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?

YANBU. If I hear another teacher say 'oh I work soooo hard, am exhausted etc' I will scream. We ALL do. It is modern life. The idea that any profession has the luxury of 13 weeks holiday a year in this day and age is frankly ludicrous. Oh, and this disingenuous bit about them not getting paid for holidays is just that. That is simply a contract anomaly which could easily be re- written. 30k a year or whatever is 30k a year however you spread it out.
Let me reiterate, IME teachers do a fantastic job and deserve all the praise they get. But ... so do many other professions in society and yet if they got 13 weeks hol a year, some industries would cease to function. Oh, and if some teachers reckon that reducing hols will lead to a mass exodus from the profession, well, I will believe that when I see it.
I know I will get flamed massively for this post because in many people's eyes, teachers - like nurses - walk around with a halo above their heads. But let's have some honesty for once on this subject instead of the usual left wing cliches.

Sounds like a great plan, I assume you will be the first to be taking your family away during the two weeks of summer holiday that all children get. I for one would love to visit a popular tourist destination during those two weeks.

Erm it's not just about teachers.The children need holidays.

I really despair.

Does anybody care about what is best for children these days or are they just a huge inconvenience?

My 8 and 9 year olds are exhausted as it is by the time they break up each and every time.Many children are in daycare before and after school on top,doing a 10 hour day. They will also often have homework too.

And you want to take their holidays away too-nice!

I for one would be HEing if holidays got meddled with.

he he at me being a left wing cliche

I can assure you Simon that I wouldn't work an extra 13 weeks a year for free. Pay me and I might, only might mind.

I know lots of people who work as hard as teachers. Lawyers, doctors etc. They also earn considerably more than I do. Also I think teacher only talk about how hard they work because people often assume their day ends at 3.30.

I agree with Mr tumbles re perhaps looking at ways of utilising school premises; not necessarily for free, but providing reliable, fun and sporty activities for local children (not necessarily just the ones at the school)

I also agree with building in unstructured time; one of my sadnesses about working full time is that my DD will not be ale to enjoy long lie-ins and days wandering about with friends in the open air the way that we did when we were little; instead she'll be dragged from organised activity to organised activity at an early our of the morning.

Simontowers1 Teachers do not have 13 weeks holiday a year.

And I could not/would not do their job.

It works the way it is, children get exhausted too - they need the regular breaks.

Ohnosnow that is heartbreaking.

Really as a society maybe we should just forget the children bit,they're clearly more trouble than they're worth.

But farewell, this is the reality for lots of children; shouldn't we be looking to make this as good an experience as possible?

Of course, if the OP hadn't given up her "aspiration" to be a Primary School teacher, childcare wouldn't be a problem.

It wouldn't be for free though Humphrecobbler. Contracts would be re-written.

if they got 13 weeks hol a year, some industries would cease to function.

You do realise that education isn't an industry don't you?
It simply isn't comparable.

How about looking at this from the other way around.

What if jobs had the same holidays as schools? (But kept the same pay)

I do agree though that school holidays and the school day need to correlate more, especially as more parents work. Maybe they could both change and meet somewhere in the middle, that would be good.

Yabu - but I would take two weeks off the 6 week break. One could be added to the May/June half term - 2 weeks then would be great - and much more suitable for visiting Southern Europe! The other week I'd add to October half term. Kids find autumn term far too long and are often sickly. A proper break would really help.

And you'd still have 4 weeks left in the summer!

It wouldn't be for free though Humphrecobbler. Contracts would be re-written.

It would only not be free if pay was increased accordingly. Rewriting a contract won't do that.

Yes because they're such lovely places for children to spend every living moment in.

If they stayed overnight no inconvenience for parents what so ever!

Soup dragon the current contracts are not fit for purpose. They have been continually protected by over powerful unions. Things need to change. Society is changing.

Oh no from birth,you could drop em in on the way home from hospital then just have em back on a Sunday(mum and dad obviously need Sat to themselves)all spruced up in designer clothes.

I've suggested that before Suffolk.
That way, not only could children be educated and raised properly, they would be well-fed, cared for and have a decent set of morals.

It's far to dangerous to leave the upbringing of sensitive young minds and bodies to whichever random pair decided to breed.

Well said squarepebbles. I think that I would HE rather than have my DCs in the classroom for that length of time with exhausted children and teachers.
Schools are NOT about childcare-they happen to operate at a time that is convenient for working parents but they are for educating the child and what is best for the child.
Holiday prices in school holidays would shoot up!

As an aside, I have two close friends who are teachers and used to live with one. My observations are based on rl rather than what I read in the papers.

Simontowers, the fact remains that you can't expect someone to work 6 weeks more and not pay them. You can't just rewrite the contract.

Would your close friends be ok with working 6 weeks longer with no more pay?