To think the school holidays should just be August ?

[yellowbeard]

It's too long. I think a break in routine does kids good, but it's too much all at once. I think in Italy August is considered Holiday month ( not sure about the school holiday length ) but I know a lot of businesses close down for August there. Aibu ?

No, we prefer the 6 weeks! I work in a school and look forward to my summer break and spending time with my DS and DH as well as catching up with friends, if anything I'd love another couple of weeks

6 weeks is plenty, lot of schools in our Re moving now to 5 weeks and then 2 weeks October half term which I think is a lot nicer.

DD is now in secondary and I don’t want her to waste the time away but she is too young for jobs and too old for camps unless I send her on a residential. She goes away with the Scouts but otherwise has to entertain herself.

I also wish someone would commercially develop the idea of leasing school premises during the holidays and running holiday clubs for school age children, it makes no sense for all that capital to be unused for 24 weeks of the year

One problem - it's the only time building work/maintenance can be done easily; I know my school currently has a lot of work being done that could never be done with 1200 students in the building.

It's also only empty of students for 13 weeks not 24

They are too short in the U.K., my kids never got the chance to go to summer camp (in USA) because they were in school still, and they were back in lessons before their American friends too

Every year a thread like this rolls around. Politicians bring it up every so often when they think it'll win them some parental votes. And then there are the teacher-bathers who love the "long holidays" argument.

Before I escaped teaching, I always used to say I didn't care what they did with the holidays and number of terms, just don't make us go for more than 6 weeks at a time. Weeks 7 and 8 are always a bit of a write-off as the children are so tired, you always end up re-covering the content quickly after any holiday.

It’s hard when you work and see everyone say how great the summer hols are and how it should be longer!
Mine just stick in a similar routine throughout summer but it costs 5x the price.
Good for teachers though, They deserve a break.

Teacher-bathers 😂😂

Obviously meant teacher-bashers!

I’d prefer the whole of July, it’s been really Autumnal this August and certainly in secondary schools after the Year 11 exams finish mid-June it just feels like dead time for the other year groups waiting for the holidays to begin.
If we then went back in August we could split the term into three perhaps, having a week off at the end of September and a week at the beginning of November. it would be nice for the November week to coincide with a new bank holiday after Remembrance Sunday, but that’s a whole other thread!

I do love the long holiday break with my kids, BUT, if I could choose I would take 1 week off the summer hols and have an extra week in the Christmas break.

Off since mid June here. Holidays are loooong. We also have two weeks at Christmas two at Easter and two separate week long mid terms. Ireland is a great place to be a teacher.

The UK holidays are ridiculously short. Kids get 9 weeks here and teens get 13. Imo, they should all get 13.

Yeah, YABU.

The shorter the better IMO. Kids should be learning, not lazing about the house.

No one in real life speaks like this

My dc haven’t been lazing about though, tbf.

I want more! Mine went back yesterday.
I'd love it if they had all June, July, and August.
They could just have a Friday and Monday long weekend in October to break up the long term and then not off until Christmas. Thats my ideal.

Not at all, I like it. Though I could see the advantage in making Christmas a bit longer instead. Maybe take a week off summer for that. I think kids are in school a lot though, it's a big ask for little ones.

In Ireland, so as someone said above end of June to start of September. Personally by mid August I think the kids are ready to go back, possibly just us, but you can see they need the routine. We don't do any kids camps though

Summer holidays in one block is easier to organise child care than weeks here or there. There are more groups things to do.

I think five weeks is long enough and use the extra week to go back later at Christmas or stick on the Autumn half term.

I also think earlier summer holidays are better. The long evenings are great.

I’d like they staggered perhaps by how far a North you are. So the very North could have mid June to end of July and the Midlands at the start of July into August and in the South we could have mid July until mid August.
Then it’s a longer season for business but less crowded for everyone else. And we’d get the bank holidays but not sucked into school holidays.

Six weeks works for me.

I work, so have to use holiday clubs etc. If the holidays were shorter, all the parents would be fighting for the fewer weeks and some would lose out so some kids would end up in holiday club for the whole break. As much as DD loves holiday club, I don't think it would be a useful/healthy summer holiday for her if she didn't also get some chilling around doing nothing at home time too. Or a trip away if we can afford it.

In UK summer holiday is extremely short comparing to Poland. This year last day of school was 19th June and children are back on 2nd September.

I took the summer off work to look after kids (very lucky). Its been bliss. They broke up 30th June. We haven't done much due to lack of funds but lots park and walks and playing out in the street. Kids are loving it

When I am in charge:

Scotland: all kids, teachers and full time office and factory type workers will get all of July off.

England and Wales: same but August off.

Northern Ireland and Ireland will have no border and will agree what works best for them for holidays.

Everyone in other jobs who has to work during July or August will get a different month off of their choice and so will their partner and children - even if that doubles their holiday, it's recompense for their job impacting on family life.

Non parents can have the same amount of leave too.

Climate change will be reversed to provide perfect weather.

3 weeks at Christmas WTAF.... 😑 No chance, it'd be hell

The shorter the better IMO. Kids should be learning, not lazing about the house

Why are you letting your kids laze around the house?!

Scotland's holidays aren't all the same, most areas have 7 to 7 and a half weeks, starting at end June. Schools up north tend to have a week less in the summer and 2 weeks in October instead of one. Traditionally these are the "tattie" holidays when kids were required in the fields to get the tattie crop in before the frosts.

In my area they have 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week in february. 2 weeks at Easter plus good friday/easter monday unless that falls during the Easter break. Then one bank holiday in May until the summer hols at end June. Then some areas have a long weekend in september but otherwise it's a week in October. We then have a couple of days at the end of November and back to Christmas again.

The problem isn't really that the holidays are too long, it's that there isn't enough available/affordable childcare and it's no longer deemed appropriate to let your small children roam free with no supervision for weeks on end like I did as a child.