Need term time only work.

vcrazychickv

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forums and looking for advice.
I am a single mum with 2 children aged 11 and 8 and I'm looking for term time only work however, i am currently finding it even more difficult with the recession going on and my current situation.
I live alone and have no family to help out during school holidays, hence the reason i can only take term time only work. I have no clue where to start as it has been some years since i worked because my EX partner always worked, now Its just me and the boys, where do i start? I really want to get back to work and do something to make a difference, any idea's will be most grateful. Thanks in advance.

princessamy86

What about a teaching assistant? Anything in a school will probably be your best bet, dinner lady, cleaner, receptionist? Have you considered working part time? You could maybe send the boys to a playscheme in the holidays if you were at work? Or come to an arrangement with another mum that she has yours one day a week and then you have hers?

Teresa60

Hi crazychick, Im in exactly the same boat as you! I work voluntary in a primary school office but no actual job coming up yet! I also do exam invigilating which is obviously just during exam times. Contact your nearest secondary school or college to see if they need anyone, exams coming up in May and June. Pay is good. Schools also have cover supervisors which are unqualified teachers who cover absences for teachers just giving out work that has been left by teachers. Contact your nearest teacher supply agency to see if they are recruiting. Good luck.

vcrazychickv

princessamy86 wrote: »

What about a teaching assistant? Anything in a school will probably be your best bet, dinner lady, cleaner, receptionist? Have you considered working part time? You could maybe send the boys to a playscheme in the holidays if you were at work? Or come to an arrangement with another mum that she has yours one day a week and then you have hers?

Thanks for the reply,

I have considered and applied for some of the jobs you refer too and never heard anything back (been 3 weeks now). I've been at uni part time for 3 years doing a range of things within IT and that has got me no where either. As for the play scheme idea, we don't have a lot like that in the area i live in and my eldest son has behavioral problems, so getting anyone other than myself to look after him and my youngest is a nightmare. These all sound like excuses i know, but there not, I've been looking for work for ages and applied for a variety of jobs with no luck. Just don't know what else i can do other than work from home, but working from home all sounds to good to be true and i don't believe that they are real.

Teresa60

Keep trying with the schools, or phone them especially for the invigilating. You dont need any experience. The trouble with the the school jobs, you will need a CRB so you would have to get on to the schools now in order to have a CRB checked by exam time.

I know how you feel about making excuses, I have no family to look after my children either.

vcrazychickv

Teresa60 wrote: »

Hi crazychick, Im in exactly the same boat as you! I work voluntary in a primary school office but no actual job coming up yet! I also do exam invigilating which is obviously just during exam times. Contact your nearest secondary school or college to see if they need anyone, exams coming up in May and June. Pay is good. Schools also have cover supervisors which are unqualified teachers who cover absences for teachers just giving out work that has been left by teachers. Contact your nearest teacher supply agency to see if they are recruiting. Good luck.

Hi Teresa,
What a good idea that is! There are 2 secondary schools close to me so I'm going to pop into both of them to see what they have available. Thank you !

vcrazychickv

I have done voluntary work in my local primary school, was only for 12 weeks like but i got the CRB check and it was fine so i won't have any problems obtaining another.

princessamy86

Ah right, maybe not a great idea for someone else to look after him then. I wouldn't lose heart about the jobs just yet, some of them have a ridiculously long availability time-my friend is a teaching assistant and it took them 3 months to get back to her! Also it's probably the wrong time of year for applying, I would think there would be more available towards the start of next school year. What about childminding? I know you'll need some certificates such as first aid, don't know much about it beyond that though-hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come along! I agree about the work from home schemes, they just look too good to be true.

Hmmmm, racking my brains now!! Are there any agencies near you that would take you on for care work on a casual basis? You could explain you only want term time but would be available for casual cover. I know a lot of my student friends return to jobs in term time, Starbucks seem to be particularly good for this, as do M&S and Tesco. With part time retail jobs there's a lot more flexibility, school holidays aren't half as long as uni ones so you might find they are more accomodating. I think you need to ask about being taken on as a nil hours worker, I used to have this with my job and I just filled a time sheet in on a weekly basis-if I didn't want to work one week I just wouldn't get paid.

Teresa60

No problem. Obviously it is a short term solution, but they need invigilators through to July then they need them December and January for mock exams and SATS. Good luck. x

vcrazychickv

Thanks to you both, at least now i have a few ideas which is more than what i begun with, i have a lot of thinking to do lol.

Thanks again.

princessamy86

No problem hun, hope it works out for you.