To think we don’t need more school holidays?

and why do teachers get more time off than anyone else? I know they’re tired and do a busy job - but so do lots of us!!

Because kids need time off. Also, do you want your kids to actually have teachers? They are already quitting in their thousands. And do you think the government would be willing to pay teachers for weeks more teaching each year? Or is it that you're expecting teachers to even more unpaid hours than they already do? I'm intrigued.

What do you mean by 'it's for absence rates'? As for 'it's for teachers' benefit'... I'd have thought parents might be in favour of measures which allow teachers to teach kids better, and to recruit and retain more teachers. I presume you're aware of the acute crisis in teacher numbers? Your child may well end up without a qualified teacher for multiple subjects at secondary.

Essentially, you are perfectly entitled to think teachers are lazy fuckers if you like, but the numbers speak for themselves.

I don’t think we need more school holidays. Yes the kid get a bit tired but that’s life. We all coped as kids. Unfortunately there’s not the childcare available. Round our way there’s a few clubs but they’re very sport focused and silly times of the day. I find my kids actually get more tired being sent here there and everywhere for childcare - going to clubs they hate.

I know people say school isn’t childcare - but school hours and AL is what you play for. What’s the alternative?

and why do teachers get more time off than anyone else? I know they’re tired and do a busy job - but so do lots of us!!

I think shaving time off of lunch is not going to be the same - also the kids need that time to be social and eat their lunch.

I’m not sure this is in the kids best interests. I’m also not sure what the answer is to teacher sickness - maybe they can be asked to have the flu jab (paid for).

I also think moreso in primary - less Christmas stuff! The amount of things is ridiculous- loads for parents to remember and must be tiring for teachers. Maybe reduce that a bit for everyone’s sake.

Out kids have 14 weeks off too as they have two weeks for May but I believe this is instead of having inset days scattered throughout the year. The plus side is it means there's an extra week for holidays when not everyone else is off so you can get cheaper holidays but I agree with you overall that additional holidays is not ideal.

They can take them in the second week of October or November, then. After all, they aren't forced to take holiday over Hallowe'en.

I don't think it'll make much difference to unauthorised absence, though. Those people will just take it earlier and/or later as well.

my children’s school have done this but the extra week of the half term mean less onset days spread out through the rest of the year - so it’s still the same amount of days in school - just formatted differently.

Guessing you don’t work?

This sounds like an employment issue. Schools are for education not childcare.

Schools are not childcare.

Our school has 2 week October half term - they put all the inset days together rather than tagging them on to other school holidays or random odd days. Handy if you want to fly longhaul at that time of year as can be a bit cheaper than summer!

love having 2 weeks in october, and also don’t thin the standard British summer holiday of 6 weeks is long enough. Kids need time away from a school.

The issue is not great provision of varied, interesting and affordable holiday clubs in this country. In my home country there are more than/ better options (coding, art, music, forest school, specific sports, etc.) and many offer a sliding scale for fees based on income.

There are better ways of supporting working families than keeping tired kids in the classroom,

Ah makes sense. Thanks for explaining that. I hadn’t realised.
I still think the autumn term is too long currently so like the idea of a two week October halfterm.

School isn't for childcare but the school should still be considerate about the impact of this.

For richer households they'd happily take an October holiday, but for those struggling finding the extra £300-400 for childcare per child isn't easy and shouldn't be handwaved away.

I would also think missing 10mins at lunch for play would have a more immediate impact, especially for neuroodivergent children and kids who need more downtime.

I'd personally love to swap the last week in August for a week in October.

I agree with the op.
I'm a teacher. Ten minutes extra teaching time in an afternoon will in no way add up to the learning missed in an entire week of school, despite the hours technically being the same.

The school holidays in the UK are among the shortest in Europe. The autumn term is much too long.

They should do this and add another 30 minutes onto each school day so the summer holiday can be 2-3 weeks long as well.

The thing is though there is a massive teacher recruitment and retention crisis. A school near me is using maths teachers on Zoom to teach pupils who are hundreds of miles away. Anything that can be done to support teacher recruitment and retention is a good thing. For years people have been warning about the teaching crisis and it’s getting worse. In addition to this it says they have done research that shows it’s better for pupils.
I wish though more than anything that people would stop bringing fines into these discussions. Class teachers have no say on these at all and schools do not get the money. It’s a separate issue.

No it hasn’t stop justifying the terrible state of affairs that most parents are finding themselves in.

There will probably be the equivalent parent at your school delighted with the extra week holiday. It’s impossible to please everyone. Some parents want more holidays, some want less, some want more homework, some want less, some teachers would love shorter days instead of more days off, other teachers would love longer days in order to have to more days off.

It’s impossible to make everyone happy. Schools have so many variables they need to consider when they make trade-offs. They have to please parents, children, staff, governors, the government, their accounts department and the wider community, all who have competing needs and desires that are in conflict. AND they have to have modern competitive working conditions that compete with benefits other graduate jobs can offer (higher salary, no-commute, WFH, 4-day weeks, condensed hours, company car, travel, shares etc) in order to appeal to both prospective graduates and existing teachers to avoid industry attrition which is happening at an alarming rate.

Like you said, this is at the consultation stage meaning they are looking for feedback and opinions at this stage. That’s the whole point of doing a consultation. If there is unanimous pushback, they won’t proceed with it. If it is a mixed bag or positive, they may go ahead. Industries evolve. It’s part of life.

I think this is a separate issue though. This is the economy/cost of living making it mandatory for two parents to work at the expense of the family wellbeing and that of the children.

The more holidays the better. School
keeps them for too long already.

OP I hear you and yes its frustrating. Also some of these people live in ideal land where you can take time off whenever you please. And assume you have grandparents who can/will help. For family's with two working parents who are still struggling to make ends meet life isn't always ideal.