to be gutted that term finishes on the 23rd December?

[ddoherty]

The Nativity Play is on Tuesday 22nd. I was just going to keep DD off the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday but she'd be gutted to miss the play.

I really think the 23rd of December is ridiculous. That's 9 and a half weeks after half term, with no holidays or inservice days.

This is my PFB so a shock to the system! She was so tired at half term it took the whole weekend before I had my girl back. Finishing on the 23rd seems a sure-fire way to have a grumpy, overtired 5 year old on Christmas Day!

Ours have been shuffling in service days about, I have at least two different versions of term dates and have to check on the council website cos I can't remember which is the right one,

You live near me OOAOML my honeypie. They are definitely 'experimenting' with different term lengths/where to put the inservice days etc. Apparently there was a survey (which I missed) then there will be another one in a year or so before they fix them again.

Summer hols were bloody endless this year!

There were occasions in the past when schools in Glasgow finished on the 24th It was a hassle for my mum as our family tradition is to have the "main" Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and she was a teacher.

The last few days of term are always very relaxed - especially at Christmas. I don't think that 2 or 3 "extra" days compared to those that finish on the 18th is too much.

They all get the same number of days at school over the whole year.

I read today that they are going to build new schools - some of them near where the last council closed schools and we now have new 'extensions'. All those pesky families having children and messing up the system

I'm on the parent council and we had a 'consultation'.

Oh yes pretty end of term is fairly relaxed, I seem to remember when I was young we had a day or so of board games, tidying the classroom etc (and a lot of scenery painting at Christmas for plays) but now they seem to be watching DVDs for ages. Not sure what secondary is like, this is our first year with a child at high school.

I think I might be near the Edinburgh ladies. I had a consultation survey to fill in a couple of years ago. It was a variety of different things. It also did my head in last year when I was off due to elections but my high school kids were in school then I had to work a day they were off as nursery and primary were in!

The election schedule seems to be ending up with a constant cycle of being in the same week as a Monday holiday, and for those in Edinburgh there's the Friday half day as well. At one point they had in service days scheduled on the Tuesdays, so they'd be in for one day, off, then in for a half day, but thankfully they seem to have moved those.

This will be our first year with one at primary and one at secondary, and we are already getting attitude about it not being fair her brother has the day off and she doesn't.

OOMAOL - if anything it's worse at secondary!

Ds is in S4 so it might be different this year, with exams coming up but he gets most pissed off at me because I make him go into school, where he ends up watching bits of DVDs (as a period isn't long enough for the whole film) and says that the teachers don't actually expect them in.

I've told him to thole it: it's also so that if I need to ask to take him out for a few days (eg if we want to go skiing in February or next Christmas when we'll want to go to South Africa to celebrate my dad's 80th), then I can do so with a clear conscience!

Fife is off from the 18th and back on the 4th January which is a pain. I'm already onto next year when we come off on the 22nd and go back on the 9th January - much more civilised! (Teacher and parent here).

Noooo prettybird not something else for her to complain about

Oh God yeah don't start me about election weeks! Our school isn't even a polling station! (Although as so many schools are I do get that overall it makes most sense to just make that an in-service day but let's be honest, I've never let reasonability get in the way of a good rant.)

I don't mind election weeks so much. They are the only days DD gets off that DS doesn't. She moans all year about his longer holidays, forgetting the fact that she has half days on Fridays and he doesn't. Election days make her very very happy.