Making Summer Work: Flexible Strategies for School Holidays
Making Summer Work: Flexible Strategies for School Holidays
You only get eighteen summers with your kids, apparently, or at least if you believe what social media will tell you. Whilst we don’t quite believe in this huge guilt trip, it is too true that summers with school-age children are all too fleeting, and they are also really challenging for working parents.
All of a sudden, the routine of school is gone, and juggling the responsibilities of career and childcare becomes a daily task with not much of a break. It’s tough in more ways than one because the majority of people want to be turning up and delivering their best at work, they also want to be present with their children.
As an employer, this is the opportunity to make life easier for your people and your business as the long summer holidays approach.
Here’s how to get started.
Be Flexible - even more than you usually are
Give employees the freedom to adjust their start and finish times. Maybe someone wants to start at 7 am and finish earlier, or split their day to cover childcare gaps or to not be ‘on the clock’ at those times of the day where childcare is already making them feel stretched.
Why it works:
Supports parents without disrupting business
Reduces stress and absenteeism
Keeps people focused on outcomes, not clock-watching
Tip: Be clear on deliverables and trust your team to manage their time.
Home working for the win.
Allow your team to work from home or a flexible location during the school holidays. Less time commuting means more time for family, which can go a long way in keeping staff happy and engaged and reducing their stress levels.
Why it works:
Builds trust
Keeps productivity high
Offers quick wins for work-life balance
Compress The Stress
Give people the option to work longer hours across fewer days. For example, working four longer days to earn an extra day off each week.
Why it works:
Creates breathing room for family time
Improves energy and focus on working days
Allows for planning ahead and organisation around childcare options
Create leave and support options
Encourage smart use of annual leave or offer extra options like unpaid school holiday leave or access to local holiday clubs and childcare providers.
Why it works:
Shows your business genuinely cares
Helps prevent burnout
Gives practical solutions to working parents
Check in regularly with the working parents in your teams
This one is simple but often missed—just ask. Check in with your team. What do they need? How can you help? And importantly, share your own flexibility stories to show it’s okay to talk about family needs.
Why it works:
Creates a supportive, open culture
Leads to better planning and fewer last-minute crises
Helps you to identify where people are struggling - before it’s a problem
And Finally
Keep in mind that for some of your team, this could be six weeks of trying to work and look after children with no break, whilst grandparents, friends and holiday clubs are all a huge help, they are not accessible to all, the routine of school is important to children and parents alike and six weeks without that structure can be tough.