4 weeks of extra school in the summer

[noblegiraffe]

Justine Greening (former Ed sec you’ve probably forgotten) has asked that every child get a guaranteed 4 extra weeks of schooling over the summer.

Practicalities of this aside (imagine it is a fully funded army of well-trained, eager and willing tutors, fresh and full of energy rocking up to your kids’ school), do you want this for your children? When you saw the thread title were you ‘yes!’ or ‘god no!’?

Personally I want my kids spending the summer taking advantage of lower restrictions to visit people they haven’t seen since last summer and doing outdoor, fun activities. Education isn’t the only thing they have been missing out on.

However, I know that others are very worried about the missing education and may consider the summer better spent catching up.

YABU: I want 4 weeks of extra school in the summer holidays

YANBU: I want my kids to have the summer off to do other things

@edwinbear

I wouldn't send mine, but DC are at private school and their online provision has been excellent so I don't feel they have particularly fallen behind. I don't think DC's school would offer it anyway and I certainly wouldn't pay extra fees for it.

What's the point of this post? Obviously it wouldn't apply to your children

In answer to your question OP, no. My children need a break. Plus this will never happen because they won't be able up staff it.

TA here. Can’t see it happening. For one the cost would be extortionate. Teachers and TA’s get 5 weeks paid annual leave roughly per annum. The rest of the school holidays are unpaid. We want to spend time with our own families during the summer break. I have a 3 week holiday booked (deferred from last year) right in the middle of the Summer break. Now chances are it will be cancelled again anyway but if we are allowed to travel I will be going so won’t be available anyway.

I feel like mine need some FUN more than they need anything else too.

It would be a dreadful thing after slogging through all this homeschooling to then have their holidays taken away.

And what about the teachers? They need their time off more than ever!

The kids that need this most won't necessarily go, because their parents would rather go on holiday. Or it will purely be a dumping ground for free child care. Lots of the kids will not want to learn whilst they have friends who aren't going. You will also get the kids with pushy parents who are already doing well wanting to take up the option to further push ahead. They are the kids who need the break from education.

I do however think targetted catch up would be worthwhile. Thats certain critical year groups and its one to one for kids struggling most after an assessment when they go back to school.

But otherwise I'd be encouraging social opportunities over the summer. Particularly outdoor sporty ones.

Hope they have additional staff to do this
Some of us been in school with kids teaching them as per normal
My dc will stay at home and enjoy the summer she’s been online learning every bloody day from 8.30 - 2.30
Plus she has exams in a couple of week
Kids are learning teachers are teaching
I’m in school every bloody day

I need to stop reading these threads.

Summer school - not possible
Repeat the year - not possible
Repeat the term - not possible
Go back in March - not possible
Swap Easter holiday around - not possible
Any other plan - not possible

What we need to put in place is more in-class TA support in my opinion.

Two adults in every classroom, every child would get to speak to an adult for support, would keep them up rather than 'catch them up', and gaps could be spotted and filled straight away on the spot.

What's the point of this post? Obviously it wouldn't apply to your children

Well the closure of schools applies to private schools, the allocation of key worker children applies to private schools and the other COVID related laws and guidance apply to private schools, it is perfectly reasonable to consider that if made mandatory, this too would apply to private schools!

I really hope it doesn't and I really hope our school chooses not to do it if it is voluntary.

Fuck no. They need a break

@Luckystar1

Yes I would send mine. They are only little and have missed their friends so much. As well as the stuff they’d learn in school.

I have been doing ok with home schooling, but I’m very aware that they are missing out on lots of additional things that school brings, especially where I live, like cultural things.

I am trying to do it at home too, but it’s hard with trying to do actual core subjects.

My GS is older so looking forward to hanging out with his friends but I can see a play scheme being great for younger ones but I'd want them to be having fun with other kids not doing English and maths.

Poor DD14 (at grammar school) is working from 8:15 to 5:30 everyday.

