To wonder why some private schools have longer holidays?

[Notgivingin789]

DS goes to a private specialist school so this may be different.

But DS is on Easter Holidays for 3 weeks! I'm enjoying my Easter break with him, but I am desperate to go back to normality .

Is it common that some private schools have longer breaks ? DS half term was for 2 weeks and vice versa.

If your children are in private education, how did you cover childcare and so forth? as it's a pain for me as most holiday clubs finish by the time when the majority of kids go back to school.

I was at a London private day school in the 80's - we had longer holidays and standard half terms, but school was 9-4 and we never had Saturday school.

Really snazaroony? My daughters state infant school starts at 8.40 and both the 6th form college and the grammar school I taught in were 8.30.

My state school started at 8:32. That's not a typo! Yes we do get a free lunch and longer hols, but not as long as some mentioned on here, I must admit.

DS1 has a longer day- 0830-1625

My DC are at a state school (academy) and it starts at 8.30 in the morning. They have a longer day than most other state schools, finishing at 3.45pm. As a result they have correspondingly longer holidays with 9.5 weeks this summer (they are breaking up a few days before the private school that I work in does). I don't know why more academies don't do this as I believe they have the independence to be able to? I'm really looking forward to a cheaper summer holiday this year myself

One disadvantage of longer days is that when a child is off sick for a day, they miss proportionately more school than a child with shorter days, but more of them. So attendance is even more important.

DS has a week and a day for Oct/Feb half terms but 2 weeks for May. He gets 2 weeks at Easter, 2.5 weeks at Christmas and 7 weeks in the summer. It's not that much longer than state schools but the bit extra he does get is nice because we can go on the odd cheaper holiday or day out when it's less busy. The holiday saving goes a bit of the way towards the fees actually

As more and more academies challenge holiday term time dates the travel agents etc will challenge holiday prices - they will also slowly evolve to encompass changes

The pay at the private school I am is roughly equal to the state sector but slightly higher. I know a lot pay much less and a lot pay massively more though. They can literally pay what they like.

However, if you factor in the fact that my job comes with subsidised rent and heavily discounted school fees my salary is far higher than it would be in state.

When DD was at primary I would have said it was balanced by a longer day, as her school day was 8:30am to 3:45pm. This compares to my (state) primary which is 8:50am to 3:20pm.

However, she is at secondary now and her day is 8:30am to 3:30pm so not too much different to otter schools, bearing in mind she still gets a decent length lunch time.

DD gets about 3.5 weeks extra than state school - extra week at Christmas, Easter and summer, plus often doesn't go back til a few days after my (state) school goes back. She still has some INSET days.

However, can;t complain - we knew about it when we sent her there.

Dd has longer holidays too, but longer days. However they also get a reasonable amount of extra- curricular and sport in during the day, because with it being a small ability range/ no disruption/ great facilities etc they can use lesson time more productively.

It's secondary so childcare not a problem, but if she'd been at a private primary instead of state I doubt the childcare would have been harder or more expensive, because I'd have been paying an awful lot less for before and after school care.

Re teachers pay, not sure on actual figures for dd's, but been told it's higher than state. Plus massively reduced fees for staff dc. And less extra work/ stress because there's no stupid box ticking paperwork.

I have always assumed it's a bit of a money spinner. At our preprep (3-7), the school remained open throughout the holidays, but parents paid weekly and the curriculum was replaced by different kinds of 'activities'. And obviously you only bought the weeks you wanted - always a sell out. All the independents where we live do a roaring trade in holiday clubs during the vacations. Bit exhausting for the children though.

We used to get four weeks at Easter and Christmas and eight weeks in summer. My parents let me stay home alone, meeting my dad for lunch every day. But then I was a very sensible child born middle aged

We didn't have particularly long days (8.55-3.55) but we did work hard compared to the state schools I attended later. It was academically selective, with exams every year that were taken very seriously.

My DC goes to a pre-prep in west London. Hours are 8:30 - 3 pm. No Saturdays. There are optional, mostly free after school clubs. They have 9 weeks in the summer, 2 weeks in October, a month at Christmas, 3.5 weeks at Easter, and a week in May. I'm a SAHM so it's not an issue of cost, but it's exhausting. Yes I knew what we were getting into and it was the right decision but it's not like I can't complain about certain aspects.

I can't imagine it's in a young child's interest to cram it all in, and then have bonkers long holidays.
So, it must be in the business/private schools owners interest to do it this way. Probably financial.

We have 3.5 weeks off for Easter and I love having them at home. They have a really long school day, loads of activities before and after school and they're knackered by the end of term. Monday, Wednesday and Friday for him is 7.45-4.30, Tuesday he's there 8.15-6.30 and Thursday 8.15-5.30.
DS1 is doing is 11+ for the local grammar in september and I'll really miss the long break if he passes.

arethereanyleftatall we pulled our son out of a state primary for a pre-prep because he was bullied, bruised and literally broken. He had learned nothing in a year and a bit.
He has thrived in the new environment- I was worried about longer days and cramming, but they manage it in a really gentle way, he has been exposed to a huge range of learning experiences that are non-academic, and he spends plenty of time on sports and has a lot more time for art (which he suddenly loves) and drama he wouldn't say boo to a goose by the time he left his old school, yet his new school had him on stage with lines, within weeks and he was so proud he almost burst.
By the time the holidays have come around he is more than ready for them but also genuinely chuffed to bits with all they have done in the term/half term. So I think yes they work them harder, but it has all absolutely been done with their best interests at heart.
Not all prep-and pre-preps are like this and I know not all state schools are like the one we left behind, but I do think his school genuinely has the children's best interests at heart and wants them all to seize every opportunity.