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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want schools to give up summer holidays

963 replies

littleblackdress04 · 12/04/2020 09:32

Just read in papers that it’s been proposed that kids go back to school in July/ August

I think this is a rubbish idea - if it’s going to be that long then just let them have a ‘normal’ summer and go back in September.

Kids have been cooped up because of this- I’d want to take mine to the hills, go camping & let them have some freedom. Then start school in September. This isn’t a holiday for them - it’s a horrible stressful period of being cooped up & not being able to live their normal lives.

While school gives a structure and is important, so are proper periods of holiday.

I’m really against the idea but aibu? Be interested to hear other thoughts. I’ve not been particularly worried about the kids education- they will catch up in time and it will be fine

OP posts:
unlimiteddilutingjuice · 12/04/2020 09:43

If its safe to go back I'd be happy for my kids to do so.
If

Waxonwaxoff0 · 12/04/2020 09:44

And if lockdown is over by then, holiday clubs will be back open for children so parents can work. That's how we usually manage!

Dementedswan · 12/04/2020 09:44

We have a holiday booked in august, it's in the uk so we are hoping to still go. It will be our first holiday in 3 years.

My kids still have schoolwork being emailed to then and it's the easter holidays. They will need a summer break if lockdown is over, a chance to be children and play outside.

noideaatallreally · 12/04/2020 09:45

No - I can't see the current holiday pattern changing in the future either. That would be very unpopular with both teachers and the unions, and again cost money that the gov will not have. I repeat that teachers are NOT paid for most of the holiday time.

Original poster
littleblackdress04 · 12/04/2020 09:45

Also I don’t believe there is ‘lost time’ either- our education system is created by us and can be adapted by us. It’s not like if the kids miss a bit of year 7 Shakespeare, that’s it’s forever is it?

OP posts:
MamaGothel · 12/04/2020 09:46

We have a UK holiday booked for August if things are open then. I would be gutted to have to cancel it. DH has been working through the lockdown, and a lot busier then normal. The kids haven't had a break cooped up in our tiny house.

ritzbiscuits · 12/04/2020 09:49

I'm in favour of a reduced summer holiday period. In unprecedented circumstances, I can't see how a 6 week holiday can be justified when so much education will have been missed. I'd be in favour of 2-3 weeks max.

DH and I are both key workers and have had our forthcoming annual leave cancelled. Other than a small amount of cover at our primary school (on a rota), teachers have had their two week Easter break and I would imagine the same for May half term.

At a time of national crisis, we all need to make sacrifices. Doctors and nurses are dying, the teachers unions are going to look idiotic if they refuse to be flexible over the summer period, if a suitable proposal can be made over pay etc.

cologne4711 · 12/04/2020 09:49

It won't happen, even if people can't go overseas there are a lot of people with UK holidays booked (me included) and I am sure there are lots of teachers with UK holidays booked too.

NursieBernard · 12/04/2020 09:49

I think it's an awful idea. Myself and my husband will certainly need the chance to enjoy some time with our children after working on the NHS frontline.

OublietteBravo · 12/04/2020 09:50

They are a left-over from an agricultural past when kids were needed to help with the harvest. There is no need for them (or any other holiday) to be any longer than 4 weeks. I’m not suggesting less holiday in total - just a redistribution. There is lots of evidence that kids from a disadvantaged background suffer from the extended break.

SE13Mummy · 12/04/2020 09:50

I'm not a fan of the idea at all! DH and I are both teachers and if it's safe to do so, would like to be able to go away with our DC as planned. Other families will likely feel the same and so there wouldn't be schools full of children able to catch up - there would be schools with extremely patchy attendance and no pretence of any new curriculum coverage because it's not worth doing if half the class is in and out.

Also, if it's safe to be out and about, sports and arts organisations that run summer training/camps as well as holiday clubs (that companies often hire school buildings for) will be wanting to make up for lost time. All the cancelled Easter residential courses that hire school buildings are likely to want to be able to run their August courses - and the schools will welcome the income. I'm all for finding a way to help fund sports/music/other opportunities throughout the summer for children whose parents have lost their low paid jobs as a result of the shutting down of everything but I think the economy and people's mental health will need schools to be closed to teaching in August in order to facilitate participation in other activities.

Ladyinamask · 12/04/2020 09:50

Sorry but I think the Summer holiday needs to be missed this year if at all possible for children to go back.
fair enough maybe a flexible approach so people with holidays booked can go away without fines etc and maybe teachers could do some juggling if they have plans. But honesty after this the children need to go back.
Also I have seen no impressive work from my children's primary school teachers. A few links and worksheets posted on the website. They are even turning away as many keyworker children as they can and the ones who they do have to take have not had any input at all. Just free play.

peoplepleaser1 · 12/04/2020 09:54

People hoping for summer holidays are living in a dream world. I admire your optimism but we are not going to be allowed to take long journeys for leisure purposes.