She's working just as hard as if she were at school and would be distraught at having to go to school in the holidays.

We've always used the holidays to expand learning in ways (travel to other countries, day trips, festivals etc.)

If anything at all is offered, it certainly wouldn’t be normal school as you and the kids think of it.
Firstly the teachers will have worked all year as required and their contracts don’t and can’t require them to work over the holidays. So you will be looking at ‘tutors’ brought in to deliver whatever is provided. Lots of these won’t be qualified teachers and what they deliver won’t be a standard curriculum to an already established class of children.

It wouldn’t be compulsory to attend, so anything but involve mishmashimg children from lots of different classes, who all might have missed different things and it would be very difficult to tailor anything to the individual.

I’d imagine optional sessions of an hour or two at absolute best, and what is offered lookimg nothing like any child’s existing class. It absolutely won’t be just the existing class carrying on with all the children and their teacher into August.

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot
That is an absolutely brilliant idea, cost-effective, creates employment, and would make a massive difference at primary level - possibly even lower secondary. 2 TAs, and doing intervention.

The older kids on their GCSE courses, will simply not have covered the curriculum. There needs to be an option for retaking the year for this years Y11 & Y10. Or the 6th forms are going to be full of resitters.

"The kids that need this most won't necessarily go, because their parents would rather go on holiday."

And you know what, they would be doing the right thing by their kids to do so

And this is just the kid of thing the government wafts out to appease those moaning about children getting behind.

Of course it can’t or won’t be compulsory. That would be impossible.

There are all kinds of huge limits on what is possible.....funding, staffing, parental interest, government willpower and the practicalities of making it happen. Think about the realities...it really won’t be term extending for 4 weeks with each class carrying on as normal with their teacher.

I would assume if it happens it will be optional.

What worries me is if this is where the additional catch up funding is being spent, and schools won't get more for the next academic year, so will have to muddle through on decimated budgets

Did it happen last year, I'm sure they said they were going to do it and then I never heard anymore about it.

I think the idea of summer school is great, but NOT to catch up academically. More to allow children to catch up with their peers, to rebuild social and other skills, and to do things for their well-being. Would be a great way to support struggling families over the summer.

It didn't happen last year as the Government announced the catch up funding plan as they wanted it to last longer than just over the summer holidays. Schools only got the first instalment of the funding last term.

Anything that happens will be in the form of catch up funding given to schools to spend. It is very hard to make anything meaningful happen over the summer as the staff are not contracted to work and finding large numbers from elsewhere almost impossible.

No not for me.
Dd has worked hard throughout and is where she should be for her age. I'm not worried about her and if restrictions are eased by then I'd like to take advantage by going out and about and seeing people. I might possibly sign her up for one week out of the four, depending on how they were set up.

I don't think they're a bad idea if they can be properly organised and funded rather than waving vaguely at teachers and saying "you lot haven't done much for the past year".

My kids are working hard from home, they are not finding it easy but are completing work. They deserve a break in the summer, time to have fun and hopefully make the most of restrictions being lifted. They have hardly left the house, not had any fun days out, not seen their friends and not seen family.

We will be spending summer having fun, camping and exploring (if covid allows). So no I don’t agree with taking some of the summer holiday away for schooling.

My dc are in important year (GCSE 1st year and A level first year).

@ineedaholidaynow

It didn't happen last year as the Government announced the catch up funding plan as they wanted it to last longer than just over the summer holidays. Schools only got the first instalment of the funding last term.

Thanks.

Absolutely bloody fantastic idea. Private schools and all. Mine get 10 weeks off for the summer hols. 4 of those should absolutely be used to make sure everyone's at the same level for September. Or think ahead and have kids in for a bit in august then off in November for longer when things have the option to get tougher again.

I can’t see it happening, but it would be good to add another week or two of proper face to face school in the summer when they can be outside, but make next Christmas holidays longer when next winter’s viruses hit. Now there’s been a precedent set for school closures I fear that this might become an annual feature to some extent.