 3.20

I'd say the 4 shorter days
Your older dc will soon want to do after school activities, which often start at 4.30 /5ish, and you just can't do them if working full days. Plus facilitating playdates etc is easier if your available straight from school.

For what it’s worth I would do the three longer days. I have done both options and felt myself being neither here nor there with work/home. I way prefer now doing the three work days head fully engaged, child fully in school and after school club and then 2 days “off” being good at home stuff and doing homework/helping with PTA stuff / having time to myself. It’s also easier to cover 3 days in the hols.

Just to add a different view I found four school days knackering as it meant I was going all the childcare outside of school as well as 6 hours of work without a break as most places don't give you a lunch break if you work up to 6 hours (and then it's unpaid so not worth it) and you end up driving like a madwoman to get back in time for school pick up etc which is always really busy on the roads
3 full days you get more proper days off work and can focus more on kids and house etc - you'll be tired on the four school days, plus three full days the house stays tidier while you are all out at work / school/ childcare

Sorry saw you're working from home so commute not an issue but in some ways wfh will mean you'll often end up doing bits and bobs when kids are home etc so again if it's three full days you can properly switch off on your days off Also as others have said easier and cheaper in school holidays to just find childcare for three days (school hours is often a similar price to a full day of childcare)

F to hear the replies as I have a similar decision to make when I return from maternity leave. The shorter day option would be better for our school age children but the better option for the baby would be the fewer longer days I think? So I'm not sure which to pick right now.

I'd opt for 4 days in school time. The problem I had was holiday clubs are shorter than school wraparound here so they only cover until 4pm. That meant on the fewer longer days system I had to switch to shorter but more days for the holidays and it all got a bit messy.

My work lets me contract 4 school days into 3 longer days during the holidays, if your grandparents/holiday club can accommodate that might work for you.

I would do the 3 long days - gives you much more quality time with the baby which I would prioritise over school pickups especially if grandparents could do one, only two days in after school club which doesn't seem a biggie

hmmmmm I'm now back to square one with decision ha!

If your boss is flexible, could you not do both? Four days school hours term time, three full days during holidays? That's what I do.

@hauntedvagina

If your boss is flexible, could you not do both? Four days school hours term time, three full days during holidays? That's what I do.

I could ask I guess. Do you have this written into a contract or is it an informal arrangement?

Informal, and I'd rather keep it that way. I'm lucky that I work somewhere where I can work very flexibly.

I'd do 3 longs days, kids get a surprising number of days off, in Scotland every month except March (depending on Easter) they have at least one day of for something.

@hauntedvagina

If your boss is flexible, could you not do both? Four days school hours term time, three full days during holidays? That's what I do.

How do you calculate holidays doing that? A week would be either 3 or 4 days. How does it work when you want odd days?

I did longer but fewer days. We were paying for nursery anyway and that was all day. So only paid for 3 days instead of 4. Same with school
Holidays. Only having to cover three days a week was less hassle

I do 22 hours and fit it into 2 longer days (9.30 - 5 approx) and 2 shorter ones (approx 10 - 2.30). DCs go to after school club on the two longer days. This works really well for me as it gives me some flexibility to work a bit longer in busy weeks as well as giving me some child-free time in the week to get housework and other admin/ errands done. I go into the office once a week on one of my longer days - DH wfh that day so he sorts school runs.

@Lockdownbear on hours.