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?

If the government gets their way, summer holidays will only be 4 weeks long if that! And to think that most of the world has at least 8 - 12 weeks off!

isn't it such a shame though than one parent, and let's face it it's usually the mother, has to give up their career to cover school holiday childcare? There must be a better way.
ittooshallpass, It must be so much more difficult as a lone parent.

August autumnal? Where do you live? Round here breaks up 14th July and back 1st September. Far too long if you ask me and I think would be better spread throughout the year a bit more, or parents able to book off the equivalent!

Blimey, Treacle, I only actually have 2 and even they're a bit hit and miss!

The leaves start turning mid August, at least in Yorkshire.
Anyhoo, I don't think holidays should be longer. God no. Just earlier like in Scotland.

summer holidays will only be 4 weeks long if that!

that will be horrendous. It will also get so much more expensive, if you only have a short break, then the pressure to take them on a nice holiday will be huge. With even more demand over a shorter time, the prices will rocket. It will become a real struggle to take them on holiday.

To address another point, nothing wrong with giving kids some homework or project during a very long summer break. Again, it works in other countries. Why not copying what they are doing right. I can already hear the chorus "kids can't afford to go on holiday, too bad". May I ask why you had children if you are intend on making their life as miserable as possible?

Again, regarding secondary, I think it is extremely important they start having summer job early. Absolutely out of question if they only have 4 weeks off, when will they have a break?

I don't understand your post at all shark. What does it have to do with whether people can afford a family holiday? Thu either can or they can't. And what's that about giving kids projects in the holidays working in other countries? Eh? Works for what? Where?

Having kids isnt about taking them on nice holidays lots of families dont go on holiday is a good parent the 1 who takes them away for a fortnight in August? Oh and where are these jobs for young teenagers during the holidays ?

Just think. If the kids are off school for 2 months 1/2 or 3 months, people will travel at different times. It is extremely unlikely that everybody will go away for the entire 3 months. If the holidays are reduced to 4 weeks, everybody will go away at the same time, so the prices will go up during peak time. That is happening already but with reduced holiday it will get worst. You already need to book flight tickets more than 6 months in advance if you have a large family, we'll end up by having to book 2 years early. People are moaning that holidays are too long, but they book their holiday during school term. It makes no sense.

What about giving kids projects in the holidays?
Same thing that some of our libraries organise: reading competition, or some math or history homework, a geography project if you are going abroad. Kids I know who live abroad all have some kind of summer homework, taking them one hour or so everyday for a couple of weeks, topics and level depending on their age obviously. I haven't really heard from this here, but that's not a new thing. Have you never heard of that?
Summer holiday are the best time to encourage your kids to read when it's not something they do naturally. If they only have a few weeks off, all this is lost.

How does "most of the world" handle the childcare issue Poisonous Smurf? this is what really interests me.

Most people go at the same time currently shark. I don't think anyone is suggesting fewer holidays per year, just spread out more.

If people had more time off in May/June or October, they might go then instead - southern Europe and the Canaries are much more pleasant then anyway, many people find these areas too hot in August.

Lack of a summer holiday abroad is not a miserable childhood - that's a ridiculous expectation and I say that as someone whose standard childhood holiday was a week at Butlins in May - I was over 30 before I went abroad on holiday.

I've often wondered why the UK summer holidays are short compared to most other countries. It can't be weather-related because colder places like Finland get about 10 weeks. It was 32C here a couple of days ago, and all the children came out of school looking hot and sweaty. (When I was at school on a hot day the boys could take their ties off - only the boys had ties - but they don't seem to do that at DS's primary school). So I think it might be good to break up a bit earlier rather than be stuck in a hot and stuffy classroom in late July.

However, the weather is so unpredictable. You may or may not have hot weather any time between May and September.

There's a few LAs across the country that have 2wks half term in May which means a week in May and one in June. If all authorities did this, a great many parents would opt to go on holiday then. We certainly would! It is cooler and a easier time for many working parents to get the time off.

Ours finished july 1st & go back August 22nd, so far they have had hardly any nice summer days weather wise.

Shark I'm not an idiot, I know what homework is. How is it related to your argument that holidays should be longer?

Are you suggesting you can compensate for children getting behind academically through the longer summer holidays with a bit of homework? Because many posters have already proved that to not be the case

shark are you in the UK?

My DC are not going on holiday this summer. They live in what many would describe as a mansion, with acres of land and woodland to play in, treehouse, zip wire, trampoline... Are you truly saying that I am making my children's lives miserable and shouldn't have had them just because we are not going on holiday this year?

Shock horror we haven't actually even been out of the house/garden for the past week. Presumably that's child cruelty?

