... to wonder if the school holidays really have to be so long

[Dieu]

Hi all. I should say at the start that I am a former secondary school teacher, so this is most definitely not intended as a school or teacher bashing thread!
I guess I'm fortunate in that, despite being a single parent, I generally work term-time (with some holiday work) and can take my kids along with me. However I do wonder how other parents, particularly those who work full-time, manage everything. You need a medal!
I think the current model is rather outdated. The days of mothers being at home every day to look after the kids, while said kids play outdoors all day, are over.
Many of the parents at my daughters' school seem to be able to work flexibly, but it has to be difficult for those who have no room for manoeuvre where their places of work are concerned. Several families I know have to take separate 'holidays' from work, in order to cover the long summer break. Holiday care can be very expensive.
No judgement, I would just like to know what others think.

I agree you could lop a bit off the summer holidays but for goodness' sake either sort out the terms so that you don't have basically six terms.

Honestly, it's not a three-term system because apart from the summer it goes term-week off - term - two weeks off - term - week off - term - two weeks off.

I don't think kids get decent 'down time' at half term and families don't really get time to go away, particularly longer breaks (eg to visit far away family or friends; do a more adventurous holiday) at any point except the summer. And I think it can make formal term time working more difficult as it feels so piecemeal to an employer.

In VIC Au we have a five and half-week summer break and three two-week breaks: Easter; end of June to July and end of Sept to Oct. The terms can be a short eight weeks or long at 11. So, four terms.

It works out OK, better than the one-week half term hols in the UK.

Families still take long hols, weeks and weeks, to visit rels in the northern hemisphere. It's taken for granted because of the distances and Au being composed almost entirely of furriners - of which I am one.

Echt, you're making the idea of moving back home even more enticing...

I'm dreading DS starting school. We do a three week holiday to Australia every year to see my family, usually at Easter because it works well for everyone and the weather is nice.

I'm not looking forward to giving up the only hint of British summer so that I can freeze in Australia during the summer holidays - but the other alternative seems to be going at Easter or similar when, once you take out travel time, we'd get around 10 days at home.

Somehow, Australia seems to do better than the UK in the PISA rankings despite the much-despised term time holidays....

This would probably never work because organising it and having enough staff ect to make it work would be far too difficult but it would sort out the school holiday price hike, length of holiday periods and not have all parents going after the same periods of holiday from work.

A week off at xmas and a week off at Easter for school hols

Schools open all year round (except xmas/Easter).

Two teachers and a ta per class so that one teacher can be doing planning, be on holiday, off sick ect and classes not be negatively affected.

Children have to be in school for X number of weeks per year. You can book leave at the start of the school year as long as your child does the required number of weeks.

Education should be tailored to the individual so if they miss a week or two they won't be disadvantaged for the rest of that learning topic

No idea how you would work it in reality though :-(

I'd like to see a two week May half term (I know Scotland and NI don't have May half term at all) and less time off in the summer. The weather is generally better at the end of May than it is in August. Though perhaps not this year!

When I was at school you got 3 weeks at Easter but I think a week was taken off for the INSET days.

YABU. In Ireland, 12 year olds have 13 weeks off for the summer. It could be a lot worse.

Children need a decent break in the Summer. Comparing their needs to adults is wrong, in my view. That being said, I think the three months that teenagers get in Ireland is far too long. Most of them, particularly the ones who are too young to legally get a summer job, just spend it hanging around, bored and driving everyone else mad.

we only have one week off together in the summer, the rest of our annual leave is take seperately. I generally end up having to work nights and weekends all summer which means no weekend days off together either . The only alternative would be to pay expensive childcare for two kids. Having moaned about that though I do like the summer holidays , perhaps just a week or so shorter would be ok.

Sorry if this has already been mentioned somewhere up thread, but isn't there evidence that shows that the most disadvantaged students fall further behind their peers over the long holidays? Eg because their parents aren't taking them to museums and galleries. Not to mention the fact that children who rely on FSM might well not be adequately fed during the holidays

I do enjoy the holidays but I work part time and have excellent free childcare in place. But I am completely resentful that teachers have so much annual leave. No-one else in the public sector has so much leave, plus every single weekend off, bank holidays and home by 4pm if they want to be.

12 weeks here in the US. 12 of 'em. If I didn't work from home, we would be absolutely stuffed/bankrupt paying for summer camp and activities or a nanny.

