Holidays in Year 11 - how much revision and to go away or not?

DS has approx 8 hrs of extra curricular activities/commitments per week which he's continuing - music lesson/practice, sports & DoE.

Going away normally involves 2 days' travel - a day getting there & a day getting back so that's 3 days' used up as a minimum for however short a break. We're doing this at Christmas, Feb HT & Easter visiting the GP's. I suspect DS will still be able to carve some time for a social life and go out to the cinema once or twice. (Have prebooked Star Wars!)

For us, the thought of not going away for an entire week helps to reduce my stress levels let alone his.

I wouldn't go away as it'll just increase the amount of work they need to do during the rest of the holiday. Better to have regular one day breaks or half day breaks during the holiday.

We're looking at a long weekend away at the beginning of Easter. I think DD needs a break. Endless work isn't a great idea. I wouldn't do a week, because I think she'd get stressed. But a long weekend, then into two solid weeks of revision should work okay.

My daughter's school suggests working 2/3 of the day, on 2/3 of the days. She was on a school sports camp last Easter and those who were in exam years had time for revision and support to do so. So I would say, how long is the holiday, how long would you go away for, would some revision be possible - the down time may be appropriate, if balanced realistically.

P.S agree with you that I don't understand the money for results thing. Particularly if it's about getting grade 9s, which the DC might never get despite putting every single ounce of possible effort.

A thing to consider if going away is how your DC revises. DS relies heavily on the internet (online revision plus access to sample papers/questions).

If you DC also relies on the internet you need to be very sure you are going somewhere with good provision. At home we have fast unlimited broadband. We've stayed in holiday cottages where it took an age to upload a simple web page.

There's also a middle ground between "going away" and "revising for long periods of time every single day during the holiday".

DC should obviously been encouraged to take breaks and do things outside of studying - this doesn't necessarily mean that they have to go away!

There's a difference between a few days away somewhere localish and 8 days away a 6 hour flight with a very busy schedule when away.

Also some kids are happy to be holed up elsewhere working for 3 hours while the family wanders off, others wouldn't be able to settle and concentrate elsewhere.

The main thing in my view is it needs to be driven by the y11, and built into any revision schedule, not forced by the parents or worse of all, sprung on the y11 as a 'surprise' at the last minute.

They can't work the whole time, but some might prefer their break to be at home, others might like to get away.

DD1 is only in Y10 but I can't imagine her spending the entire fortnight of the Easter holiday revising productively. She usually goes away for four days on a music course (one of her GCSE subjects) and I'm expecting she'll want to do that next year but there's next to no down time. She's hoping to use a likely solo performance towards one of her music assessments (this is possible because teachers and examiners will be there, as will recording equipment) too. Maybe we'll all feel differently when she's in Y11 but if she continues to work as she does, I'll be encouraging her to go on the Easter course.

I wouldn’t go on holiday at Easter. If she’s contentious, she may feel stressed and not enjoy the holiday.

Good choice OP.. A lot of pressure on kids these days not helped by parents expectations that they will revise solidly for weeks on end with no fun in between. If they really do need to do this then either parental expectations are too high or the dc have wound themselves into a frenzy. Either way , all work and no let up is not good... and the fastest way to put kids off study.

We went away in Feb half term and DD1 went away at Easter too. We didn’t when DD2 was the same age due to early submission of art work. DD1 certainly wasn’t affected adversely and achieved very highly. I think they need a break and one week doesn’t do any harm. I am also aware DD1 was able to breeze exams and the exams are different now. Each child is different.

We have deliberately booked no holidays as such. DS has mocks after Christmas so 3/4 days off visiting family. Normally go away for a week at Easter but not this year. He has a practice DoE expedition one weekend and we’ll visit GP’s on another. Same with Feb HT - no skiing for us but hosting visiting family at the weekend. DS plans to follow school hours as his revision plan over the holidays too.

DD has mocks in Jan, so we are going away Feb half term.

I am expecting her to revise ‘school hours’ during Easter hols - so either 9-12, 1-4 and relax in the evening or 9-12, 6-9 and relax/go out in the afternoon.

Agree with pointy, it really does depend on the child. DD will be going on a week's sports camp overseas as scheduled every Easter hols. I won't be there to police her but do expect her to grab a couple of hours of daily study, as will the coaches.

I think it depends on the child. If you have a child who feels stressed out at the thought of going on holiday and having their revision schedule broken, don't do it. Let them lead. If you have a child who is generally doing well, working hard, meeting their targets and would like a break to recharge, then do it.

I have two in category two. We took a week out for Easter in their GCSE years and this year was GCSEs for one and A levels for other. We had a whole week with no revision and then they felt ready to hit the revision with renewed energy. It worked for us - they got the grades.

There isn't a one size fits all answer to this question.

The expectation of nothing but revision is both far to much and really quite unhealthy!

I don't expect nothing but revision (if DS manages 2 hours a day I will be surprised). It's more that if we go away there will be no revision at all, whereas if we stay at home we might get some.
If you have a workaholic child, then I agree an enforced short break might be a good idea (although equally it might make them more anxious).

With revision dd basically did a school day - so 5 hours with regular breaks between. She and I sat down and drew up a revision timetable beforehand - I helped at her request. It really helped.

It's dd's birthday over Easter. When she did her GCSEs because she was really organised with revision and was doing 4-5 hours a day at weekends and holidays, and a couple after schools each day we did go away. We went away over her birthday for 3 nights - 4 full days. She built it into her revision schedule and did no revision at all in those 4 days, plus only about 2 hours in the day when we had a big family party the weekend after. We also went away for a full day to celebrate 'effort put in' over May half term, though by then she had few exams left and only a week to go.

It really worked for dd and gave her a fab boost mid revision. She came back energised and it didn't affect the rest of her revision plans.

We will be doing similar this Easter when it's her 18th, and she is revising for A levels. We already know the exam dates and know she has a lot of time after Easter too.

I definitively would not go on holiday at Easter just before GCSEs. I would however plan a treat just after the exams. I took DD on a lovely 2-night trip within the UK. We stayed in a hotel with a spa in it. She wasn't old enough to get treatments but we has a lovely time in the pools and saunas and enjoyed some nice meals and sightseeing.

My DS did his GCSEs 2 years ago and went away on a school trip for a week during Easter break. He took some revision with him, but not sure how much he did. The break really did him good.

DD does hers this year and is going away for 5 days with one of her hobbies. I really don't think they can study all the time.

3 week Easter holiday before GCSE’s we went away for 4 days and DS had a break

I'm a teacher at a grammar school and a parent of yr 11 boy.
My students will, on the whole, work all holidays. For both gcse and a level, when parents ask, I recommend they still have a holiday in feb as they need a well deserved break after mocks. I'd say the same for easter, but maybe not a full week.
We are thinking of a few days in a cottage not too far away at easter - DS can bring work and do half a day study and half a day fun stuff.
To go from christmas to June with no breaks is a long slog. It's impossible to quantify, but I'd be very surprised if a few days break at easter impacted results if DC have been working consistently through the year.