To think schools breaking up at the end of July is insane?

[Ploughmanscheese]

If term time holidays are so strongly discouraged, surely at least giving us a fighting chance of accessing decent weather would be fair?

I’m pushed to think of five nice days in august this year!

I live in Germany and the northern states break up 20/30 June and go back mid-August - definitely a good thing this year because we're back to 15-18 degrees during the day.

The whole country has staggered holidays, with the northern states getting the earlier slots, in the South it tends to be later (UK dates more or less) as it's still warm-ish by the end of August.

On the other hand, I grew up in Spain where our holidays were 20th June-10th September, every single year. Secondary went back a week early but also broke up 1 or 2 weeks earlier sometimes. We also had 2+ weeks at Christmas, 3 weeks at or around Easter (double local holiday), but the school day was 9-5. I guess that's how the hours were made up. In the north of England that would mean almost half the school day in darkness during winter... not sure that'd be better than having rain during August holidays.

Same here, where are you @Poptart4

I've been noticing for years and years that July weather tends to be better than August weather. I'd prefer the Scottish term times

@EileenGC

I live in Germany and the northern states break up 20/30 June and go back mid-August - definitely a good thing this year because we're back to 15-18 degrees during the day.

The whole country has staggered holidays, with the northern states getting the earlier slots, in the South it tends to be later (UK dates more or less) as it's still warm-ish by the end of August.

On the other hand, I grew up in Spain where our holidays were 20th June-10th September, every single year. Secondary went back a week early but also broke up 1 or 2 weeks earlier sometimes. We also had 2+ weeks at Christmas, 3 weeks at or around Easter (double local holiday), but the school day was 9-5. I guess that's how the hours were made up. In the north of England that would mean almost half the school day in darkness during winter... not sure that'd be better than having rain during August holidays.

BTW I'm using past tense but the Spanish system it's still the same today - I have younger siblings and friends' children of school age so I know nothing has changed. Except some schools now do 8.30-4-30 instead

@VladmirsPoutine mine go to a childminder, I work in community nursing, DH is an agricultural engineer. My childminder usually has 2 weeks off during the summer holidays so we take the time off to match up with her as we have no family help the rest so 5 weeks of childcare

I do prefer the Scottish holidays though as the first 2 weeks before the English break up the holidays are cheaper and the caravan sites are quieter

It was the same daily, the number of times the heavens would open at 3.25, just before the 3.30 finish, we called it the 3.35 weather. I often had a dozen or so pupils staying behind to wait for it stopping

That's very unusual @JudgeJ, I heard a very interesting programme on the radio once about the weather and it said that statistically there's only a 10% chance of having rainat the same time every day so I tested this like you based on school runs and I found that it actually rained on less than 1 in 10 times. Obviously there will be regional variations but really unusual for It to happen every day unless you live somewhere tropical

Weather perception and reality are often far apart. When I was on May leave I had a conversation with a friend about what on awful weather month it had been. As I'd been out on long walks pretty much every day I said I'd found it a pretty nice month. It turned out that she paid no attention to the weather on week days as she was at work and her vuew was based on a bit or rain on a couple of weekends

@CherryHug dare you to say that on one of the many summer hating threads 😂

I think schools should finish end of June. July is often better than August and days are longer.

@54321nought I know I work in the industry but the majority of kids these days don't work on farms, a lot don't even know where their food comes from and think a farm is a petting zoo

Many many countries have July and August off of all schools (so 9/10 weeks in total), but they don't get the 1/2 terms in the year, just Christmas and spring break (1 week equivalent to Easter).

Summer holidays are earlier in Finland, beginning of June to second week of August, or thereabouts. Weather is definitely nicest in July, June can be hit or miss, and August tends to be wet and getting colder and colder as its when Autumn starts (been raining pretty much all August this year) so its good timing for summer holidays. Only get two half terms though (October and late Feb/early March) and just a long weekend for Easter. The Spring term is loooong (though at least there's a few public holidays for days off, like May Day and Ascension Day to give a little break)

Leicestershire have it right - break up early July, back next week.

Keep your English holidays as they are please.

It allows us Scots to get good prices for holidays in July whilst your children are all still at school.

The weather this year was mostly rubbish in June/July too, apart from the one or two exceptionally warm weeks. I can't remember a summer term where we needed to have indoor playtime so often because it was raining.

now my dc are grown up i always take breaks in may june and ignore august, weather in uk is far better as long as it is not august

It doesn't matter when the dates are - there will be a spell of brilliant early summer just before they break up, and a fortnight of lovely sunshine just after they return.

The weather Just Knows

"I always wonder if anyone actually registers the English weather properly when they post as if there's some predicatability to it."

For a majority of places in the uk, climate data shows that august is more rainy than july and june

I agree OP, get the dryer weather and longer nights of june and go back in August

C'mon over to Ireland, my dc have been off since June 22nd and they are back on Aug 30th.

We home educate and always take a UK holiday in early September, once the English schools have gone back. The weather is almost always brilliant for that week.

I think August is just trolling.

I LOVE the English school holidays so much I want to marry them, and I won't hear a word against them. As a working single parent their meagerness is all that stands between me and ruin.

I grew up in Ireland with months of summer holidays. No way could I patch together enough childcare for that. I don't care about the weather.

I don't know how English teachers cope with the holidays tbh. More paperwork and box ticking than Ireland AND fewer holidays? No wonder the burn out is high.

I don't understand the justification for long school summer holidays anymore. I think it must be better for learning to break up the winter term more. Even teachers must get bored.

And yes, it sucks that holiday companies can charge over the odds for August. (especially since private schools break up much earlier). I'd like to take my children away in October or Feb for 2 weeks.

My 2 older children finished on 18 May this year - they've been home forever!

I'd be raging too. The DC here are off for 8 weeks 30th June - September.
Seniors/secondary from 1st June - end of August/start September.
It gives extra space to book activities and trips. I

Scottish school holidays make more sense to me considering that July is usually the best weather of the year and good weather means kids more likely to go out and make the best of it.