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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

exoticfruits · 23/01/2012 07:12

YANBU- it must cause problems for a lot of people and the city and county should agree to do the same. Can you change and try and get a job in a county school?
Some people just like to give teachers a hard time-one of the huge plus points is getting the same holidays as your children. (some people are almost gleeful in there 'now you have to be like the rest of us!')

SoupDragon · 23/01/2012 07:14

"The v long summer break ... It's hard to cover for most working parents."

Tough. Working parents should have factored that in when having children.

Now where have I heard that recently...?

breatheslowly · 23/01/2012 07:34

If they go ahead then they will probably lose lots of staff whose children go to school out of the area. Quite a high proportion of teachers choose to work outside their home area to avoid bumping in to their pupils all the time. So there is a real risk of losing lots of experienced staff.

exoticfruits · 23/01/2012 07:46

I would say they would risk losing a lot of staff.

noblegiraffe · 23/01/2012 07:54

What a farce.

Who are the morons implementing an 8 week term? I take it they are not teachers who know how both teachers and kids will struggle with this length of time without a break?

And a lot of people who work in schools (teachers included) do so because it's term-time only and they get to spend the holidays with their kids. Remove that incentive and you'll lose staff. It should have been an all or nothing decision.

letseatgrandma · 23/01/2012 09:28

God-poor children! My class of year 1s are on their knees at the end of a seven week term!

Someone is out there trying to destroy teaching once and for all as a profession. I just don't get why?

Ah-it must be because they went to school once and know just how they should be run...

ivykaty44 · 24/01/2012 09:34

Public sector employers (average of £22,200), retailers (average of £24,000) and engineering
& industrial companies (average of £24,500) have the lowest graduate pay rates for 2011.

tyler80 · 24/01/2012 09:49

Yanbu

I know a lot of people who are affected by this.

One friend works in a county school, her husband works at a city school.

People with primary aged kids in city schools and secondary in county run schools.

Geography of the city boundaries means it isn't unusual to have this sort of situation because a number of the suburbs that people think of as Nottingham are not actually within the city boundary.

letseatgrandma · 24/01/2012 11:37

Public sector employers (average of £22,200), retailers (average of £24,000) and engineering& industrial companies (average of £24,500) have the lowest graduate pay rates for 2011.

Are they 'graduate only' jobs though?

HarrietJones · 24/01/2012 12:39

Doesn't the public sector include teachers?

What's the starting salary for a nqt? An nqsw here is approx £24000.

Scholes34 · 24/01/2012 12:45

No doubt there'll be some inconvenience. I work in the HE sector and can't take leave during half-term. DH and I have managed to box and cox over the years. Now DC1 and 2 are at secondary, they don't need me around all the time in the holidays and we just have to ensure DC3, at primary, is looked after. I'm sure you'll be able to find help for the period you're in work and you have DCs at home in the holidays. Holiday childcare is a lucrative business and I'm sure there'll be plenty available. Am I right that once your DCs are all in secondary, you'll all have the same term times?

LotsOfGoodFunThatIsFunny · 24/01/2012 13:26

Will the age cut off point still be September? Surely that means a few DC would be 3 when they started school? Or would the schools that change have it moved and the schools that didn't remain the same?

It looks to me like it could get very confusing (but then I am easily confused!)

ivykaty44 · 24/01/2012 13:30

Are they 'graduate only' jobs though? Yes this is for graduate only jobs

here

tyler80 · 24/01/2012 13:59

I can't see how they can change the school entry age so would mean late august birthdays starting school at 3

LittleJennyRobyn · 24/01/2012 17:51

Yanbu, DS1 has the 8 week terms and his is the only school in our town that has this pattern. DS2 and DD are on the usual term times(3 different schools). We have done this for 5 years.

TBH its a pain, Most of DS1's friends are at different schools so he spends his 2 week break alone with me...not cool for a 15 year old!! Then when they have time off, he is in school.

It doesn't affect me workwise as i am a SAHM which i am thankful for, but it does get tedious not having a break from the whole school routine, as there is very little time that all 3 DC's are off school together, which also means we are very limited as to when we can take our family holidays.

DS1 is leaving this year so was looking forward to having both DS2 and DD on the same term time. But Now DS2's school have announced that they are thinking of changing to the 8 week term.
So i may well have this for another 3 years +, as at this moment in time i have no idea where DD will end up after primary.

I just wish they would keep all the schools the same.

Original poster

holidaywoe · 24/01/2012 18:20

We have had a letter home from boys county school today saying that they are consulting on fixing the easter holiday to first two weeks in April so that they can operate on 6 half terms of roughly six weeks. This sounds far more sensible to me.

OP posts:

PeneloPeePitstop · 24/01/2012 18:22

It should be all or nothing. If one school in a local authority switches to this then they all should imho.
Even working parents who do not teach, imagine having one child at primary, one at secondary with completely different holidays. Unworkable.

Original poster

holidaywoe · 24/01/2012 20:56

My thoughts exactly
I was talking to one of the Mums at school today who is a child minder. She has a child who is at a county school but her children are city the agreement is she works term time only as they go away in the hols but if this goes through she will have to give notice.

OP posts:

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