Nanny Agency JobsSchool-holiday nanny work starts with a dated coverage request. “We need help over the break” does not identify which days, which children or which parts of those days are being offered. Compare the school calendar, the family's plans and the actual booking before deciding whether the work fits your availability.
This guide focuses on irregular holiday blocks and split coverage. Use summer nanny questions for a season-long role and after-school questions for the usual term-time arrangement. A school closure and a confirmed nanny assignment are separate entries in your plan.
Verify the calendar that applies to each child
Ask which school and academic-year calendar the family is using. Check the actual notice or official calendar rather than relying on last year's dates or a general holiday search. If children attend different schools, give each calendar its own line.
For example, LA Unified's published instructional calendar summary lists fall, winter and spring recess separately. That is one district's calendar, not a schedule for every school or evidence that a family needs care on all those dates.
Mark early dismissal, full closure and return-to-school dates distinctly when they affect the request. Ask the parent to confirm which notices apply to their child. The purpose is to understand the proposed coverage, not to investigate a child's school information independently.
Separate school closure from family coverage
Work through the break one date at a time. A parent may be away, working at home, taking time off or sharing coverage with another caregiver. None of those possibilities should be filled in from assumption.
Ask what coverage is actually requested, where it takes place and which children are included. If part of a day is covered by a program or another adult, identify the handover time and who is responsible on either side. Avoid compressing a split day into “available Monday.”
Ask separately about a family trip. Are they requesting local care before departure, asking you to travel, or not requesting your services during the trip? Travel requires its own discussion of dates and arrangements. It should not appear unexpectedly inside a booking described only as school-holiday care.
Build a date-by-date coverage sheet
Use this original compact format, with one entry for each different day:
- Date and calendar basis: Which school notice or confirmed family plan explains the request?
- Children and location: Who is included, and where does responsibility begin?
- Requested periods: Exact start and finish times, including any separate blocks.
- Handover: Who takes over at each boundary, and where?
- Booking state: Question, proposed, accepted or confirmed through the agreed process.
- Open decision: What remains unanswered, who will answer and when?
Keep your availability beside the request, not in place of it. You may be available for a whole week while the family requests only two afternoons. Equally, agreeing to one date should not make every school-closure date appear accepted.
For a recurring employer, ask how this proposed holiday pattern relates to your existing schedule and terms. For a new short booking, confirm the applicable arrangements directly. This worksheet records the discussion; it does not decide payment, cancellation consequences or employment obligations.
Test a fictional split-week request
Fictional example: Noor receives a request for “the holiday week.” One child has five days away from school; the sibling's school is closed for only three. The family also plans to leave town on Thursday afternoon.
After asking for dates and coverage, Noor learns that Monday and Tuesday require an afternoon block, Wednesday requires a longer day with both children, and Thursday requires only a morning handover. Friday is not requested. Noor can consider the first two days but has an existing Wednesday commitment.
Noor responds with the dates and periods they can offer and identifies Wednesday as unresolved. They do not agree to “the week” and hope the gap disappears. The family can now decide whether to use separate coverage or pursue another arrangement. Only the confirmed dates move into Noor's booked calendar.
Confirm changes and the return to the usual routine
Before the first holiday assignment, compare the latest confirmation with your coverage sheet. Check dates, timing, location, included children and handovers. Ask which contact receives a changed plan and how a revised booking will be confirmed.
If a program is cancelled or the family changes its trip, treat the resulting request as something to review. State your actual availability and ask for the revised details. Do not let an old calendar label conceal a different working day.
At the end of the block, confirm whether the next shift returns to the usual term-time pattern or follows another agreed schedule. Keep outstanding questions attached to their dates. Your final record should show what was requested and confirmed, without assuming that every future school break uses the same arrangement.
Sources
Los Angeles Unified: Fingertip Facts, instructional calendar, accessed October 27, 2026. Used only as an example of separately identified recess periods. The coverage sheet and fictional split-week scenario are original NAJ planning tools; always verify the calendar and booking relevant to your role.