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?

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?

X posted with this, agree completely.

Yeah, but childminders are a lot cheaper if it's just after school.

Move to Scotland. We finished more than 3 weeks ago, flew from Newcastle saving £1500 on our hols!! #smugface

My children both enjoy school and are bored a lot in the holidays.

If you're a teacher the holidays are no problem, but you still need childcare in term-time
provided your job and your children are at schools within the same county!

If you're a teacher the holidays are no problem.

I'm a teacher. My children have just turned 5 and 8. If I take one week of no "work work", when we'll be going away, I have approximately 3 hours of work to do, mostly at my computer, every day of the holidays, to prepare for next term, not including reading. I tend to do as much of this as I can before the children wake up in the morning so it's not too much of a problem, and they are old enough to leave me in peace and read or play quietly by themselves sometimes. At the weekends, I can get more done as my husband is home and can entertain the children.

I return to school part-time on 10th August and full time on 17th August. The children return on 1st September. I also finished 4 working days after them.

I would never complain about our family's situation; in fact, it suits us down to the ground, and I consider myself very lucky to spend the holidays at home, however, I felt the need to point out that teachers do often require childcare during the holidays, as well as during term-time.

Scottish schools break up much earlier

Soupersal, surely there would be no more than a week's difference, 2 at most, and unless your partner is also a teacher and has also chosen to teach in a different authority then they should be able to cover it.
But if you're a single parent, as a few posters on this thread are and you have 5wks annual leave then it's very difficult to cover 13wks. Even if you're lucky enough to have a good summer club locally who will take your child for the full 6wks, that still leaves 7wks which clearly 5wks doesn't cover. It also usually means no summer holiday as you can't possibly use a wk in the summer when you need to use clubs whilst they're running and they done run through the other holidays.

But not 13wks worth, locked!
And you are at home with them even if you're working during half terms and at Christmas.
Can you not see how it is virtually impossible for many people. Those 13wks in education and the typical 5wks outside of education simply don't reconcile.

Nobody is suggesting teachers are slack or don't work hard or don't often work though the holidays.

Soupersal, surely there would be no more than a week's difference, 2 at most, and unless your partner is also a teacher and has also chosen to teach in a different authority then they should be able to cover it.

A friend had this situation. The half terms were always different weeks, Easter and Xmas were different and there was a 2 week difference in the summer because one of her children's schools had all 5 inset days in the last week of term. Pretty sure her husband was a uni lecturer with completely different holidays again!

I teach and am in favour of the summer holiday starting on 21st June (summer Solstice) and last until 21st December (winter solstice)

Hi Propertyquandry,

You are at home with them even if you're working during half terms Our school doesn't have half-terms.

Can you not see how it is virtually impossible for many people. Yes.

Nobody is suggesting teachers are slack or don't work hard or don't often work though the holidays. I don't think anyone has suggested that. The comment to which I was responding, or on which I was elaborating was, If you're a teacher the holidays are no problem.

As you have no half terms I'm guessing that you teach in a boarding or residential placement school. Or the independent sector?;
I think the comment was directed at those teaching in mainstream state schools. And as they make up the vast majority of teachers in the uk, it was possibly reasonable, or at least understandable to refer to 'teachers' as a collective group. Although I fully take your point that not all teachers fall into this category.

It might sound hellish to some, but our local school (primary in the US) finished June 9th and children return to school August 31st. My eldest (almost 5) goes to a camp in the mornings run by school, and in the afternoons we swim, go to the beach, have friends over, go to free outdoor music concerts etc.

It must be nightmarish for families with two working parents (probably fifty percent of my son's class) to cover the costs of childcare/make arrangements with grandparents etc. but for SAHP, it is (mostly) relaxing, and obviously the perpetually warm weather helps a tremendous amount.

It's not just the cost that's the issue, stopgap. It's the sheer lack of provision.

Many parents cannot afford what's on offer. I'm fortunate that I can. That doesn't make it any less stressful when you know the only cover is 4 or 5wks of the summer and nothing the rest of the time.

I get that, propertyquandary and it's a shame.

My local town has fancy day camps that cost thousands of dollars for the whole summer, or the town has recreation centre-run camps that are really affordable, offering all-day programs in everything from robotics to tennis.

August can be a problem, though. Most camps run the first week or maybe two, but then nothing until school starts, as there is an assumption that a great chunk of people will be on vacation.

I think it would be better if the school year was broken into more even chunks, rather than having a very long summer break. More terns, of shorter duration, with evenly spaced holidays.

I find it's more the maaaaaasive break that is annoying. 4 weeks would be alright, but 6 or 7? Too much. It'd be nice if the 'spare' weeks were spread out over the rest of the year - a bit more at Christmas and Easter, for example.

If it came originally from agriculture and needing to help with harvests or whatever, that would make sense. I wonder how useful that is nowadays? (Farm owner friends of mine seem to make use of the kids at all times of year. After all, there's always work to do, isn't there!)

I think that all depends on who you ask, my mum works full time so has to find at least 3 weeks of childcare for my sister every year. Because they live in a very rural area there are no summer clubs, so it cost her a lot. Probably the equivalent of what she earns.

it cost her a lot. Probably the equivalent of what she earns.

Yes, there are a lot of people who have to work "for nothing" (or pay to work) during the holidays in order to earn anything for the rest of the year.

Ilovemymonkeys, that's very kind of your mum but what it effectively says is that if, for whatever reason, your mother was unable to provide those 3wks of childcare then your sister would have no option but to give up her job. People must see what a ridiculously precarious situation that is.

Property I think the sister is a child, not a parent herself.