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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:
tiredanddangerous · 12/04/2020 10:16

It won’t happen. Teachers and their unions would never agree to it.

Grasspigeons · 12/04/2020 10:16

The uk torism indusrty must be desperate for the simmer season to occur. They live all year on what they mske. No idea if its safe or not but some of these areas can be very deprived anway.
I winder if extending the school day would make more sense? Cost the same but easier to make happen. The 'lost education' doesnt need to be caught up quickly for younger year groups anyway.

lyralalala · 12/04/2020 10:17

we aren’t paid for holidays at all. Our salary is just split into 12 for logistics and so that we don’t have to budget for gaps, unlike in Canada where I believe teachers aren’t paid over the long holiday.

Splitting pay over 12 months also means benefits can't be claimed in the summer holidays. Not such a problem for teachers and their wage, but that change made a massive difference to low paid school staff.

DobbinEweInn · 12/04/2020 10:19

I think it's a terrible idea. I think most children would benefit far more from being able to see their friends again in the summer holidays, rather then just going straight back into the school environment.

RaininSummer · 12/04/2020 10:19

Lousy idea as we are all going to be desparate for some summer and catch up with relatives and friends assuming we are allowed to roam free again by then.

RifRafia · 12/04/2020 10:19

I think that the people writing this stuff forget that teaching is one of, if not the most unionised sector in this country. There is no way that unions will agree to it, so prospect will be of mass strikes which will be even more unsettling and distressing, especially for students.

Chimny · 12/04/2020 10:20

Won’t happen.
They won’t want to pay teachers extra.
Majority of teachers will say no, they want their summer holidays.
Majority of parents will say no, they want their summer holidays.
They’ll have to pay for a lot of subs as replacement for a handful of children who go.
Lockdown isn’t the same as the holidays. Children are still doing schoolwork and being cooped up just isn’t a summer holidays. I imagine most parents won’t want to send their children to school regardless until a few months after this has blown over to see what happens, new virus and we don’t know how it works

DrMadelineMaxwell · 12/04/2020 10:21

What I don't read on here is people calling for other workers who are now working from home, say office workers, to then work through their (unpaid) holiday allowance.
If those people are asked to forgo holidays they now have the right to carry the says over onto the next 2 years.
We can't do that.
And the gov can't afford to find overtime pay for all the teachers, suddenly being asked to work more than their contracted 195 days (plus standard holiday days that most people get).

greathat · 12/04/2020 10:21

I wish people would stop going on about this. Us teachers are still working, the whole thing is really stressful. Trying to manage my classes, organise work and home educate my own kids. Plus we're all on our knees with exhaustion (and all the bugs that come with it) by the end of the autumn term as it's so long and so intense. Tag another 6 weeks onto the length of that term and I'm not sure how many teachers there will be left.

MamaBearLockdown · 12/04/2020 10:23

If it was safe to do so, and I doubt it will, I would love for my kids to go back in June or July. Even a couple of weeks of normality in the school would be great. Going to school in July is normally an aberration, but for once it would be great.

Cancelling the summer holiday if we are safely out of lockdown? Absolutely not! Worst idea ever!

As much as we make the most of it, the lockdown is the opposite of a holiday! We need to get out of the house, kids need to go on the beach, they need a real holiday. They need to have the birthday parties that have been cancelled, they need to meet their friends, they need to have a life. (and so do we).

If anything, the summer holidays need to be LONGER once the pandemic is truly over - so probably next year.

alittleprivacy · 12/04/2020 10:23

On the one hand I completely agree. I want to spend DS's summer holiday having adventures with him. On the other, if schools go back during the summer holidays it will almost certainly because it's assumed that schools will have to shut from November-January due to a second wave of Covid. In that case, I think it would be better for a lot of kids to be in school. I think that being around their friends everyday for the summer would be better for most kids if there is a chance they'll have to spend a chunk of the winter cooped up again.

Serin · 12/04/2020 10:23

WTH.
Some teachers (like DH) are teaching their full time table from the kitchen table over Microsoft teams. He finds this stressful and much more tricky than teaching in a real classroom and has had to spend many hours developing new lesson plans.

But now you want to cancel his holiday.

Some schools have never stopped.

