To think that the school year should be reformed so that there are only 6 weeks of holidays instead of 13!

[bollywoodfan]

...Yes I am finding the holidays difficult! They are too long and there are far too many imo. I don't see why children & teachers need so many holidays! They are a nightmare for parents to arrange childcare for, which also costs a lot of money. Most households don't have a sahp and the govt is discouraging this anyway. So it makes sense for there to be the same amount of school holidays as there is annual leave i.e 6 weeks
OK, before the teachers start moaning - the workload for teachers could be more spreadout as there would be a longer period of time in which to fit the curriculum. You could also have weeks where you did other things, like sports or music week, activities etc, so that it is not all book learning all the time.

Benefits: more time to learn, less workload for teachers as slower pace, less childcare issues for parents, less bored children in long holidays
Disadvantages: may need to increase tax as it would cost a bit more to keep school buildings open & staff would have to be paid more. Less time for kids to relax I suppose..although as I said, there could be activity weeks or days which coukd break up the routine

So my plan would be:
2 weeks for summer holidays
1 week christmas
1 week easter
1 week in Nov
1 week in Feb
Who's with me?

Fair point about parents only getting x number of weeks annual leave and not being able to spend 13 weeks with their dc.

But that does not mean the child should be in school for 13 weeks. It is far too much.
They need time away from school.

YABU. I love the DC being off it's perfect just chilling out and not having to get up early and rush anywhere. I would prefer less time at school if anything especially for infant age children. School is not childcare. There are holiday clubs for that.

What, married, as opposed to the make believe organisation I work for? Can I repeat that we don't actually get paid for the holidays? Nevermind the fact that I'm usually in school doing a transition summer school during the summer holidays.

I have worked outside of teaching, before you claim that none of us know anything about 'real life'.

A bit off topic but surely teachers get paid holiday the same as all employees are entitled to? I would have assumed it was just calculated on a 39 week basis rather than a 48 one?

Who says teachers are paid 39 weeks a year? That would mean they receive no paid holidays, which is not legal.

Disadvantages: may need to increase tax

Only "may" have to? You want everyone, with children or not, to pay more tax to look after the children you chose to have?

Definitely, absolutely not. They already get very little holiday compared to some countries, especially in summer!

Mine when they were at school needed every minute of their holidays, at exam time they need to be able to recharge and revise away of a school setting. In primary school KS1 they are so tiny they need to play, not be in school!

School holidays were around before you had kids, something you should have thought about I'm afraid.

I'm a teacher....

I think my own children benefit from the hols, as I did as a child, and wouldn't want them reduced for that reason alone.

Children need the time to relax and be under less pressure.

I wouldn't mind shifting them around though to even up the lengths of the holidays, although all authorities would have to have the same pattern to keep things simple for those teaching in one authority and having kids in school in another.

Using school premises for childcare sounds good in theory - and lots of schools (mine inc) does run holiday clubs.

However, I feel for the kids who are already in school from before 8am and there til nearly 6pm everyday already, never mind then being there in the same building all day for many days in the hols.

The argument for less pressure and the ability to do things more slowly is poorly thought out. There is an expectation of pace and rigour in a classroom that is hard to maintain constantly as it is. But slow down and the children become bored.

If we were expected to have more weeks in school, the demands on teachers and children would increase as we would be expected to achieve more progress.

I think children need shorter days and more regular breaks than adults. If I was a SAHM, I would love the long holidays. But these days most families can't afford to have a SAHP, so childcare is a problem. I don't think the answer is more school, unfortunately.

Yep, let's do it. I'm skint and could do with the massive pay rise.

Maybe petiton for more holiday for parents /everyone or something, I agree that there is an issue with childcare but bunging the kids in school even more is the absolute worst idea ever.

Employees are required to have 28 days statutory annual leave. The way it's paid for is irrelevant really. So it might be worked out over 12 months but it is included.

My DC is only in reception at the moment so yeah I haven't seen the end of term tiredness yet. Also I don't work full-time so I don't need school to be my childcare, but I do know many people who find it hard & extremely expensive to cover the holidays.
Society has changed. It is normal for both parents to work now. Is it not time for schools to change too?

To the people who say that they love spending more than 6 weeks with the DC and why do you only want to spend 6 weeks with them, I assume you are sahps, because that IS the amount of time full-time working parents have to spend with their children now!

Not if you work as a teacher OP. Here you go. You too can have this wonderful cushdy life.

Is it not time for schools to change too?

Of course not. Children's needs haven't changed.

Christ - yet another teacher bashing thread, the umpteenth tonight, and from an OP who wants to spend less time with her child?

Your childcare is not my responsibility.

No, it's time for childcare to change. My DC often learnt more in the holidays via different experiences when chilled and relaxed than they did at school.

I don't work full-time so I don't need school to be my childcare

So, why do you want to spend less time with your children?

bolly I assumed you were a struggeling working full time parent.

You do not work full time and have the luxury of spending 13 weeks a year with your children??? Yet you do not want to???

Words fail me

It's a cycle. We've had dog bashing, benefits bashing, people with disabilities bashing and around we go.

YABU

But I (personally) think there could be an arguement for shortening the summer hol. It could be 4 weeks instead of 6 and the kids get an extra 2 weeks off elsewhere in the year.

I always got bored and missed my friends over the long 6 weeks