Restructuring the school year

[AntiSocialDistancer]

inews.co.uk/news/education/education-catch-up-shorter-school-summer-holiday-ofsted-1005616/amp

A five term school year? With 2 week breaks and 4 weeks off at summer?

What do you think? With the understanding every school, pre-school etc falls into line.

Yanbu - let's change
Yabu - stay the same

I think that the wider impact on parents and associated industries would be huge. There is already a mighty scrabble for holiday time amongst parents and this is not just for Johnny to jet off to the Canaries but just for a parent to spend some of the holiday at home with a parent and go on a day trip to the beach.

What I do think should be offered is much more support in area hubs for those children who are struggling either educationally or economically with a rolling programme of specialist teaching with SENCOs and budgets to fast track assessment and offer follow up support in the home school. Targeted careers support to help older dc focus on a career. Free lunches for those who need them. Day trips to local attractions and cultural visits.

The issues are not the holidays per se but the education inequalities that they bring out. One child goes and visits Greecian remains and reads all the signs, tries a different language etc. while another child plays on the x box all day with a weekly trip to McDonald's.

Of course that would all cost money to put in place and investment in training and staff willing and specialised to go with it.

Most of the countries I can think of have longer holidays than England. Are there countries with shorter holidays that do well on that model? How do children in those countries with longer holidays fare? What about those countries at the educational summit, what are their school structures like? I do agree though a half and half approach would not work and just annoys the parents.

Staggered breaks would mean only having limited time available with people who live in different areas- it's tricky enough now not having the same half term weeks as cousins. I call for an 8 week summer holiday and two weeks off every half term.

@LynetteScavo for education secretary
Seriously I massively agree with @picturesandpickles

• this endless fiddling about with school terms (not even actually doing it, just discussing it) is a smokescreen for actually doing anything to improve the lot of children in this country, especially those in poverty.

Some schools already do this. The RSA Academy near me does. They also have a free compulsory breakfast for staff and students. You don't have to eat but you do have to go to the canteen.

Imagine the holiday costs £££
It’s bad enough now but were all families with children trying to get the same four weeks in the summer it would be prohibitively expensive for most

Oh and private schools have much longer holidays than state schools but it doesn't seem to harm the prospects of their pupils.

Men, who have pretty all much been privately educated, want to reduced state school holidays while the private sector has always enjoyed much longer breaks. Having benefitted from their better education they continue to push the idea that state teachers need more time rather than more resources.

6 weeks worth of people crammed into 4 weeks, holiday prices will rise out of reach for so many more.

@TSBelliot

Men, who have pretty all much been privately educated, want to reduced state school holidays while the private sector has always enjoyed much longer breaks. Having benefitted from their better education they continue to push the idea that state teachers need more time rather than more resources.

I came on to say this. Private schools have several weeks more holiday than state schools. The holidays are a smokescreen to take attention away from more pressing issues, like funding and the teacher retention crisis.

As a mum - I want the long summer holidays. It's my favourite time of year.

As a teacher the idea of 8 week 'half' terms makes me shudder in horror!

The kids are exhausted now, with another week to go. It would be 2 more under this plan.

I’d be in favour of this change. 4 week summer holiday sounds much better & more manageable for taking holiday from work.
Longer holidays then in other parts of the year would be more beneficial for the kids & families too.

I don't really mind how the holidays are split. 4 terms or 5, 6 weeks summer break or 4, there are pros and cons to both.

I do think they should look to stagger holidays much more though. The fact that holiday prices can go from £200 for a weeks break in a caravan park to well over £1k - and often even worse discrepancies for abroad - is a madness that's so ingrained in the UK, people can't even imagine it working another way.

Spread the demand and prices will equalise.

Yes there will be some losers. Individual situations which mean your dh works two Counties away or you have a child in a school in a different area. But there are plenty losing now and you can't please everyone. Overall I think it would be the lesser evil.

We shouldn't stick with a poor system just because we're used to it - it could be done much better.

@picturesandpickles

Basically what schools need is more cash.

This is just change to look like they are doing something.

You're a mug if you fall for this shit.

This many times over.

Educational reform has been happening often the past decade.

Changed GCSEs - this was highlighted the most as the shit show it was during the pandemic.

Academies - all this has done has create massive payroll jobs for academy heads and managers and made it harder a semi privatised system. (Increased uniform prices, much more autocratic, less parental involvement and less back up from the la)

And now this.

Changing a broken system to another bad system isn't the answer when you are decreasing funding and what the system needed in the first place was increased funding.

