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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think these holiday changes will cause chaos

68 replies

holidaywoe · 22/01/2012 20:23

Hi
My children both go to schools that are in the Nottingham county area, I am currently working in a school in the Nottingham City area which up until now has never caused a problem ....until Now!
The city in their wisdom have decided that they want to implement a 5 term pattern with 5, 8 week terms. The thought being 6 weeks are too long for children to be off school in the summer and it would be better for them to have just 4. The county however have rejected the idea and decided to stick to the original pattern.
I dont mind either way as long as they are the same. As it is if this goes ahead I will have different hols to the kids and will end up being off alone while they are at school and having to find childcare while they are off and im at work.

OP posts:
jade80 · 22/01/2012 22:01

I agree with the OP

Plus one of the payoffs to compensate for teaching being the lowest paid graduate only job is the holidays coinciding, which reduces childcare fees.

Teaching struggles to attract the brightest and best anyway- this will just make it worse if it becomes widespread. School holidays should be the same , or similar, nationwide.

babybythesea · 22/01/2012 22:01

Nightmare.

On two fronts. One is that you won't be there when your kids are off, so you'll have to organise child care. Well, so do a lot of people but then a lot of people can take at least some of their annual leave while children are off, even if that's not in the summer holiday.

The second issue is the other way round- you sitting at home a lot while your children are in school. Can't do a massive amount (in terms of days out) because you'll have to be there for school runs. Which becomes wasted time for you.

When are you supposed to have days with your kids then? I know you will have weekends, but I'm betting there are always things to do - shopping, activities etc. I'm talking about those days as a family when you get up and say 'We've doneall our jobs, kids. What do you fancy doing today?'

northcountrygirl · 22/01/2012 22:03

FWIW holidaywoe I totally agree with you - YANBU in my opinion. Totally agree that holidays should be standard nationally.

I have 3 children. The eldest are twins (11yo) but one is much smarter than the other and the youngest is starting school in September. I could, quite easily have 3 children in 3 different schools. How the hell could I possibly manage to work if all 3 schools had completely different holidays? I know all schools would have some holidays the same - such as Easter and Christmas - but it could be quite conceivable that I would have to find additional childcare for a large chunk of the holidays.

From an economic point of view it may, for some families, not be viable to carry on working. It may be for me too.

And what about holidays? We love our holidays together and go away on at least half of the holidays. How could we manage that without taking them out of school?

ivykaty44 · 22/01/2012 22:06

um surely if this becomes wide spread then.... you will have what you want, all having 5 x 8 week terms

Original poster
holidaywoe · 22/01/2012 22:07

But our summer break is far shorter than that of our European counterpart where education standards / achievements are far higher so there is no proof that changing is going to be benficial to children.
And as I have already said I dont have a problem with the holidays changing its the fact that the two areas which are in effect serving the same people cant agree to trial it together.

OP posts:
Birdsgottafly · 22/01/2012 22:07

Standard holidays also make community planning easier, the days out ran in half term by Children's Centres, youth clubs etc.

ivykaty44 · 22/01/2012 22:10

we dont have youth clubs any more - no money now so they got cut and the childrens centers

Original poster
holidaywoe · 22/01/2012 22:10

I think there will be more chance of people taking children out of school term time too

OP posts:
HarrietJones · 22/01/2012 22:13

If different areas next door to each other are having different terms then holiday clubs may not tie in with both either.

MaureenMLove · 22/01/2012 22:13

8 week terms! Nooooo! I can bearly make it to the end of 7 week terms and neither can the kids! Grin

Agree with OP though, it really should be all or not at all.

ImpOfThePerverse · 22/01/2012 22:14

YANBU this isn't going to work for so many parents who have DC at different schools, it's not just an issue for teachers.

I haven't thought about it enough to have an opinion on which system is better, but it needs to be one or the other, not this mixture.

Birdsgottafly · 22/01/2012 22:18

Ivy- my team is co-located in a Children Centre, only in certain areas were they closed. There is community provision, churches etc in most places. We run older children clubs which would be chaotic if the children were off at different times. Same with adult courses, which we run,but take abreak during half terms.

northcountrygirl · 22/01/2012 22:18

ivykaty - but how long until it becomes standard? Some of the academies around here are already changing the holidays. AFAIK there are no plans for the non academies to follow suit.

holidaywoe - you are right about taking children out of school as well. The only time I have taken my twins out of school was once for a funeral and once for a family wedding. If the different schools my children are at change their holidays, so they are no longer compatible, then yes, I will be taking them out of school for holidays.

