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Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Secondary education

Best time for holiday in Y12?

15 replies

Boyskeepswinging · 14/09/2019 16:25

After reading another thread advising against family holidays at Easter for Y12, is there a better time to go away? Either October or February half terms?

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ChippyMinton · 14/09/2019 16:28

Why not Easter for Y12?
Year 11 and 13 of course, but no reason that I can think of for Y12.

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oneteen · 14/09/2019 16:30

Feb HT is good - DD now Yr 13 but we did 9 nights/ 10 days away at Feb HT (added the Friday before HT) Yr12.

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SabineSchmetterling · 14/09/2019 16:30

At my school we don’t enter them for AS levels any more. I wouldn’t imagine that any of the year 12 school holidays would cause issues for any of our students. In year 13 I wouldn’t go away Feb, Easter or May but other than that I can’t see what harm a holiday will do during A Levels as long as it isn’t in term time.
If they are doing AS levels then maybe best to avoid Easter of Y12 but I think Oct or Feb half term would be fine.

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Boyskeepswinging · 14/09/2019 16:35

Sorry, I don't want to make this a TAAT but there is concern about the end of Yr 12 exams after Easter. These dictate predicted grades and hence uni applications. Prior to reading the thread I hadn't realised this and wanted to be sure of a "safe" time to go away.

Feb half term would be perfect, thank you for the advice!

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LolaSmiles · 14/09/2019 16:35

Easter in y12 is fine as there's no AS level any more. Some 6th forms will do internal end of year exams but that's less of an issue if they're working well all year.

Any of the school holidays in y12 would be fine.

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EmmaGrundyForPM · 14/09/2019 16:38

We went away in Easter when DS was in Yr12. He did a mixture of coming on days out with us and staying in the holiday property gaming revising. This is when there were still AS exams and he was fine. I think it depends on the child though.

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SabineSchmetterling · 14/09/2019 16:41

Does his school do end of year 12 exams at that time? Some schools will do them soon after Easter, before GCSEs and A Levels start, some will do them in July after GCSE and A Levels are finished and some schools have now moved them to September.

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pikapikachu · 14/09/2019 16:50

I'd see if you can find out when exams are.

FWIW our school does exams before Feb half term so Feb half term is a perfect time to go away.

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stucknoue · 14/09/2019 17:00

Summer hols??? We did Easter in year 12 and in retrospect not a good idea, she studied for much of the holiday or fretted - she did do as levels and some subjects are still linked (we were surprised too)

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gwilt · 14/09/2019 17:06

Agree Easter not ideal, regardless of whether they have AS or internal exams or something else. It's a prime time for revision/consolidation and it will have an impact on predicted grades in some way.

I've found (generally, of course) students who have a solid Y12 hut the ground running in Y13 and spend time working on higher level stuff and doing better than those who didn't.

Also check if school/college have mocks or similar formal assessments at a particular time in Y12. We have mocks January (really early, I know) so an extended holiday at Christmas may not be ideal in this regard.

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gwilt · 14/09/2019 17:07

Hope you enjoyed my egregious typo

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WhatAGreatDay · 14/09/2019 17:07

My sons' grammar school still does AS Levels.

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Comefromaway · 14/09/2019 17:10

Dd was in Year 12 last year, she’s just started year 13.

For us February is better as my two are in different schools and have different October half terms. We usually do a London theatre break as it’s not possible to go abroad due to flight days which would mean missing a day or 2 of school.

Of course February in this country is too cold so we usually also go somewhere for a week at Easter. If we do go abroad it’s Easter as August is too hot for me.

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Comefromaway · 14/09/2019 17:13

And any school worth it’s salt would predict grades using a variety of methods. The aim is to accurately predict what a student is going to achieve in the A Level exams and teachers should base that on knowledge of how a student is working, how they cope with exams and the standard of coursework.

Dd did study for her AS Level whilst we were on holiday, an hour or so a day. Roughly the same as if she’d been at home.

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Boyskeepswinging · 14/09/2019 19:13

Thanks for all the comments, I really appreciate the help! Yes I shall find out from the school exactly when the exams are. Yes, of course taking holidays in the summer would be best but it's impossible due to a combination of my job and my son's many musical committments. Hence we try to get away during a half term.