Will there come a time when school holidays aren't so often or so long?

[QueenOfIce]

Do we really need 6 weeks for summer, 2 weeks in October, 2 weeks in Dec etc etc?

Is it really so knackering to be at school 5 days a week for 6 weeks that a 2 week break is needed?

With the rising cost of childcare I wonder if we'll ever see a reduction in school holidays?

Childcare is one of the things people should consider and plan for when choosing to have a kid. Surely it didn’t come as a shock?

@RachelITeeth what a facetious comment. How can you possible plan for 8 or so years of childcare in advance? I’m a working parent, as is my husband and it’s a genuine worry how we will manage when our daughter goes to school next year. Should only those who want to have one parent at a SAHP have a child?

Well kaytee we dont all predict our partners will fuck off and leave us to it.
Life isnt perfect

I definitely don't think they should be reduced. They need family time and time for holidays, to relax and have a life outside of the school structure.

@onetimeposter what are you on about? I was agreeing with a pp that childcare shouldn't be a surprise. I didn't say it couldn't be difficult, but it's no surprise surely? Everyone's aware of school holidays.

@formerbabe in Scotland we have ours from last week in June til mid August

I think that is better. Last few weeks of school, the weather was boiling. The past week and this week feel quite autumnal now and my DC are still off school.

@topsyanddim lots of parents are in similar situations, once shes at school get to know the other parents and you can fit around annual leave and swapping days with other parents. My DD has been at friends houses or had friends at our house 50% of the holiday weekdays and that wasn't even with planning as I'm on maternity leave currently.

Also if you can't afford holiday clubs due to low income you should qualify for a percentage paid by the government.

I really hope not.

We struggle to fit our lives into the holidays we currently have. It would be awful to have less time.

(But maybe that's why I home educate some of my kids with a plan to be home edding all of them in 4 years time!)

Wasn't the point of a 6 week holiday so that the children could help in the fields with harvest etc

I'm sure you could find somewhere that would be happy to use your children for cheap labour.

I love my 7 weeks summer holiday - schools are NOT childcare, we teach children.

I work in a school, you can tell when it's getting near the end of term most of the children get tired and ratty they need a break to rest and recharge.

My goodness I certainly hope not . I cherish the times I get to spend with my children when the holidays come round - spending quality time together as a family is a necessity !! I enjoy nurturing my children and having them to myself for a few weeks out of a whole year ! Children AND school staff AND parents need regular breaks from school for goodness sake! I’d be happy with more school holidays truth be told . Childhood doesn’t last forever and I’m going to try my dam hardest to make sure I treasure every bit of my children’s and the school holidays make it that bit more easy ! 😉

Is it really so knackering to be at school 5 days a week for 6 weeks that a 2 week break is needed

Yes. If you worked in a primary school you would see that they are worn out by the end of every half term. They’re even noticeably more tired on a Friday than they are on a Wednesday! Children are growing, developing and learning little beings and with the extra pressure of external tests and exams, the pressure never really lets up.

As for two-week half terms, isn’t that just in the private system? So you can have your skiing in February?!!

Just a small tweak might help, start summer holiday by mid July, take a week off the end and put it onto the October half term. I do think that a long break in the summer is good and holidays would be even more expensive if there was a shorter holiday window.

If I ever experience holidays as fucking shit as this years. I will pull my fucking hair out.

DD's going into year 6 and is already panicking about the amount of homework, she comes in and flops on her bed every afternoon. She'd have to start immediately on her homework 3 times a week.

I hope not, I've had the best summer at home with my babies (teacher) and wouldn't want to miss that for the world!

However I wouldn't mind the extra pay, but there's definitely no money for it so very unlikely to happen.

@zigzagzebra thank you. I know lots of parents face the same difficulties I just hate not being able to know what the solution will be. It’s not a money thing, but where she’ll be happiest.....

@formerbabe I know, I felt sorry for the English kids still at school when we were in the paddling pool every day end June and through July. It was amazing and I couldn't help thinking that down south you'd end up with a hosepipe ban before the kids even had a chance to enjoy the weather.

As a mother, I hope not. My DD is so ready for the break when it comes. And the 6 weeks really allows her to properly decompress.