Original poster
holidaywoe · 22/01/2012 22:31

Maureen My two would also struggle with 8 week terms

OP posts:
randommoment · 22/01/2012 22:34

What I would love is if the different LEAs could get together and agree to split into groups that take a slightly different rota of holidays, so that one lot have half term in the 3rd week of May, another in the 4th, and the third in the first week of June, and some get most of June and part of July, some get most of July and part of August, and the third most of August and some of September. And so on with Autumn HT and February HT. Of course it would need some fiddling about with because Christmas and Easter are fixed points, but wouldn't it be nice if all the family holiday places weren't flat out busy during School Holiday weeks and echoing empty wastelands with only the preschool families or those willing to trash their children's education present?

A few years ago Easter was so early our LEA gave up and didn't set the break between what they call term 4 and term 5 and everyone else calls Spring Term and Summer Term until 2 weeks later. So we got the Good Friday and Easter Monday as normal Bank Holidays, sandwiched between two four day school weeks. Just like us grown-ups. The world did not cease to turn on its axis. Of course it's more convenient for schools to bury Bank Holidays into holidays, but it doesn't have to be that way.

If it was done by LEA, most families wouldn't notice any difference. I appreciate that some families near county borders may have children in different LEAs or a parent working in education in a different LEA to their children. But if it was given a reasonable lead in time, these problems could be resolved.

KatyMac · 22/01/2012 22:36

I preferred the 6 x 6 week terms with 2 weeks between each

8 weeks is too long

lecce · 22/01/2012 22:38

I am in the same situation but in reverse - my dc are/will be in Notts City schools and I teach in a county school. I didn't realise county had rejected the change - I thought the consultation was still in process. My understanding was that they wanted to match the two up as they realise so many people are in a similar position to you and me, OP! Has it fallen through, then?

I am totally pissed off about it. As well as the cost issue, there is the total lack of flexibility which I refuse to believe is matched by many other graduate professions. I feel guilty that my dc don't get the best of me in term-time and now the fucking holidays are being taken too. Wtf do I want 2 weeks off in freezing, grey March for while my dc are in school?

Will probably try to move to a City school - a shame as I love my current school Sad.

lesley33 · 22/01/2012 22:38

Agree that holidays should be standardised. This will cause problems for lots of parents.

But teaching is not the lowest paid graduate only job.

And there are other jobs where either firms close down say for 2 weeks or there is severe restrictions on when annual leave can be taken e.g. not during school holidays. Just because you personally don't know anyone with these types of restrictions, does not mean lots of people don't have them.

lecce · 22/01/2012 22:45

I'll be absolutely honest here. I don't actually care about other jobs and what holiday entitlements they do or don't have. One reason I decided to work full-time after having the dc was because of the holidays. Now that is being taken away from me, without there being anything I can do about it, amidst many other changes/infringements and I am really. Really. Pissed. Off.

jade80 · 23/01/2012 00:23

Lesley33- so what is the lowest paid graduate only job then? As I am under the impression that teaching is it.

hanaka88 · 23/01/2012 05:43

What about teaching assistants who don't get paid for the holidays and then have to find money for childcare?

Barbeasty · 23/01/2012 06:19

YANBU. It is silly having 2 systems, especially within the one county.

My brothers' secondary school had this system, so my parents forced me to move there for sixth form because of the total mismatch of terms.

Quite apart from the fact their sixth form was atrocious, it did mean taking time off school. I was in the county orchestra, so when they did courses in the "holidays", and a foreign tour, it meant missing school to attend.

And what about other county events? Sports etc, are they going to miss time too? Then there's the fact that I had to do some of my a-level exams in the holidays.

I thought the system itself was great. More frequent proper breaks (every holiday was at least 2 weeks), every term was 8 weeks so planning is easier. But it doesn't work well if you only have 1 or a small group of schools doing it.

I guess though, where do you stop. What about people on the border of 2 counties with different systems?

mummytime · 23/01/2012 06:30

YANBU - if the city and county have different holidays; even for non-teachers it is going to be difficult; because a lot of holiday child care is based around school holidays. So Child minders may not be available when you want them, because their own children may be on holiday. The big play schemes may not be running at the right time; even more so if as around here several run in private schools, which may have a third set of holidays.
Also what if someone sends one child to a County school but another is at a city school?
Here, I know the neighbouring counties all consulted when considering changing the school year (the only change was to fix Easter).

sunnydelight · 23/01/2012 06:52

YANBU - we have four terms here in NSW (Australia) which are between 8-10 weeks, when my kids were younger they inevitably ended up with a day or two off with "endoftermitis" in the last couple of weeks of the longer terms as they were so exhausted (though the 7/8 week Summer/Christmas break is lovely for them). Non-standard school terms would be a major PITA for a lot of families and I really don't see why teachers get such a hard time on here - as someone else pointed out surely trying to encourage talented and committed people to become, and remain, teachers should be a priority.

runningwilde · 23/01/2012 07:01

That does sound very very silly. Is there anything you can do?

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