The best solution will vary according to age. What's best for a 6 year old is different to a 13 year old and again different to an 18 year old.

Teaching contracts and rules about pay and holidays can be changed, just as the the government legally removed Easter bank holiday entitlements from NHS staff where needed and have moved to alter the working time regulations.

BelleSausage · 12/04/2020 09:55

Where will you get the money from to pay not just the teachers but the catering, cleaning, admin and learning mentors?

Where would be the extra money to keep the building going for and extra six weeks. Most schools have all the work needed to be done to the building done in that time?

Do they really need to be in school? What are they actually missing? I say this as a teacher. Once lockdown is lifted they can socialise at home and they can do the work at home. And the vulnerable ones are already being checked on constantly (probably more now than when they were in schools- where they often get lost in the mass).

As it goes I think there is a better way than our current system which only seems to cause high levels of anxiety for all involved. Maybe now is the time to totally overhaul the system so it works to create the kind of adults we need in society.

EdersonsSmileyTattoo · 12/04/2020 09:55

We too have a holiday booked in August (abroad and IF travel restrictions are lifted we will be going) and a destination wedding to attend too.

I would still like the 6 weeks holidays, this isn’t a holiday for the children, it isn’t for us either granted!

lyralalala · 12/04/2020 09:55

School staff will need a break. Other people who've been working crazy hours in hospitals, supermarkets and the likes will need a break.

Families will want to spend time together, people will want to visit grandparents, siblings and friends they've not seen.

Also people who've lost loved ones will need the chance to have a memorial service, or grieve properly with their family and friends.

Original poster
littleblackdress04 · 12/04/2020 09:56

@peoplepleaser1 last time I looked we weren’t living in a dictatorship! Many people have holidays booked- the tourism industry will probably need to recover as much as any other part of the economy

OP posts:
peoplepleaser1 · 12/04/2020 09:57

"At a time of national crisis, we all need to make sacrifices. Doctors and nurses are dying, the teachers unions are going to look idiotic if they refuse to be flexible over the summer period, if a suitable proposal can be made over pay etc."

This with bells on!

mumto2teenagers · 12/04/2020 09:57

I think it depends on when lockdown ends, if lockdown ends mid July just at the time schools would be due to finish for the holidays then maybe term could start earlier, sometime in August.

Think each families situation will be different and some will want schools to open July/August and some would prefer to have the normal holiday.

Parents who are furloughed might have their companies re-opening in July and schools opening would make it easier on them, especially given the negative financial impact the lockdown has caused. Vulnerable children would benefit from going back to school ASAP as unfortunately for some children school holidays are not much different to lockdown.

Maybe one solution would be to start next years teaching early and make the other holidays during the year longer, 2 week half terms and an extra week or so at Xmas and Easter, that way teachers and children will get the same amount of time off.

lyralalala · 12/04/2020 09:58

They are even turning away as many keyworker children as they can and the ones who they do have to take have not had any input at all. Just free play.

They're not meant to be doing school work with those children. It's childcare being provided by teachers and school staff, not school.

Can you imagine the outcry if some children were being taught as normal and some weren't? It's not even possible given the mix of teachers and kids (in some places kids aren't even in their own schools specifically)

WeAllHaveWings · 12/04/2020 09:58

Proposed by who? Unless it is the DfE, it won't happen.

OublietteBravo · 12/04/2020 09:59

Something like 4 weeks off starting from the Spring bank holiday, a week off coinciding with the August bank holiday and a 2 week break in October would work perfectly well. Everyone gets the same amount of holiday - just distributed differently.

DrMadelineMaxwell · 12/04/2020 10:00

In a press conference, one of the first questions put to the Welsh minister for education was about the summer holiday.
She was very clear that they would go ahead as normal.
Thus is excellent news for our TA staff who also work in our holiday club and earn a lot of their money in those weeks they are open.
They have lost a lot of money due to having no wraparound care or lunch duties that they all do, as TA pay is a pittance.

peoplepleaser1 · 12/04/2020 10:02

@littleblackdress04 I agree that the tourism industry needs to be given a chance to recover. But that won't be allowed until things are much much safer- a long time away.

Meanwhile education is important.

Anyone thinking about what's right for the nation will not be prioritising their own requirements for a holiday. That's selfish and 'all about you'. If that's hard to read then I'd hazard a guess that it's touched a nerve as the truth often does.

HettySunshine · 12/04/2020 10:03

What if teachers have holidays booked? Should they not get to go?