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?

louisiana holiday clubs for older children tend to be 10 - 3, but the clubs we use are 9 - 5 or longer, and are offered as childcare for working parents, like nursery.

YAB very very very very UR

They are children for fucks sake, Don't have them if you can't be fucking bothered to look after them.

Sorry but children deserve a better life than school, school and more school. With a smattering of organised non school activities still in an institutional environment.

They need time at home, with adults who truly care about them, siblings who love and want to kill them and just in their rooms on their own.

You don't grow an develop if you are always told what to do or who to do it with.

DCs need time at home on their own and with the friends they invie round. Not the DCs who happen to go to their CM.

I think that what kids do at school (i.e. learning to read, write, sit still, etc) is at a very different level of intensity than at nursery (essentially supervised and guided play, with early numeracy and literacy introduced at the child's pace).

I understand the concerns about the logistics, though - hence my questions above. Not sure how having shorter school days would help?

I agree with jell where I live it is not the norm for both parents to work and it is not an affluent area. I think it is a very middle class thing that both parents work ime, and we need to realise not everyone is middle class.

The mothers I know who do work, work shifts and jobs that they can book time of easily, like retail, home tutoring, care work, or home based businesses like cake making, sewing etc.

Is this one of those threads that confuse British/English ways of doing things, with what is somehow assumed to be part of DNA?

All of the posters saying children NEED 13 weeks off school, where is the evidence for that? Is this just a case of replicating your own childhood model, or do you have anything to back this up? Childcare is a nightmare for many working parents - this doesn't mean we don't love our children, it's just the very simple maths of having 5 or 6 weeks' annual leave vs 13 weeks' school holidays. Wouldn't it be better for them, us and the economy if there was a better alignment between parents' and children's holidays? Is it a crime to suggest it?

Would it be worth perhaps looking at how they do it in other parts of the world before we reject the idea?

Apologies if this has been covered >

Would it be worth perhaps looking at how they do it in other parts of the world before we reject the idea?

Don't many other countries have even longer summer holidays though??

'it's just the very simple maths of having 5 or 6 weeks' annual leave vs 13 weeks' school holidays'

So it should be extended for childcare purposes? Even if most parents have either a SAHP or part time worker so don't need/want their child in extra hours/weeks?

What is wrong with a holiday club/childcare?

But trying to argue that children should have holidays that align with their parents annual leave is a ridiculous argument. Not everyone can get time off to align with school holidays, unless you'd like business to completely shut down at that time. So what about those parents? Somehow, they manage to organise themselves to care for their children, so why can't you?

Exactly MS.

Many parents plan and find suitable childcare or adjust their working hours around their DC.

I would like to do schooling in the way of countries that start at eight and finish at one and the kids go home for lunch and have the whole afternoon to spend with family or extra curricular activities. I think this is much better for family time and to develop other interests.

Off the top of my head i cant think of any countries where school finishes at lunchtime. A lot of europe has longer school days but extra holidays.

On balance I think i am quite happy with the system we have.

cantspel- France finish at lunch on weds, and on saturday (as they have to do sat morning to catch-up for weds pm!)

naila- how on earth would anyone work if their children finished at 1 every day?

OK, have not read whole thread, but disagree with this. In the UK, there is a sort of rhythm to school times - a few weeks at school, a week off, a few more weeks in, two weeks off etc.

I am in the US, and we now have one week off at Christmas and another week off in April (not the same time as Easter) and then thirteen weeks off in the summer. I fundamentally disagree with this approach as it means children have two lives - full on school for around 9 1/2 months, and then full on summer at home for the rest. Like I say, it just doesn't have the same nice rhythm of the UK, IMO.

montmartre
www.frenchentree.com/fe-education/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=78

would say that is not correct anymore for the majority of schools and they still get more holidays then our children.

Ah- I left France in 1999, I had no idea they'd changed it!

I like the nOrth American way of doing it. We have 2 weeks at Xmas, 1 week for spring break and 8 weeks for summer. Summer is catered for by camps. The past 2 years DS1 has been to a sports camp. There are many different types to choose from, it's a big business. His was a day camp and cost 2k for the 8 weeks. Any teacher day off is catered for by day camps also, our local YMCA does them, as well as the before/after school program. They're staffed by high energy university students.
It is one of things I will miss when we leave here.

I'm in Australia and we don't have half terms. Just 4 x 10 week terms. I think that is a bit easier for working parents.

I dont want to send my children to camp for 8 weeks every summer and pay £2k for the privilege so i dont think i would like the american system at all.

Just when do you get time for a family holiday or just a family picnic if you dont see your kids for the majority of the summer?

I put in for annual leave, same as any other working parent. And as I work 4 days I have the additional day to spend with them. I like it better than the UK system as it is less chopping and changing. I would find it stressful to have to find holiday care more frequently throughout the year and knowing DS1 he would find it very unsettling.

But if your kids are at camp for the summer then even if you are off work they wont be at home to have days away with you, or can you take them out of camp and then return them after your break?

And at £2k a pop surely it is only the more middle class american who can afford a summer camp or is there free ones for low income families?

We try to work out when we will go on holiday and I don't book camp for those weeks. They font have to go for the full time. There are cheaper ones around, the Y is 100/week. I think there is help for lower income families too. The overnight camps are even more pricey, probably not something we could afford without hard saving and forgoing a family holiday. But mine are only small so it's not a consideration for us.

I'm talking CAD by the way, so the Y would be 60quid a week, from 8am to 6pm. When DS goes there for the odd day they have a great time. Swimming, library visit for story or movie, baking, art, games, park if its sunny. They've even taken them bowling, all included in the price.

OP

Some parents work nights/shifts weekends.

Should schools be open 24 hours a day?