You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I've just discovered that for some unknown reason,the school holiday club that normally runs during school hols is not running during the upcoming spring half term hols.
We both work and have no grandparents that could look after junior. I was wondering how others in our situation cover school hols when there is no holiday club.
We're very lucky with both sets of parents very close by. However, the YMCA also do school holiday clubs, ours have been before with friends that frequently go and really liked it. We may well send them again to break up the holiday time with grandparents.
take time off work
What would you do if you had already booked all your time off work and had no more spare days?
It can be a nightmare.
For years we were lucky the wife didn't work when the kids were small and then went back to uni so had the holidays off, we both started working then the following month I was made redundant and for the next two years was home most of the time.
Now we're both back working it's a balancing act, between splitting holidays and days off each week to fit around child care, the nearest holiday clubs are geared up for under 10's, and with a 10 and a 13 year old we are having to look at other options, a localism outdoor centre offers a week of activities for £150 so that's £300 per week to send them, but they run 8.30-5 and I don't finish work until 6.
We are shipping them off to grandparents for a week at whitsun and a week in the summer but I might have to have unpaid leave.
Have a look on line at other schools in the area. Quite a few around here (Surrey) do clubs that are open to those not at the school.
What would you do if you had already booked all your time off work and had no more spare days?
Feel daft for not planning better? It certainly is a pain for some people though - luckily I work for home and the wife works part time, also our kids are now 16 and 13 so can be left alone.
Not much use if you've already booked holidays but we planned our time off to match school holidays, one of us at a time. Means you don't get to go away together, but that's all part of the fun of being a parent! We had a summer club that helped, but the shorter holidays we were on our own.
Share with other parents who work (ie look later each other's kids in turn)
holiday clubs at local sports/leisure centres
Time off work
Work at home (can work fine for older kids if your job allows)
Feel daft for not planning better?
Nice to see the STW holier than thou's out in force already.... 😈
The lack of holiday club in may half term is news to us, the school publicise that they dont run the club over christmas , so that was planned for and covered. This (as far as I am aware) was un publicised and announced yesterday.
I'm going to have a discussion with the school to work out whether this is a regular thing like the lack of club over christmas or a one off, but either way, I need to have something in place, so am looking to find out what others do to see if there is a solution I havent yet considered myself.
Share with other parents who work (ie look later each other's kids in turn)holiday clubs at local sports/leisure centres
Thanks - I think its going to end up being a combination of the above.
....Wondering whether life will be easier if one of us just gives up work for a few years.
It will be a funding issue, cuts are biting in hard now and most schools running at a deficit.
Plenty of private clubs (Expensive) available.
We used to split holidays between us but that meant we only got 1 week a year together as a family. Grandparents are now at an age where they can't be relied on as we had kids later in life. Helped fuel the decision for me to switch to term time working. The loss of earnings is pretty much covered by childcare and commuting savings.
Churches and sports club often do activity days in the holidays, local tennis and cycle clubs do it here. Despite the religious paranoia on here I don't think your kids will turn into card carrying evangelicals with a couple of days at a church hall.
It's a nightmare isn't it - half terms are bad enough, but I still don't understand why they need incet days on top of the 13 weeks a year they have off already.
Anyway Google will no doubt throw up other clubs at other schools, they're usually privately ran and will take kids from anywhere.
Our next challenge is when Jr starts high school, I haven't found any that take high school age kids - at 11 he's too old for summer club, but why too young to be left alone.
On the odd days I can take him to work with me, we've got super fast internet, arcade machines and our own private minecraft server, he loves it and my Boss's kids are about the same age, but it's a madhouse sometimes.
but I still don't understand why they need incet days on top of the 13 weeks a year they have off already.
Neither do I. Based on [i]most[/i] of the INSET I have experienced it's nothing like a holiday and I'd much rather be teaching your child. I/we/'they' don't decide to have INSET though.
