Summer holidays should be longer

Jolly nice for those who can afford that.
In my experience that's a minority of people.

I voted wrong, I meant to vote for YABU.
Are you a stay at home parent? I'm not sure there's any working parent (or full time working parent, at least) that would want longer summer holidays.

The children of full time working parents wouldn't want longer either, as much as they don't know it!

Also, behaviour-wise, I can always tell my DS is ready to go back to some routine after 6 weeks

That's why the community solution really is what is missing in the UK, but the sound of it.

We are the type of parents who (by education, job, income, class...) ought to do all the enhancing.
But we don't really bother particularly in summer holidays because there IS a community solution where we live, and so our kids get sent there and so do the underprivileged children. There might be some learning loss but I would expect it's more equal for all kids. And meanwhile all the kids have cheap childcare together that means they are not watching screens and are not limited to their own families.

Never thought of that aspect of it until I read this thread!

How would that work ie you would sit GCSEs in winter and then do what for 7 months?

Summer holidays need to start earlier - the best of the weather has always been and gone by the time the children are off.

And stop having exams in the summer, have them in winter instead.

I think the fact is that having to 'cover the school holidays' has become the general way of understanding parenting your child is the problem. It shouldn't be about shorter pupil holidays for that convenience of working adults - it should be about government and employers supporting parents to spend time bringing up their children themselves.

It's not for schools to fill that gap. There are too many posts on here saying that kids regress, need the routine, many go hungry, aren't safe etc. None of that would be the case if parents were willing and able to look after them properly and home life was seen to be important, and education supplemented this.

100%

And my kids are much closer to being Matilda and Hugo here but unlike the OP, I am actually capable of understanding that there are experiences outside my bubble

I agree that the last few weeks in school this year,in the heat, in buildings not designed for hot summers, have been a total waste of time educationally. They have provided a babysitting service for working parents who don’t get sufficient leave to cover the school holidays.
The children have been tired and behaviour has deteriorated. Staff are exhausted, with ever more demands thrown at them. We don’t have enough staff to provide the support that some children need which has knock-on effects on the other children, and on the staff that we do have. My school has already lost 2 members of staff who are leaving at the end of term because they can’t cope with the increased physical demands on them. It looks a third may be going too. Requests for part time work have been refused because of timetable demands, but those staff are requesting it because they are exhausted.
I think extending holidays may help a little but, more importantly, schools need to be properly funded so that they can be adequately staffed without putting such a burden on the employees they do have.

I'm Irish but live in Finland. The Summer holidays are long here..my kids finished at the end of May and they go back on August 7th. That said they do not get a long break at Easter, only 4 days.June is spent by most children 6+ (preschool year up) in camps. The preschool often has its own camp and then there are camps set up for school age children.
If families can't afford camps or their kids don't want to go, then the local playground has helpers that look after the children there and do activities with them. Throughout the Summer months, playgrounds also offer park food. That is a meal served at 12 for any child that wants it. You need to take a bowl/spoon/cup. Lots of children do this regardless of income bracket and they go by themselves or together with other kids from their neighborhood.
Most people take their holiday in July and go to their Summer cottage so the camps are reduced and only some daycares are open.

I do. Many parents don't.

I used to teach so I see this from both angles.

I remember all the Matildas and Hugos who came back to school full of stories about their trips to art galleries, the books they'd read, the day trips to the zoo and the dance, sports and drama camps they'd been on. I also remember the Kalebs and Neveahs who had spent the whole time on the XBox, or even worse, had ended up providing childcare for younger siblings. Guess which ones were greater depth and which ones were working below by the time the Christmas reports came around?

It's great for parents like me, I've got a good support network, a flexible job which pays decent enough, an engaged husband in full time work. I'm educated and, having been a teacher, I know what my child will be covering next year and how to prepare her for it. We love books and love reading together.

Not so much for a single mum with little to no education rushing between 2 or 3 part time jobs with no help.

I don't know about other parts of the UK but Edinburgh and Glasgow used to have different summer holidays when most businesses closed. Edinburgh Trades was/is the first two weeks of July and Glasgow Fair the second half of July. It's still more difficult to get a tradesman during those weeks!

Mine always had eight weeks in the summer, broke up before many other schools so we used to go away for a couple of weeks then, less crowded. I think eight weeks is about right, always enjoyed that.

Yes I do (or did, my kids are young adults now). But I'm also capable of understanding that there is a lot of poor parenting out there. And not practicing maths when out shopping is the least of it! You'd have to live in a bubble (or be particularly obtuse, wilfully or otherwise) to not realise this.

Seemingly not

I know so many kids who do literally nothing all summer hols. Just sit on their phone/computer.
They're not enjoying themselves, it's very sad to see.
My kids are extremely fortunate, I have all school holidays off and save money throughout the year so we can do loads of days out/trips away.
But most of their friends as are not in the same position.

This ^^

I thought it was just standard knowledge? 😳

The Western European country where I currently live has nine weeks summer holidays and big participation of mothers in the work force (three months maternity leave and then habitually daycare, too).

The local council organises child care. It's open every day, from 9-17 with early shift from 7.30 late shift until 19. Places are in theory limited but in practice not oversubscribed. It costs 7,5 euros per child per day from four years on, and for my younger child I think it's 10 euros a day. I think you can also partly withdraw the cost from taxes (moved here quite recently so hasn't come up yet for me). There's reduced prices for some but I don't know as I pay "full" price.

As half the town goes, they don't complain because they see their friends. It's basically teenagers supervising kids with adults supervising the teenagers. They play outside a lot but also have crafting and so on. You bring your own packed lunch and two snacks.

It's really easy to sort childcare if your society is geared towards women working!

I know... Because approximately 30% of all Mumsnet posts say this.

But the point is the OP doesn't have to think about school holiday cover at all. That's why she doesn't understand the world that other people live in.

I actually wasn't really advocating shorter school holidays but if you wanted to do something to support families, most would want shorter not longer holidays, that's all

Oh we’d love July off as well
nearly at the end of our schooling time so it won’t change for ours
eldest finished GCSEs in June and it’s been odd but great he is in full swing holiday mode now whilst youngster has one more morning to struggle in :-)

Some parents do but many do not. Many kids won't even get fed properly in school holidays! Many kids will spend their holidays in front of TV/screens

Yes really. Don't you read with your kids? Do maths while you are out shopping? Etc?

In the private sector it's very common, especially in lower grade roles, to only have 20 days + 8 b/h.
I'm in a senior role and only get 25 + 8 b/h plus I have to use 3 of my entitlement to cover mandatory Xmas shutdown

Yes, I work in a college but in a support role, so I don't have the same holiday pattern as the teaching staff. The students and lecturers are off for six weeks in the summer but I'm not - these are normal working weeks for me.

I'll admit though, I didn't realise that some people only get 20 days AL a year; I don't think I've ever had fewer than 27 (plus bank holidays). I can see how that would be a hideous source of stress, trying to cover every holiday.

You don't "understand" that not all parents are doing some reading/learning/educational activities with their kids during the holidays? Really?

We used to go picking strawberries and raspberries in the summer holidays and tattie picking in October. Was bloody hard work though.