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?

I am the first one to say teachers need a reality check in relation to pensions however sorry the needs of children have to come first.

I do not want miserable,ill children all year taught by exhausted burnt out teachers who have had no time to catch up.

Well I disagree soup dragon. You can rewrite a contract although obviously it would never happen.

You're being ridiculous.

Soup dragon they would be mightily pissed off. They know where I stand and disagree with me. That said, one of them admits readily that he has a cushy number and regular texts me at wrk in the summer holidays to wind me up.

As a term time worker, I say to the OP YADBU!

We have along summer break as the schools don't have A\C so they are at home June11-Sept 10. Howevr they get about 10 days at xmas, 2 days in Feb and the odd day IF the festive day falls on a school day. They have had 4 days at Easter( plus sat/ sun- so 6) and its not enough...They were starting to relax wind down and now they are back again.- no real time to go anywhere of do anything .

Simon I have a dp who works in the private sector and fumes over public sector pensions etc however I was a teacher pre dc and he saw first hand how exhausting it was and how exhausted our dc are.

I don't agree with the NUT wanting teaching hours cut however sorry meddling with holidays is not on.Not one little bit.

More and more is expected from children these days and lets face it if primary kids have had a bellyful of Gove's new history curriculum all term they'll need 6 weeks to recover from that alone!

I love the school hols!

I work part time and flexibly, so I'm lucky enough to be able to juggle my hours so that DD goes into holiday club a few days and I take a few days off with her.

And she needs the break from school by the end of term/half term(she's reception). We get chance to go on special trips, or see out-of-school friends or just veg.

And I know teachers' pay is for 39 weeks, but the ones at our school have been in this week doing jobs around the school, tweeting home study ideas (eg nature hunts etc) and letting us know what they're planning for next term. Love the teachers at our school!

You're having a laugh if you think teachers get 13 weeks of holiday. The Feb holiday was spent marking Y11 CAs and Y8 CATS and planning and this holiday the whole Eng dept has been in school doing extra revision sessions. I've still got 30 essays to mark and planning to do. I don't want sympathy, praise etc but a reality check for some people wouldn't go amiss! Plus, if you don't want to spend time with your kids, put them in childcare. I'm a teacher and have kids and I love having my children in the holidays. Childcare is already paid for and covers the year but I wouldn't want to put them in during the hols and only do so when I need to go into school during the holidays.

Simontowers1 the reason the pay is so much lower than other graduate jobs with similar requirements from a qualification perspective (4 years at uni, good grades at A-level etc) is those 13 weeks of unpaid holiday per year. My husband is a shop manager. He earns more than I do and he doesn't have a single A-level. The difference? He has 4 weeks of paid holiday a year, so he gets paid for 52 weeks, and I get paid for 39. Take away the holiday and you need to either pay a salary that reflects 52 weeks of work, or the pay per hour will become ridiculous for a graduate job and no-one would ever want to be a teacher! Why do a job where you take home work every night and work at least one day at the weekend, for the same salary as a shop manager, where you go in, do your job, and leave - evenings and weekends are yours?!!

Apart from that, the children need the break. They are overtired by the end of every half term.

It makes me sad to hear all the working parent bashing here - before we had ds, dh and I thought that he'd be able to spend some time with grandparents in the holidays. Unfortunatly, mine are too ill and dhs too unwilling so we cover it all by having a week together per year and using holiday club for all that we can't cover with our leave.

So, sorry, ds does spend a lot of time at school. And it would be nice if some people thought about the fact that it is the reality for many and there might be ways to make it work better for all children.

And teaching would never be an option for dh or I - we'd both be rotten teachers!

I think the holiday system does need to be revisited. Kids do get tired and need breaks but I'm not sure the way we have it now is best. I would prefer to have the holidays more evenly spread out - perhaps move to 4 terms instead of 3. I like Henrittas idea upthread!

Ideally I would like inset days to be grouped together so that there is child care available. I can currently get some form of child care for half term but nothing for inset days!! Id o understand the need for them, they are just such a pain. Some are mondays, sonme are Fridays etc. Year before last our school decided to have 2 extra inset days as they had not used any snow days [hmmm] (that to me WAS taking the mick a bit!!)

zirca I couldn't have put it better!

From what I've read here Simontowers, if I knew you i think I'd send messages to wind you up in the holidays too. Sounds like you might do plenty of winding up of your own the rest of the time.

Op, can you imagine cutting 6 weeks of holiday away from the teenagers in this country who already have to stay at school until they're 18! My, they'll be motivated and hard working, wont they?! None of them will be hot, disinclined, bolshy, argumentative or prone to skiving? Before you say-but they can do ' fun activities like music and games'-think it through. One field, one playground-how many children? These activities need just as much planning/resources/adult time than your 'book work'

How would you have felt as a child-to lose half your holiday to more work because some parents couldn't be arsed to look after their own children?

Well it makes me sad that the needs of children are being overlooked by adults. Surely the way to go is work needs to be more flexible during holiday times? Children are not spare parts, they need time with their parents too.

Maybe teachers should pop in and cover parents' jobs during the holidays?
Parents could be at home, with a mobile.
Or the SAHMs could do some work experience whilst the working parents looked after two or three sets of children?

Can we please stop the assertions that only teachers work weekends and holidays? Pretty much every working parent - teachers included- I know works outside their office hours. CMOT is right, there's no need for the working parent bashing. And we're all exhausted, not just teachers. That applies regardless of what you get paid (and whoever said lawyers get paid more, I bet you've never been out to work on legal aid rates doing crime or family work).

But yes, children need holidays. DD is shattered by the end of term. Maybe the amount of holidays could be retained, but with flexibility as to when, for teachers and children alike? Block out core points in the year, such as revision and exams and limit the total time period eg 3 weeks max. Whilst education isn't technically an industry (but there is a private sector and a very active tutoring market), there are some ways it could learn lessons from the average workplace.

Sadly Suffolk that is not the reality for the majority who on top of crap pensions,pay freezes,low holidays,zero bonuses etc have zero security ie if you don't like it you're out.

However that has nothing to do with children and teachers needing holidays.

Yes when my dp has a project release he has to be in in his office overnight to check it goes through bug free-for no extra pay,and he has to be in the office for work the next day.

He has a good job though with better conditions eg pensions,holidays than most so he ain't complaining.

This is such a contentious topic and these kind of threads always seem to end up bashing either parents/teachers/other jobs which is a shame. I do agree kids need down time away from school, and do not agree with the OP's suggestion of 6 weeks off out of 52. But, IMO 6 weeks summer (nearer 7 with inset days either side in my experience tbh) is too long, they just get soooo bored. I think the holiday system could do with a re-vamp - but not because of childcare issues! Yes childcare is expensive and it is difficult finding the extra cash or time off from work to cover holidays/inset days but if you have kids that's the way it is. It's not like the current holiday system has just been introduced!

I suggest all the teachers who supposedly don't get paid for their holidays might want to take legal action against their employers. After all everyone is entitled to 28 days paid holiday per year.

Or could it be that it is, like Simon says, an anomaly in your contracts.

I know which my money is on. Surely teachers don't actually think that everyone is stupid enough to believe they aren't paid for holidays

Yabu. Children deserve a good break from attending school. They work hard and need down time. Some families have planned so that one or both parents are around for holiday times. Children benefit from spending quality time with their parents. Our holidays are full of trips out and enjoyable excursions. It is a treat, a reward and an incentive for my girls to keep doing so well at school in term time.