I’d like summer holidays to be longer actually. But with decent subsidised summer camps running with sufficient spaces for children to attend if needed/desired. Not a park your children here dumping ground but genuinely enriching activities, a hot meal or at least a decently filling packed lunch, a place to do any holiday homework set if needed, but also space to enjoy and develop the non-academics.

@Cattitudes

Oh and private schools have much longer holidays than state schools but it doesn't seem to harm the prospects of their pupils.

Well quite! My nephew is at a private school and they have nearly 9 weeks off in the summer! I don’t think for a minute that will change. They also won’t be fined for taking their children out for holidays if they want to go in term time!

We already have some of the shortest state school summer holidays in Europe.

It won’t change-shorter summer holidays has been debated on here this time every year since the dawn of time.

If the government actually want to make a difference, they need to give schools more money-this is pure and simple obfuscation and saying they are ‘doing something’.

I don’t actually have a problem with the six weeks holidays, although DS is only in reception so we haven’t experienced them with a school child yet. I think they should make the October half term two weeks though, as that autumn term is so bloody long!!

@AlohaMolly

I don’t actually have a problem with the six weeks holidays, although DS is only in reception so we haven’t experienced them with a school child yet. I think they should make the October half term two weeks though, as that autumn term is so bloody long!!

A lot of schools in my area are now doing 5 weeks in the summer and 2 weeks in October.

When this question is debated on here, the newspapers, the radio etc it always ends up with loads of people wanting to keep things the same, some people wanting more holidays at Christmas (to see family), some wanting more at half term/Easter (to go skiing), some like more in October as the weather might be nice then and lots want more in June- but anyone working in a school points out how that wouldn’t work with exams.

The outcome is you’ll piss off as many people as you’d please if they change it and it would be a massive change with no impact.

If the public schools change to a 4 week holiday, maybe state schools would too, but if not-I don’t think it will ever happen.

We need more funding in classrooms and better systems in place for affordable summer childcare. The latter has nothing to do with school though.

This would be crap for me working in higher education in a semester system. I already have to juggle like mad during half terms. It's also crap for separated parents. Half the holidays? So two weeks in summer...and that's my only time to have a proper break as well as fitting in extended family who don't live near.

Big no from me.

I live currently in a country with 15 maximum to a class and 10 weeks summer break. And children start formal school at 6. And standards are higher than in the UK.

This model works due to much much better funding.

The UK needs to increase

Funding massively in schools, let 4 and 5 year olds attend school part time and for it to be 100% play based, raise teachers salaries and extend the summer holidays whilst at the same time providing after school and holiday clubs
Liked to each school and means tested.

It would lead to a better work life balance for all, increased education standards and happier less stressed kids.

Much as the idea has educational merit, a four week summer holiday if most schools had the same four weeks would probably be economically harmful to the UK tourism and hospitality sector. Especially places such as holiday parks, seaside amusement arcades and anything associated with the seaside holiday.

Staggering the school summer holiday by areas would be ideal, but no-one is going to accept school returning in late July and summer essentially ending in all but name.

Employers have enough ill-feeling to deal with at times with agreeing summer holidays with their teams if most of a team have children, and this would only be worse. I could forsee employers being reluctant to take on those with school age children, especially women.

School is not the only place where children learn. And parents are their first educators. So l think the longer Summer holidays are essential to give families time to explore and learn new things together eg from nature. I know this is not always possible but even having camps where children can develop other areas of their lives is very important. Down time is also healthy and no homework so time to chill and read a book or just day dream. As a teacher l need children to bring experiences to school so we can build on those. I'm not talking about fancy holidays but just knowing what's around them or spending time with grandparents. It's all part of their education and so l am for the longer Summer break. Hopefully the weather is better and there is nothing as bad as children stuck inside a classroom in beautiful sunny weather.

A load of crap.
A local academy went bust as it's Head sailed off into the sunset after taking a contract worth almost £350,000 and giving it to a company him and his dd owned. Where was this guy who was the head of academies then? What was done about it when the issue was raised in parliament by our local MP? Nothing absolutely nothing. So no anything this cockwomble says is untrustworthy.,
Academies are businesses.
You don't get to tell a business how it operates.
Totally laughable that this idiot who suggested it doesn't even know that he can't tell them how to operate.

This pops up every few years. Britain has some of the shortest summer holidays already! My kids were off from the 20th ish June through to 1st September in the USA and there's state funded programmes for July including those who need to catch up, others go to summer camp m. My kids didn't suffer from long holidays

I don’t think that 6 weeks is too long and I don’t know what he’s talking about. My DD doesn’t struggle to go back to school after 6 weeks and doesn’t get herself in trouble over summer holidays. I’m glad that she’s in year 11 and this new madness won’t disrupt her education because this overhaul will be the major disruption for certain.