To think the schools break up far too late?

[justnotaballetmum]

They do, don't they?

It is nearly the end of July. The best weather (ha, I know, but stay with me!) has gone. It's practically August by the time they are released and distinctly autumnal.

Wouldn't it be better to break up start of July and give them a couple of extra weeks?

sporting, there's probably a cultural and generation issue at play which would be difficult to replicate now for your own children. They obviously offer good quality, reasonably priced summer camps in Portugal today as when your DH was a child. However, it's likely that most aunts and uncles and wider family would be working these days.

There was certainly more of a 'it takes a village' type of mentality to childcare when I was young. My mother was one of the few f/t working mothers I knew but before and after school I was either with my GPs or various neighbours. Communities aren't set up like that so much these days.

Yanbu

The children don't seem to do anything constructive for the last two week yet they can't be taken out of school.

Better if the last two weeks if the summer term were optional and the last week of the autumn term was optional.

In Hungary the summer holiday is 10 weeks - not unusually long amongst other countries in Europe. Plus 1 week autumn holiday, two week Xmas and 1 week Eastern holiday. We have only two terms in Hungary.

I happen to live in Britain with my children, and for me the meaningless 1--week long half breaks are the real pain. As a child I enjoyed the summer which was soooo long and lovely.

My dc get 8 weeks, finish early July and back September, and I love having all that time with them. But then I'm lucky as I'm a teacher and get all that time off with them. Then again I retrained after I had my children to move into a profession that fitted in with them and their holidays.

sportinguista Maybe when your son's older, he can go to a beach camp in Portugal?

My american friends kids all broke up weeks ago as they have a really long summer. I think that would be lovely if you are a kid.

No, end July's great - that way we in Scotland can go on hols when it's cheaper and quieter! ;-)

We are considering going back there at some point Locked so never say never. Sadly it is actually more than just everyones working, due to the economics many are now spread across Europe.

He does his King's Camps which although fairly pricey is not the most expensive and he has a great time there, would recommend it to anyone.

My DD (French middle school) broke up on 22 June. She has been away for nearly four weeks in that time and will be away for four more before going back to school on 2 September. I love the summer holidays and all the mind expanding opportunies they offer.

I think the problem is that Xmas is too late!

Spare a thought for Italians, break up 6 the June and back 20something September!

No not longer. I'm dreading no school for 6 weeks. Does that make me a bad Mum?

I think there should be some variety across the country, and each area have a couple of years early holidays, a couple later on, or something like that.

Im in Ireland and my DDs broke up mid June and go back 1st Sept

Yes, I agree! By this time of summer, I think it has turned and is feeling a bit autumny. Even if the weather is nice, you can feel the evenings drawing in a bit. It doesn't have the same lovely fresh, bright feel of mid-June, regardless of actual weather. I'm Irish and the primary schools there finish end of June, secondary a month earlier. Their days are shorter as well, but educational standards just as good as here. My dD brought her school report and attendance record home 3 weeks before the end of term, and since then they have just been doing trips, making puppets, watching videos, practising for sports day ( which was so hot it had to be cut short!!!). As a working parent of course longer holidays would be a bit of a headache, but I feel sorry that dD will never have those endless seeming weeks that I remember. If they broke up earlier I could also send her to her Irish teacher aunt and uncle for a week or two, but by the time she breaks up they are starting to gear up to go back to work, a week or so before the end of August.

YYY, get teh whole UK to adopt the Scottish system! Though I like the 'freedom' to holiday in June when much of UK is still 'in'.

I think the opposite. Six weeks is far too long, it's really unnecessary. I remember as a kid thinking that the summer holiday was never going to end! I'd rather they were just off for the four weeks of August. And if any changes do get made I think they'll be in that direction. Both parents work in a lot of families, and organizing childcare can be a nightmare.

6yo ds is bloody knackered and doesn't break up till Tuesday 26th back on 5th September - I'm a SAHM so don't have the same stress as working parents re holiday care anymore (part of the reason I stopped work was that juggling holiday care every other month was fueling my anxiety issues) - but I wish the holidays were longer, similar to France etc but that we also had better camps, residential trips ect

I'm in a primary school, and all the children, including mine, are soooo done. They're wiped. The rooms are hot and uncomfortable, and we haven't done anything truly productive since June.

July and August should be holiday time in state schools England. Private schools get it; they know the children need breaks and they have longer breaks. The children need the time off; they're not mini adults. I don't care if people have childcare issues, frankly, schools aren't there to provide childcare, they're their to educate children. And the education time is rightfully over now. They need a break and be children.

But Ewe, 4wks would do that esp if they'd had 2wks for May half term.

And how can government policy tell parents that they need to work once their child reaches school age as they then have childcare yet on the other hand there is little or no provision for working parents who do not work in schools?

And how can it be good for children when their working parents are stressed constantly about covering childcare? I've never found anywhere (we've lived around the country) that offers provision for the 13wks schools are off. Such a system is unsustainable and is only precariously working at the moment due to grandparents or one parent, usually the mother, sah, choosing a teaching career years before procreating or taking a stupidly low paid job as a TA.

As a teacher, I agree with the OP. The children aren't keen and would like to tread water for the last two weeks, but I won't let them. The last week, no matter how hard we try, is pretty pointless. Year 7 had an all day trip Tiesday, Wednesday, all day today, Thursday. One was educational, the others weren't.

Last point: Young babies, toddlers and preschoolers seem to cope fine with 50wks a year in childcare. Why can't 8yr olds? Schools could have periods of the year when it's down time rather than structured learning. I think that's the only way to go forward (many thousands of children I know including my own are in that position anyway) and it will have to go that way when it's our generation who are GPs.

It massively gets my goat when people say school is not childcare. Actually, it partially is.
When working people had to go and work in factories, and once regulations had been brought in to try and prevent child labour, children had to go somewhere during the day. Of course, the education of the masses was seen as a key benefit to society (and the future workforce) but state school has always functioned as somewhere to contain children while their parents worked.
And it's really fucking easy to parrot "school's not childcare" when you're a teacher!
I knew someone who used this line a lot. She worked term time only 2 days a week, and her lecturer husband had oodles of flexible time off in the summer