As a school employee, I also hope not for two reasons. Firstly, for the children who are visibly shattered by the end of a half term and less able to concentrate, picking up illnesses, generally rundown (I work in reception, they are still so little). Secondly, for me who is definitely ready for a break when half term us approaching. Having worked in non-school jobs before, if I was feeling a bit tired or needed a break, I could book a half day finish or a couple of days off. Until you have worked in a school, you don't realise how utterly relentless it is and you can't just have the odd day of annual or flexi leave here and there to catch up with yourself. I love it, but I definitely need the holidays that we currently have.

My dsd isn't knackered after a term at school she's just looking forward to Snapchatting all day without having her phone confiscated in class!
Then I would suggest that your dad isnt doing a lot in school and should buckle down and start working tbh.
Or you actually dont see her day in and day out.
But school is certainly not stretching her mind and imagination if she isn’t tired after a term.

There has actually been quite a few studies showing that children AND teens do better if they have a break every 6 weeks and that break is at least 2 weeks.
A longer break of 6 weeks is NEEDED too. First to allow them to rest. But also so they can actually have the time to do other things.
Unfortunately that also means adults also getting their own acts together and doing things with said children/teens rather than letting them stuck on the sofa, glued in snapchat.....

DS was broken long before the end of his 8 week term, mainly because the week at half term wasn't enough to relieve the pressure of SATs that had been brewing since Easter. All that educational pressure on a child apparently too young to test for dyslexia

A 6 week term is quite a nice length. 7 weeks OK. 8 weeks is painful. First on the part of the exhausted kids/ teenagers (ex secondary teacher) then on the teachers who are expected to uphold the same standards no matter how fresh or exhausted the kids are.

A good month is important for a complete recharge and fresh start. Maybe redistributing a week or two from the summer to break up longer terms and to spread the opportunity for holidays in decent weather which in reality is only the 6 weeks in the summer and a week in May. Late October and Easter are a big gamble and Christmas and February are invariably grim.

“Well school isn't childcare so the two shouldn't be conflated.
Yes I do think that children need regular breaks.”

I agree. And most schools don’t have 2 weeks in October, unless you are in Scotand or your children are in private school.

“I don't believe children need a 2 week break every 6 weeks.”

They certainly need a break after 6 weeks.

“I foresee terms changing to being shorter summer and longer May and October half terms though”

That won’t work in secondary schools, especially during the GCSE/A level years.

“With the rising cost of childcare I wonder if we'll ever see a reduction in school holidays?”

School isn’t childcare. And of course you factor in school holidays when you decide to have children - don’t you?

“My dsd isn't knackered after a term at school”

Bully for her. I would say that most children are, and the teachers definitely are

I’m a secondary school teacher. Spend a week in my school in the last week of any term (it’s an outstanding school) and you’ll see why breaks are needed.

The kids are nakered, the kids are nakered. Behaviour issues increase. Arguments / fights increase. Teachers and pupils make poor judgements. Everyone needs some time and space.

Mental health issues in young people have increased dramatically since I started teaching. Exams have got much more demanding. Young people need a good break and a rest from learning and time to just enjoy life and other things.

Do we need the 6 weeks summer hols? Prob not but we do need time to process and deal with a level and gcse results which takes up the last two weeks of he holidays, help pupils with what next, plan next term, organise resources etc and get ready for another demanding term.

We’re not babysitters - we are educators. I appreciate it is hard to sort out childcare but that’s not our job.

I would like to see longer school holidays. But maybe longer school days.

When schools are only of for 7 weeks in summer that's a complete scramble for time off in some workplace as lots pf people want the time with kids.
It also means that holiday companies seriously bump their prices up.

I just wish they would bunch all the holidays up and have one really long break over the summer. It’s so much easier and cheaper finding things to do, plus I think they really benefit from a long break. Like they do in Europe. It just seems wrong for them to be at school when the weather is lovely.

I think it needs a bit of a tweak. Rehashing totally screws up GCSEs, a levels, college and university intakes and would be hellish.

But, I definitely go for 6 week half term, two weeks at October, two weeks and Christmas.

Spring term leave as it is, tends to be shorter half terms anyway. If only they'd fix Easter to first weekend in April instead of moving it about....

May half term make it into a two weeks off holiday, then end of July finish for four week summer break.

Actual weeks are same, just a bit more spread out. It'd help with holiday prices maybe, and allow proper holidays to be taken at different times. And more importantly, it'd shorten those hellish 8 week half terms where everyone is hanging out by the end.