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?

Behind - I'm not wanting to start a sahm/wohm conversation, but the sahm lifestyle is not right for me or my family for several reasons, not purely financial. I am now p/t and intend to maintain these hours but do 5 shorter days during term-time once my DD starts school to minimise wrap around care and be there for homework, etc

Ds (8) gets less than 6 weeks holiday a year. I get 6 weeks but probably use a week of that for school related stuff. That leaves 5 weeks to spend with ds. The rest of his holidays he has to go to holiday club. Ok it's not school but it is still organised activities rather than a holiday in the true sense. It is what most working parents have to do.

Well looks like IABU then.
I like someone else's suggestion - we should ALL have 13 weeks holiday instead!

minshu that is fine I don't want that debate either. All I am saying is that there are several options available and that planning for coverage of the school holidays should be a big part of selecting an option.
And that those who chose to be a full time wohm shoudl take into account they need to cover 13 weeks holiday (and not expect teh schools to pick up for that as the op seems to ask)

bolly now you are talking

Or we could all work part time, in job share roles which means that there would be more work available and therefore less unemployment.
Win win

Children don't get enough holidays as it is, particularly for small children I think more part-time/ flexi-schooling would be a good idea. DS1 is shattered and I know we'll spend at least a week getting him back to normal before we can start enjoying these holidays. He is still 4 and that's just too young to be in school 5 days a week, 39 weeks a year, but even the September borns have been tired and ratty this half term. I've taken an extra week authorised absence for DS and I'd love to be able to take more, but our school system just doesn't seem set up to allow people to have this.

I also think homework for 4 yo's is ridiculous.

YABU. I love the school holidays. I love having my children around and enjoy their company. They are tired at the end of a long term and need a rest from school. You might think it's right that the government is discouraging families to have a SAHP, but I don't.

How bloody selfish of you to expect things to change for you, the adult. They are KIDS, they need more holidays than adults. How can you not get that?

Euphemia, schools exist to educate children, and to cater to their needs.

The school year was set up around the Christian calendar and an agricultural society. How is it relevant now, when children aren't needed for the Harvest and a huge majority profess to be atheists?

Minshu where we live there is a huge selection of Holiday clubs. Nurseries generally take school age children up to about 8 yo, then there are Holiday Clubs at Leisure Centres, plus privately-run Holiday clubs. Depends where you are though.

DD is in a holiday club this week. We booked early so we got a discount, and with discount included it's costing £124 for the week. By taking Leave separately, and with grandma having DD for a week in the summer we pay for care for 3 weeks a year. Luckily we only have the one to pay for. My colleague has 2 to pay for similar periods and is finding it hard.

I'm quite of the huge number of SAHMs on this thread tho.

YY to what Suffolk said. I am a TA. My best friend works in a pre-school. We both have school age children and cover each other's inset days, after-school training sessions and those occasions when I accompany a school trip and don't get back in time for when dd finishes school. (dd is at my school but not in my year group)
A lot of the staff in our school have friends who work in other schools so this is a pretty common arrangement.

Oh yes, brilliant idea. After all, we can hardly expect parents to actually spend anytime caring for their own children, can we?

Behind :) I'm certainly not suggesting schools pick up the slack, as I think the amount of holidays available now is about right. I just wanted to know what other people actually do in a similar situation to us. If we can afford nursery 4 days a week, I'm assuming we could afford holiday clubs here and there (hate the idea, as I too remember long weeks dossing around fighting with DB and would like my DD to spend the time with family, but that could be tricky)

Euphemia - I'm lucky to be in a job that could consider some flexibility in hours to help me (and DP - he works in a similar environment) cover holidays to some extent. When DD is older, we could also work from home from time to time, but that would not be realistic for a number of years.

Another vote for 13 weeks hols, but not wanting the pay-cut, really...

minshu, I know, the OP suggested taht!

'It is normal for both parents to work now. Is it not time for schools to change too?'

Where I live though few parents both work full time when DC are preschool/primary age, there are loads of SAHP or couples where one is part time. Is it the norm for both to work full time?

I'm not sure there are a huge number of SAHM on this thread, most are saying they work but find ways of making it work for them. I work part-time, flexitime, have a wonderful mum and DP takes leave to cover my working days where necessary. Most people I know juggle but I don't think longer school terms are the answer.

To whoever it was a few pages back who suggested that school buildings be used to provide holiday care...our local school always has maintenance/new building work organised during the summer holidays as it's not safe to do this when the children are there. If you didn't have a good chunk of weeks for this to occur-I'd think the schools would all start to fall down!

Thanks for the info / suggestions, Tallulah and Suffolk. I have a few friends with the same age kids in the area - with any luck the kids will remain friends and we can help each other out here and there.

The majority of the teachers I know are in DP's family but live too far away (~200 miles), plus their own children are older. Although DD loves her cousins, it would be too much to expect everyone to change plans to cater for her. And I wouldn't want her to be away from us for so long, I don't think...

These national statistics are 2011 so may not be up to date/accurate but 29pc of mothers worked 35 hours a week or more. However, a higher number of mothers worked part-time rather than full-time, with 37pc. Overall, 66pc of mothers are in some form of work, either part or full-time. So 34% of mothers don't work at all. So it isn't really the norm that both parents work full time then?

I feel like I barely spend anytime with ds as it is as I work pt so don't get to spend the whole of holidays with him. I'd be pretty pissed off if this was cut further just to suit people who wanted to use school as free childcare.

I find term time difficult enough to give ds genuine free time which doesn't revolve around things we have to do. At 7 years old when exactly would he get chance to be a kid?

And my choice to work pt is purely to allow more family time and we make other sacrifices to do so. Neither of us earn the average wage and I only bring home 2 days wages and we cut our cloth accordingly. I don't want extra 'childcare', I'd sooner have extra family time.

Nooooooooooo, YABU! I always felt the holidays were too short.

OP, I agree. The DC managed fine being at nursery for 46 weeks a year from 9 months old so I don't see why being at school for the same amount of time should be a big issue. DD1 is currently in reception and I'm on maternity leave but I'm coming out in a cold sweat worrying about how we will manage childcare next year. We have no family close by so can't rely on grandparents to pick up the slack. I innocently thought we could use holiday clubs but they just cover school hours so are no bloody help whatsoever. And the big thing for me is that in comparison to the wonderful and consistent care they have received at nursery, childcare options once they start school are very piecemeal which can't be good for them. During term they'll have wrap-around care before and after school (so two forms of childcare, as far as I'm concerned if you are legally responsible for my child for several hours of the day you are childcare, sorry teachers) and then there will be a variety of holiday clubs during the school holidays. Why can't there be something more consistent? I'm sure if the school year was reformed (shorter days and shorter holidays would be my preferred option) then we might get better childcare for school age children.

And don't give Gove any ideas, he'll have them all in extra Empire classes over the summer if he gets his way.