How horrendous is to treat 4 year olds as full time factory/office workers with length of holidays designed for adults! In many countries kids do not even start school before the age 7! Have a pity on little darlings sweating away at school during hot weeks of July doing absolutely nothing, imho. Well, school is for learning, not childminding. Having said that, I appreciate that working parents are in need of childcare. But this need should not be pushed on those who do structure their lives in such a way that their children do not have to attend the school during the summer time to be looked after. Firstly, I hope, everybody will agree that children learn in and out of school and that many extracurricular skills are learned OUTSIDE the school. Secondly, I hope, everybody will agree that whatever needs of parents might be, we are now looking at what is the best for children. Children, especially primary school children, should have a short day and plenty of free time. Obesity is on the rise because, inter alia, children are spending 6 hours indoors mostly sitting down. I have been thinking about the length of holidays for several years and came to the following idea. Why not have 10th of June to 3rd of September break for all subject to their achievements. In other words, if my child has achieved whatever is required by the National standards I am free to take him/her out of school for a whole summer. However, if the child is behind, he stays. In addition, why not to have schools open up to 3rd of August as camps. Children can stay, but will be taught music, PE, art, reading, cooking, chess, etc. Children who are behind must, of course, be taught the curriculum. This way, I am sure, everybody would be satisfied. The teachers might disagree to work extra couple of weeks but it should be reflected in their salary or parents should pay something towards those 2 extra summer weeks. But parents with children who are gifted and talented (they need a lot of time to do what they do and would gladly use free time to develop their talents rather than sit indoors at school during hot days doing nothing), or children who would like to visit grandparents and relatives in UK or abroad (invaluable experience, imho, can't be matched to useless summer months at school), or children (teenagers) who would like to work or learn a trade can be released from this forced duty of school attendance. In addition, academic results of the majority of private schools are miles higher than local comprehensives. However, they study LESS (at least 5 weeks less) per year than state schools. And boarding school children study 7-8 weeks less than state schools. Results are, however, much better. So it is not the length of terms but quality of teaching and different activities they can do. They can also catch up with something by revising as they have more free time.

Something to consider is that many local authorities use the long summer break to carry out building maintenance on schools that cannot be carried out in term time for safety reasons.

If we didn't have the long holiday, schools would have to close in term-time much more randomly for maintenance and this would be much more difficult for working parents to accommodate, as less predictable.

Summer holidays in Canada are 10 weeks long. Now THAT is long (and American schools have more time off than we do).

However, aside from 2 weeks at Christmas and one in March, that is the only break - not the 6 weeks in, 2 out European model.

I think the problem is that there is no staggering of school holidays by area, so that some years you would have different times from others. Having longer breaks for Christmas or Easter and shorter summer breaks would probably not go down well either.

Interestingly a local free secondary school only has 5 weeks off for the summer. I suspect once the government breaks the stronghold of the teaching unions whereby the vast majority of teachers will be employed in academies and free schools then school holidays will also be revised shortened

I don't think children should have less time off, but I do think the summer holidays should be shorter (4 weeks) and the extra weeks put elsewhere to make the terms more even.

whois yes, same here. take a few days off summer and add them to Oct and Feb half terms. We always need more down time in the darker months.

As a teacher I wouldn't mind if our holidays were reduced as I could get a pay rise! Maybe then I could afford to go on holiday (cue tiny violins)

YABU. Schools should be run for the benefit of children, not for the convenience of parents. They are there to provide education, not childcare.

I think the summer holidays are a fine length. The problem is as an adult in paid employment I don't get enough paid leave. I'm exhausted by the end of the school terms & cod do with some of the time off too :)

My son has been counting down the days to the summer holidays and I'm sure some of our teachers have been too, I don't think the summer holidays should be shorten surely every adult who decided to become a parent knew children get X amount of weeks off its not like it's something new. School isn't childcare it's education.

I think a month off in the summer - so all of August - would be fine. Six weeks is a long time. Tired children could recharge in four weeks. Six seems a bit unnecessary.

Love how the expense of childcare and not the benefit of education is the main force of the debate here. You realise that if they shortened summer holidays prices of family holidays would rise, the companies don't put them up "just cause" its to do with supply and demand. Lots of people want holidays then, there is only so much supply. Childcare costs would likely go up to.

School is not childcare, my pupils are ready to finish, year 10s who look knackered are not learning much, year 12s who've done exams are tired out too, the year 7s who've done one of the hardest academic years they will ever encounter are crawling to the end.

Also the cost to the government must be taken into account, you want teachers to work longer hours/more days? Got to pay them more. Sure some Tories on here will say just pay them the same, but when the holidays are one of the few benefits a job which is pretty high impact then where will teachers come from in the future? There is already a recruitment crisis.

Leave the holidays alone/