The first thing to decide is whether you will continue whatever arrangement you have agreed is best for your children during the school term, throughout school holidays? Or will there be a different arrangement?
No change to the time spending arrangement
If you don't specify a different arrangement for school holidays in your parenting orders, then the school term time spending arrangement will continue all year round. If that is what you intend, it is still best to make that clear in your orders to avoid any confusion. The order would look like this:
“the time spending arrangement as set out in order X will continue throughout the school holidays unless otherwise agreed in writing”.
If it is likely that either parent might want to take the children on a holiday, this should be specified in the orders. Have a think about whether you want the option to have just one school holiday a year and if so, will it be during the short school holidays or the Christmas school holidays? How would you each choose which holiday you want to take and when will you let the other person know?
Here are some example orders. Order X is the order that talks about the school term arrangements.
Or
In accordance with Order 1 the father shall have the first option to choose a school holiday period in odd numbered years and the mother has the first option in even numbered years, with the parent to inform the other in writing by no later than the 31st of January in each year, which school holiday period they nominate;
Varying arrangements for school holidays
Once you've decided that you would like a different arrangement during the school holidays, what will that arrangement be? You might want to equally share the school holidays, which could be that the children spend half of each school holiday with the both of you or, it could be that one parent has the entirety of one school holiday, and the other parent has the next one.
In Queensland, state school holidays are usually two weeks following the end of Terms 1, 2 and 3, and six weeks for the Christmas holidays. Private schools may have a different arrangement. School holiday dates are not aligned across Australia either so if you have to consider children who live in different states spending school holiday time, make sure to look up the dates for school holidays before commencing your negotiations.
Sharing of holidays
A simple order that equally shares the school holidays by splitting them in half looks like this (just change which parent as appropriate):
The children will spend school holiday time with each parent as follows:
(a) With the mother for the first half of all school holidays in odd numbered years and the second half of all school holidays in even numbered years; and
(b) With the father for the first half of all school holidays in even numbered years and the second half of all school holidays in odd numbered years.
A simple order that equally shares the school holidays, but by giving one holiday to one parent and the next to the other looks like this. This can be a good arrangement if parents live a distance apart, as it can be expensive to fly children to spend time with a parent for just one week.
The children will spend school holiday time with each parent as follows:
There is no right or wrong arrangement. You might want to swap around which parent has the children for the first half of the Christmas school holidays for example. The schedule set out in the example order gives the mother the entire school holidays for Terms 1 and 3, so for that reason it gives the father the first half of the Christmas school holidays in the same year. The above example however does mean that the mother has the second half of the Christmas school holidays in odd numbered years and then the children are also with her for the Term 1 holidays so in that sense, there has not been a true alternating of holidays.
The best way to map this out is to get a calendar and have a look over a two year period to see what version of the example orders work best for your children.
It's also important to consider the age of your children and what the time spending arrangements are for them during the school term. If for example the children live primarily with one parent and spend each alternate weekend with the other parent, are they going to be able to jump from that arrangement to potentially spending a three week block with each parent? Or even a block of 7 days ( half short school holidays).
Sometimes what we propose is that for the first Christmas school holiday after an arrangement is in place, children spend ‘week about’ so that it is still a sharing of the holiday but they are only with each parent for one week. If that goes well then the next Christmas school holiday period could be three weeks with each parent. If children still need a bit more time to be able to cope with a three week block, an alternative is to have two weeks with one parent, two weeks with the next, then one week, one week.
📌TO NOTE:
Making the Orders certain
Ideally you should agree when the school holidays start, when do they end and what is the midway point. This might seem simple but it is the source of much confusion and dispute.
The best orders, and arrangements for children are those that are certain, and leave as little room for confusion and misinterpretation as possible.
For example,
Again there is no right or wrong answer, it is simply that you should articulate these considerations in your orders so as to avoid confusion.
For example ( change days and times to suit)
“That for the purposes of calculating the school holidays, the school holidays shall commence on the Friday at the conclusion of the school term. The changeover shall be 12 noon on the middle Sunday of any school holiday period and the children shall be returned to the other parent no later than 3.00 pm on the last Sunday of the school holiday period.” Optional to add - ( unless Monday is a non-school day, in which case the changeover takes place on the Monday at 3pm).
ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY!