Alakazam8 · 12/04/2020 10:26

I’m another one with dd in special education. Her targets cannot be met at home as most of them involve working with other children. Most parents ( at the school) are in a similar position for various reasons.
She is due to start transition to secondary and would be visiting every week after May. I am terrified for her if this doesn’t happen. A bad start could mean she doesn’t manage at the school and have to look for alternatives.
I’m hoping children will go back in May, still have the summer and can do transition work, visits to new starters etc before Sept and have a settled start so that more valuable time isn’t lost. Otherwise a messy September/October and potentially lockdowns in the winter, may as well home educate but she will fall badly behind in terms of things she needs to develop to be a functioning member of society.

Witchend · 12/04/2020 10:26

I think if they do decide to go back in August it will be because they think we'll be back on lockdown before Christmas with a second wave.

Makinglists · 12/04/2020 10:28

No. Lockdown isn't fun and stressful if things are better by july/ August we want to enjoy time together doing things we would normally do in the summer - seeing friends/going to beach etc etc.
Our teaching staff have worked over Easter, running care, keeping in contact with the kids and just being there for them. They need a break too. I do think for primary ks2 kids we should perhaps abandon SATS at least for the next couple of years so we can spread learning out more (ie the term missed) and not have the pressure in y6 and all the revision etc. My ds2 is in Y4 has some SEN (mild / moderate hearing loss) he was just starting to make some real progress and I hoped he might just be at expected by the end of Y6. If schools don't go back to Sept I think he will struggle and I don't want him put under huge pressure. That said I still think have the summer holidays as they are important.

Tunnocks34 · 12/04/2020 10:28

I’m already working in school holidays to be fair, and I will be working on a rota during the summer holidays in lockdown is continuing.

I don’t think however, they will open the schools full tone. As people have pointed out, there is no way the government will pay teachers to do so, and I can guarantee the unions would tell us to object.

fruitpastille · 12/04/2020 10:28

Many teachers are already working through the holidays right now providing childcare for key workers. When term starts they will be setting and marking work online in addition to this. Holidays are already booked for many families as well. Cancelling the summer break is not a good idea.

Queenest · 12/04/2020 10:31

How about the school summer holidays start and finish earlier this year? Maybe just by a couple of weeks.

This would allow more catch up time for the next school year.

Kokeshi123 · 12/04/2020 10:32

They are a left-over from an agricultural past when kids were needed to help with the harvest.

This is a complete myth. And the main harvest does not take place over July-August!
www.pbs.org/newshour/education/debunking-myth-summer-vacation

There have been quite a few attempts by school districts in the US to get rid of summer vacation. The attempts never seem to last for very long. There are some good practical reasons for a summer break.

Rosebel · 12/04/2020 10:32

Where is the money to pay school staff going to come from? Or are they all supposed to work for free? What about the teachers and children who are still at school? Are they not allowed a break? What about key workers? If this is all over by then they might want to spend some time with their children. Children are not on holiday, they like the rest of us are having a horrible, boring time. It might still be the same in the summer but if it is we can't send children back to school anyway.
I don't think the holidays will change, they've been talking about that on and off since I was at school.

Sh05 · 12/04/2020 10:32

I haven't read the full thread and am sure someone has probably said this already but if it's a proposal you have read, then it's just ideas being thrown around. Nothing discussed fully, no decisions made concrete and no complete solutions thought through in regards to staff and teacher pay, pre-booked holidays etc

Inkpaperstars · 12/04/2020 10:33

I wonder if they might be expecting another lockdown/second peak during autumn term, and are thinking about trying to get some school time in before that if the situation is under control enough to allow it. Just speculation, I have no idea!

Kokeshi123 · 12/04/2020 10:33

Keeping school going over summer would probably be a good idea in terms of reducing inequality among kids, to be honest. However, the unions will never agree to it, and I can't really blame them---teachers are working at the moment and are under a lot of pressure.

FamilyOfAliens · 12/04/2020 10:34

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

If you’ve just read it, OP, can you provide a link so we can read it too? Otherwise this thread is just pointless, arguing about something that isn’t going to happen.

thunderthighsohwoe · 12/04/2020 10:35

I’m a primary teacher; happy to work through my summer without a break since February if my (unpaid) annual leave can be taken at another time this year so I can spend time with DD16mo instead of foisting her off on her dad/CBeebies like I’ve been doing when WFH.

Also happy to do so if the government can pay for our childcare bills over the 6 week summer break, which we wouldn’t be able to afford in normal circumstances, and especially now that DP could well have been out of work and not earning for three months by then.