Also, see if any local parents know of a decent child minder is available. When our holidays clash with our children's holidays that's what we do. Costs £40 per day though but it is what it is.
Both our kid's secondary schools have five additional inset days a year. However, even though they're in the same town, they have them on different days. 🙄
On top of that, my lad's school doesn't have a parents evening, but a 10 minute consultation with the child not expected to attend for the remainder of that day. Three times a year. Not to mention the practice of turfing the kids out at 11am on the final day of term.
TBH, there is no way that any couple both working could cover all of this from holiday entitlement.
School Holiday Club?
Muddle through, mix of friends, asking for extra day off unpaid or borrow next years holidays, other non-school holiday clubs / activity days.
Our local leisure centre usually hosts a whole range of holiday activities. Again, it costs money but it's a thought.
@sharkbait. Last time I checked there were considerably more school holiday days than work holiday days.
Even the best planner / logistician can't bend the rules of basic maths.
Unpaid leave,
Having said that, I buy extra leave and keep some 'spare' for exactly this kind of eventuality
Both our kid's secondary schools have five additional inset days a year. However, even though they're in the same town, they have them on different days.
Blame academisation
Parental leave, assuming you haven't used it all
[url= https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave/overview ]https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave/overview[/url]
Parental leave is only a total of 18 weeks till your child is 18, with 4 per year max. You'll burn through that very quickly.
Take a week off sick.
Bloke where I work is off every half term looking after his grandkids ( fwiw,IMO fair play).
Hopefully one of you works for a large corporation of some sort and it won't deprive anybody who matters.
It's a nightmare isn't it - half terms are bad enough, but I still don't understand why they need incet days on top of the 13 weeks a year they have off already
Holidays are breaks for kids. Unless you want your children to work as much as you do. Holidays mean your kids can go and play, relax and have childhood - and be in a better place physically, mentally and cognitively when they do go back to school.
I don't know any teacher who doesn't work some of their holidays and silly hours term time, plus 5-6hrs a day of constant, in your face, on your feet and pressured time, usually alone with 30 kids trying thier best to wind you up. I think there are few jobs as intense.
INSET is staff training time, without kids around, so your teachers learn new things, develop new resources etc. considering the hour and a half or so at the end of the day is cleaning up, prep for tomorrow, marking and paperwork, it's the only way of investing in and training staff.
Holidays are breaks for kids. Unless you want your children to work as much as you do. Holidays mean your kids can go and play, relax and have childhood - and be in a better place physically, mentally and cognitively when they do go back to school.
I don't know any teacher who doesn't work some of their holidays and silly hours term time, plus 5-6hrs a day of constant, in your face, on your feet and pressured time, usually alone with 30 kids trying thier best to wind you up. I think there are few jobs as intense.
INSET is staff training time, without kids around, so your teachers learn new things, develop new resources etc. considering the hour and a half or so at the end of the day is cleaning up, prep for tomorrow, marking and paperwork, it's the only way of investing in and training staff.
Dont be stupid, teachers are just workshy wasters with gold played pensions and they hate parents so try and make life as difficult for them as possible.
Take a week off sick.
Bloke where I work is off every half term looking after his grandkids ( fwiw,IMO fair play).
Hopefully one of you works for a large corporation of some sort and it won't deprive anybody who matters.
Nice work ethics.
share child cover/care with a work collogue in the same boat? we are just finding our feet in this and have one pair of parents and my brother as back up.
My parents used to let me run feral for the day with the garden shed if it rained or took me to work but that was a different age and my mum was a teacher and we lived in a proper street with neighbours we knew .
Dont be stupid, teachers are just workshy wasters with gold played pensions and they hate parents so try and make life as difficult for them as possible.
😆
"Nice work ethics."
Work& ethics=does not compute .
Please forgive my cynicism. To understand you'd have to work for the corporate despots that I do.
You are Joan of Arc and I claim my £5 troll bet. 🙂