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!

Pretty hard to get work as a teacher in Ireland though, I believe.

I agree with august. It’s a big troll. Report it to MNHQ!

I agree we should follow Scotland and NI and break up end of June to mid august. Every July my daughter sits in a sweltering classroom while the only fan in the class is pointing at the teacher. So those who say we should not be thinking of hot weather, I disagree. My DHs birthday is in august and I can not recall a sunny warm birthday that he has had in England.

Only on MN could a summer holiday have you sternly rebuked for thinking it is about the weather!

I'm in Scotland and I think our end of June holidays are perfect (although would like an extra week or 2) I've no interest in shortening them and having more in dark cold winter when we'd be more likely to be stuck in the house or needing to pay for expensive indoor activities. Our October break is a week the same as most of England but is a week or 2 earlier (although the odd place gets 2, that's the same in England also I believe because October was traditional potato harvest and kids were needed in the field more in some areas). I think the total number of days in school are the same

I agree actually OP based on many years experience of 'average '. In 12 years of schooling with me also working term time, my experience was mostly nice weather June / July , rain August, nice again September . Recent years seem to have followed similar pattern too . Although I think this year's heatwave was in the first week of the school hols .

Round here it was the very last week of term, felt really sorry for the teachers and kids

I'm in South lanarkshire and dd started p1 on Monday 16th. Then she'll be off September weekend, 1 week in October, 15th November (inset) and then finishing for Xmas on 22nd Dec.

@Ploughmanscheese

Pretty hard to get work as a teacher in Ireland though, I believe.

I agree with august. It’s a big troll. Report it to MNHQ!

Not in my experience, no. You'd do a bit of job hopping in the first few years maybe to build up panel rights but plenty of people I know got permanency in their first school. Can't speak for secondary though, I know some subjects are very hard to get hours in.

I’m secondary, I did actually toy with moving there once but wouldn’t have got a job in a month of Sundays - probably because teachers have a good life!

The primary school my DS attends has five weeks off in summer and a two week May half term when the weather is always glorious. Works really well.

Totally agree.

I'm just on the wrong side of the Scottish border for the schools breaking up to catch the better weather. I wish we copied them and brought the summer holidays forward. August is a wash out every single year here. The nights are drawing in already.

Its ridiculous and needs an overhaul.

I’m in Scotland and our end of June to Mid-August school holidays are really good. (even though July is often pretty wet.) By August it’s definitely cooler and getting autumnal. The main difference though is hours of daylight. It’s always seemed strange to me that English schools start summer holidays so late. Of course if they changed to match ours we would all suffer more expensive holidays for it!

We get the same moaning in Scotland where we break up at the end of June. May and June are normally sunny and warm. The rain starts in July when the kids are off - not this year though, July was sunny. There’s never a good time to be off with guaranteed good weather in this country.

Yeah July was cracking in Scotland this year

August is always wet IMO, I don't remember a good one. We always go on a UK hol when the kids break up in July (and there's more chance of decent weather) and then go abroad in August. Mind you the weather is so unpredictable in the UK there's a good chance any holiday will be ruined whenever you go unless you book last minute - and that's pretty much impossible now.

As a teacher with no kids of my own, I'd happily lose a week off the summer holidays and add it on to the end of the Christmas holidays so that I could hibernate for those horrible first two weeks of January. I know that's very selfish and wouldn't work for parents and I should be grateful for all the holidays I get

I live in Cumbria. August's wet. July's wet. It's wet frequently throughout the year. I mean... I wouldn't particularly mind if the summer holudays were from the beginning of July to halfway through August (as long as the terms were re-jigged to stay at sensible lengths). I just don't think it would be worth the hassle for the minimal difference in weather.

This is about the 4th time this topic has been posted on MN this week.

This is about the 4th time this topic has been posted on MN this week

Better log it with the non emergency police

If you only want original content I’m not sure MN is the right place @PineapplePanda

@PineapplePanda

This is about the 4th time this topic has been posted on MN this week.

This is about the 10th time this type of comment has been posted on MN this week. Tsk tsk

Early summer holiday would make the autumn term very long. It's already the longest term and we notice it as it is.

And most people, in my experience, don't really want an extra week moving to October to break it up more as the weather just isn't up to in. Great if you can afford some winter sun holidays or a ski holiday (though usually too early for most ski resorts I think) but not so good if relying on U.K. weather.

Can't mess with the terms too much in summer terms due to exams. It would cause too many issues with those.

Going back earlier had its own issues unless we also change the normal exam results day - as we did this year but in a normal year where exams need marking it's not quite as simple to do.

The whole country has staggered holidays,

Staggered holidays also bring another host of issues.

Many teachers work in schools in different areas to their own children. This risks holidays not matching as it is. With proper staggered holidays it'd be a nightmare.

You can also then never go on holiday or arrange days out in holidays with friends/family in other parts of the country.

Also holiday based activities in various towns would be based around local holidays making it not work for tourists too.

@Abraxan

Early summer holiday would make the autumn term very long. It's already the longest term and we notice it as it is.

And most people, in my experience, don't really want an extra week moving to October to break it up more as the weather just isn't up to in. Great if you can afford some winter sun holidays or a ski holiday (though usually too early for most ski resorts I think) but not so good if relying on U.K. weather.

I work in a school in Scotland- if ever you want a long term it's the autumn one. We've already been back a week but at this stage the kids are rested, keen and the more difficult dc are starting with a clean slate. It certainly doesn't feel long compared to the winter term before Xmas or the summer term, which seems to go one for an age with exhausted, hot kids