My LA proposed changing the school year so that there were four terms. There would have been a four week break in the summer and more time in each of the other holidays (obviously holiday timings were shifted slightly). The overall number of school days/holiday days was exactly the same. There was a significant amount of research done which proved that this was very beneficial to children, particularly those in deprived areas who do not necessarily get the same level of support/attention during the holidays. The research showed better academic retention and therefore overall academic improvement since the teachers could move on quickly to new work. It showed reduced levels of petty crime and reduced prank/nuisance calls to emergency services. It also showed fewer emergency interventions from social services since the children in need of support had greater/more regular access to a responsible independent adult (i.e. a trusted teacher). The long holidays apparently cause a problem in this respect with some children having very limited access to food for example over the long holidays.

Parents were generally supportive.

Teachers kicked off because of losing the long summer holiday

I would much rather see a system like that redhat as both the summer holidays and the autumn term are far too long.

Four terms a year. 2 weeks off midwinter, 3 weeks off in June/July. 2 weeks off at the end of September/beginning of October and 2 weeks off at the end of March/beginning of April. Don't tie this to the movement of Easter. Four half term holidays of one week each in August, November, February and May. So still 13 weeks of holidays, but spread more evenly throughout the year.

Summer projects? They'll be done by the middle class families already offering regular input to their kids. Not by children living in deprived circumstances (both financially and emotionally)
Last year there was a project near me which was feeding children lunch during the summer holidays because parents couldn't afford the extra cost of lunch for their children during those 6wks. During term time those children received FSM but there's no such provision for those children during school holidays.

bibbitybobbityyhat
How does "most of the world" handle the childcare issue Poisonous Smurf? this is what really interests me.

I can only speak for Spain where we live. Christmas holiday runs from immediately before Christmas (e.g. 22nd Dec.) to 7th Jan. to include the 3 Kings festival celebrated on 5th/6th Dec. Kids seem to spend the period with their extended families so shared among aunts, uncles, older cousins, and grandparents either who don't work or on their days off. Some businesses close between Christmas and New Year or even Christmas and 3 Kings and many allow people to work from home where possible (obviously not a solution for those in retail, hospitality, emergency services).

Easter is 1 week involving 3 days of childcare as holy Thursday and good Friday are bank holidays. Again, children go to extended family or parents may have the time off as businesses close for the week or allow remote working.

There are no half-terms.

Summer is long. In a state school it can be almost 3 months, I believe this year they broke up on 17th June and will return on 12th September.(The school where I work and my children attend is independent so the holidays are slightly shorter - 1st July to 28th August). Many employers, who can do so (i.e. office type work) offer summer hours where employees typically work from 8am to 3pm with just one short break. Children tend to spend late June and all of July in summer camps of which there are MANY, just mornings, all day, stay overnight and secondary aged children even go away to camps in the south of France or Portugal or other parts of Spain for a week or longer. Otherwise they're with extended family, childminders or nannies. Often children will go to their grandparents to cooler parts of the country while parents stay in the cities to work in July, coming to visit the children at weekends (it's very typical to have a family house somewhere near a beach or in the mountains or countryside). In August, as much as possible, everyone is off work, although most couples I know arrange it so that they each take 2 different weeks off and then spend all of the weekends together as a family. Often people are working remotely too.

In general, the Spanish people I know and know of tend to go on holiday within Spain (or Portugal or south of France) and there are very good road and rail links so it's possible to be working in Madrid all week then get to where your family is in a cooler area or at the beach within 3 hours or so on a Friday afternoon, then return late on a Sunday or even at dawn on Monday.

All in all, grandparents and extended family are HEAVILY relied on. It's also quite typical to have a part-time housekeeper/nanny who fills in for all those bits of the day when parents aren't around (e.g. between school pick-up and returning from work). Summer camps are the norm for July, and I'd say employers are generally more geared towards the needs of parents.

Hope this is helpful.

LockedOut, a system that relies so heavily on GP would be even more disastrous here especially for families like mine. My children don't have any living GP. But the thing is that all 4 worked full time long hours professional jobs too. So even if either of our mothers were still alive they wouldn't be in any position to offer childcare.

Likewise, I doubt either DH or myself will be in a position to offer it to ours.

Yes LockedOut, we've seen that with children of DH family in Portugal. Some of the summer camps are low cost or free but extended family is important too. He was always cared for by aunts and uncles and grandparents as well as organised stuff. We saw all the kids on their summer camps this year at the beach, I wish I could have that for DS, but at least he does attend a camp here and it's good.

Ds is more than half way through his summer hols here in Scotland. It has rained pretty much every day, except the last 3 days which we spent in London. That was the full extent of his/our summer holiday. He goes back to school mid August at which point the sun will probably come out.

Please no longer for holidays as he liked nursery and gets easily bored at home firing question after question at me. DS is in a school nursery and breaks up tomorrow and starts reception on 6th September