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?

I work in a school and as we have a quarter of the year as holidays I'd love to see a 3 weeks on one week off set up.

But to change anything has far too many implications in too many areas for it to be likely.

Yes they need breaks that often! I'm exhausted after 6 weeks of school runs. Dread to think how my kids feel!

working in a school office doing first aid - as it gets late in term the children have more accidents and seem to get more bugs then they have their week off and come back feeling better and stop falling over as much. So I'd say they need a break.

The summer breaks is probably a bit long, but could you imagine holiday prices and the struggle to get time off if everyone had to try and fit their family holiday into a three or four week period.

Most of Scotland now have Spring break (April) and Easter weekend which may or may not be attached to the 2 week Spring Break depending on when Easter lands.

Tbh it is important to me that school isn't the be all and end all of my kids' lives. Having longer holidays allows school to be something that they do along with a number of other things. The family unit stays key, outside activities are allowed to flourish and any interpersonal issues get given a breather

That's the good bit about having more two week breaks though: you could have a proper fortnight holiday in October or May instead of it having to be how it is now.

I can't see them ever changing. The whole exam process fits around the current system! We either need to follow the Scandinavian model and pay more taxes to subsidise childcare or the American model and sort yourself out and factor in 'Summer Camp'. Think about it next time you vote!

The long summer holiday is one of the great joys of childhood. My kids would hate it to be reduced.

The current school holiday regime (not to mention the hours of the normal school day) are keeping women out of well paid employment. Women are tied to childcare because of it. There are (virtually) no jobs that fit around this schedule - you either have to earn enough to pay for alternative childcare during the holidays, or you stay at home and look after the kids yourself.
Women will struggle to make significant inroads into issues such as the gender pay gap until it’s sorted.
Kids don’t need these long holidays - the school curriculum could be adapted to build rest into their time there. The fucking patriarchy needs this regime.
But good to see it being so well supported on here, “Oooh, I loooooove my kids being at home for 6 weeks, we all grow so much and share such amazing learning experiences......” Good for you - but some of us have work to go to.

Find a school system without one longer break.

There aren't any.

It's because kids need decent breaks. They're children. Not an inconvenience to your working schedule.

In fact, many countries have up to three months off in summer. England's are relatively short.

Teachers would never allow it to change, they get very very touchy about this subject because they love their long holidays (wouldn't we all 🤔).

I think the school holidays do need looking at, but not made shorter as children are always very tired by the end of term and need a break.

Just wait until your DC are at college/ uni and you've got them lounging round the house for literally months on end, eating you out of house and home

No, I hope not, well not for the next 4 years then I don't care
I always love the holidays, kids soon grow up and leave home.

Cherry

Nothing stopping you from qualifying and becoming a teacher

Don't be ridiculous. We can't all become teachers.

Are you really suggesting Choosegopse that there is one long holiday per year, of 12 weeks or so? Then there would be 40 weeks where there was no break. One massive term? No Christmas or Easter break?

No, but if you are so desperate for the holidays then come and join the ranks.

Massive recruitment and retention crisis

Bring your degree certificate and sign up.

July and August and the fact I get time with my own children are real plusses, I'm not going to fib.

Of course we can’t Cherry, but given the recruitment and retention situation, a few more wouldn’t go amiss.

Dd and ds1 each get 2 week October halfterms. Dd gets 6 weeks summer holidays and the school got the extra week by having 1 twilight session a week. Ds1 gets 5 weeks summer holidays. Ds2 gets 6 weeks summer holidays and 1 week October half term at his primary. 😳

What I’d really like? Them all to have 4 weeks summer holidays and 2 weeks in may and October. Failing that, just for all the schools within the same lea to share common term dates. Sigh.

The long summer holiday is one of the great joys of childhood

I totally agree.

@Choosegopse

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.

The reality's v. different. We're just finishing the 12-week summer break here in the USA and it's so difficult to make it work for everyone.

You literally run out of annual leave and/or money to do things, even when swapping childcare with friends. Plus the children forget so much, even though they're assigned summer work.

Some people end up paying out thousands for summer camps simply because they can't do anything else with their children (if you don't have helpful grandparents, for example, what else can you do)?

I'd love to have a 6-week summer holiday over here!

Or 3 weeks at Christmas (kids are always shattered by the Christmas holidays and, at primary age, used to be ill for the first 3 or 4 days. Same as my mother was ( when she taught) for the first few days of every holiday.

I'd have to abandon my job, in which I've built up expertise over a period of 20 years, to become a teacher, purely so that I can get long holidays? That's not going to happen. You do realise there are many 'important' jobs in the community, not just teaching.

Like I say, teachers will do everything to protect their entitlement to loooong holidays. It'll never change, is all I'm saying.

Teachers would never allow it to change, they get very very touchy about this subject because they love their long holidays

Nothing to stop you training!

Yes, 'Nothing to stop you training' seems to be the stock answer.