NHS AL over summer holidays

[Posy1]

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone can offer advice about NHS AL during the school holidays? My department have a 2 week max policy, however I know we are going to struggle to find childcare for my 5 year old. We have no family nearby and although we can probably book her in for a few clubs these will be expensive and generally are short days finishing by 3pm. I am away for work at 7am until 6pm. What do other people do? Is there any leeway in the NHS policy for circumstances like this? I obviously don't want the whole 6 weeks off as my husband will take some time off too. Thanks for any advice

NHS annual leave is usually at management discretion and parents of young children get more leeway than others, but people cannot take most of the school summer holidays.
Some childminders look after school age children and many areas have clubs providing childcare within the school during holidays. Who looks after your child before and after school now, as your hours are much longer than school?

Are you the only person with kids? My work won’t let us take more than 2 weeks off with management approval and we can never have too many people off at the same time so they do limit it.

I used childminder when mine were little. What happens before and after school during term time? Can you or her dad work flexibly over the holidays to drop off or pick up from holiday clubs?

Holiday childcare can add up but I'm afraid it's just something many parents have to budget for.
Look at council run activity camps at local leisure centres as they can be cheaper.

Those with primary children in my dept now take 3 weeks, 2 together to go on holiday then a week later in summer. But there's not many with young kids at moment so we can accommodate that

Generally teams have multiple people with children or other reasons why they want leave off during the summer. The 2 week max principle is to share out access to this prime time for holiday.

Whilst you might get some wiggle room I wouldn't expect you'll get much more than the 2 weeks in school holidays I'm afraid

You could take some parental leave if you’ve been there a year. Otherwise, what everyone else does, scrape by with a mixture of:
each parent taking holiday
some clubs
child swaps with other parents

longer term, I only work four days, to make holidays easier. Obv not everyone can do this. Mine are a bit older now and I wfh and only take the afternoons, leave them on screens in the mornings.

Worked in nhs for about 15 years and over 2 weeks leave might be granted as a special request like a wedding/honeymoon but as a rule its no more than two weeks at a time. You could apply for parental leave but it still could be refused.

Yes there's is the option of parental leave as PPs have said.
I've used that before but be aware they can refuse you the week you ask for if it doesn't suit operationally. They have to offer you an alternative but it may not suit you eg you ask for last week in August and they offer you 3rd week in Sept

Thanks for the replies everyone. I currently only work 3 days a week because of the childcare issue. So technically I'm allowed take 6 days (2 weeks pro-rata). She goes to a before school and after school club on the days I work, but obviously they won't be open during the holidays. I can't work from home unfortunately due to my job being clinical. Not looking forward to having this issue for the next however many years. 😭

www.gov.uk/parental-leave

You are entitled to apply for this your trust will have a policy

I always sent my kids to 8am to 6pm holiday clubs for some of the holidays. Can you have a look for full day clubs rather than ones that close at 3pm?

2 weeks in Summer, one at Xmas, One at Easter 3 half terms, PD days. That will be your leave gone without needing to do more than 2 weeks in the summer.

Personally, I quit, as there just wasn't the childcare available outside 9-3 in the holidays, and we couldn't cover 13 weeks between us.

It's management discretion but one of the reasons I'm now only in the bank!

It’s worth checking if you are really limited to six days.
Can your OH take time off too? So you each take a day off each week, ideally more. Pay a student to do a day a week or some wraparound for shorter clubs.

When mine were young and I worked in the nhs there was no leeway because the majority had young dc, it was max 2 weeks (very strictly adhered to).
I know childcare is expensive (I saved all year in order to afford it my August bill was more than my August paypacket) but its worth finding good childcare for peace of mind.
I used to book days off throughout the six weeks to break it up, rather than two solid weeks off. As a single parent I had no back up at one point I used a holiday club that was designed for working parents and not just to entertain dc in the holidays (they were based in a school in the next village). I also had a childminder who did long days. The one thing that helped me get regular, reliable holiday care was using it all year round I was given the slots I needed (along with other parents who used the service all year round) because we were regular, reliable customers who always paid on time.
What do you do for childcare in other holidays? Can you do the same?
It's often recommended on here to do childcare swaps, I never did this because I wanted regular and reliable and didn't want anyone letting me down but I know it works for some.