Summer holidays - outdated

[Wednesdayafternoon]

So I was just scrolling through Facebook and I saw some pictures after school club/breakfast club to my sons school put up and it just got me thinking how crazy it is that schools just completely shut down for like 6-7 weeks.
They have all these facilities during term time to support working families because there is obviously a need to for it, but in the holidays... ahh f*ck it!
Obviously o know there's summer schemes but at a massive expense and also different hours and locations.
My sons school isn't offering one so he's attending some random school for 3 days over the summer mainly just so he's socialising!
I'm extremely lucky as my mum is a great help to me during the holidays. And obviously I'm very much looking forward to spending more time with my boys and no school run... hurry!!!
But I just find it crazy that schools close for such a significant period of time.
Obviously I know school isn't childcare but it school itself enables parents to work so it kind of is 🤷🏼‍♀️

Op do you actually have any suggestions other than schools should be open in the holidays?

@Wednesdayafternoon If you did want to do a PGCE you can take a further student loan if you wish to. Also lots of universities now offer childcare depending on circumstances. Not saying you would want that, just for info as I know people who have done it.

You don't have to work in education to see the impact of the current teacher retention and recruitment crisis. Posts aren't being filled. Children are being taught by under qualified staff. Class sizes are massive.

There is a reason this is happening and it's not because teachers all happen to be moaners who don't realise how good they have it with their amazing holidays.

Taking more away from teachers will only make this worse. If you care about the quality of education that your children receive you should be supporting teachers not trying to further erode their entitlement - which I might add, in this case, is 6 weeks of UNPAID annual leave.

You also don't need any university qualifications to become a ta
Of course they get paid absolute shit. These people you want to pile extra work on but if you think that's a solution lead the way.

I mean, there is plenty of childcare in the holidays anyway. So what you are complaining about is having to pay for it. What you would like is free childcare like you get in a school.

I think that schools could be used/could provide summer schemes for children over the summer. This doesn't need to be by the original staff.
My sons school isn't offering anything so he's going to a random school for 3 days during the week. He's extremely shy and won't know anyone so I am worried about him.
I don't know the answer to the problem, but I think there is a problem and I just think that with how families work now and for single parents the summer holidays can be a really stressful time and it's a very long time for children to be out of routine. I just don't think the holidays are very modern or reflect modern life and I don't think there's anything wrong with questioning the norm!

There used to be lots of free or cheap activities in the holidays run by volunteers, mainly mums and grandmothers. Lots of very cheap playschemes.
Even SAHM do not seem to want to do this anymore. So there is no choice but expensive paid for schemes.

I'm not complaining about it if you are directing this to me. My OP literally states that I have childcare and I'm lucky and looking forward tk the holidays.
I just have empathy for those who don't.

I think holiday childcare provision surely varies by area of the country though? There's loads in London (at a price) but probably not in less populated areas. That's why a more joined up approach would help. Put more money back in people's pockets, subsidise the offer, and the services will emerge to meet the demand.

I was about to post similar!

One of the main reasons that schools close over the summer is because a lot of the middle and upper classes (i.e., the classes most likely to be in education) would leave the city for at least part of the summer and it was pointless having schools open if they weren't there, schools outside of urban areas fell into the same pattern so as to keep pace. Various industries based around tourism and leisure began to build their business on this too, especially in more modern times, which was further incentive to close schools to pupils over the summer as jobs/livelihoods relied on it.

In the UK the main harvest season is end of August/beginning of September to October (hence harvest festival being in October to celebrate the end of harvest season). Why would summer holidays have originated due to "children having to help with the harvest" when they're nowhere near the harvest!?

I mean, there is plenty of childcare in the holidays anyway.

There isn't. There are posts every year from people who simply can't access anything where they are. Not even a question of not wanting to pay for it, sometimes there isn't anything to buy. And what there is will often be 9 to 3, which is another issue.

I don't think OPs proposed solution is the answer either, but she isn't wrong about the existence of the problem.

I think that schools could be used/could provide summer schemes for children over the summer. This doesn't need to be by the original staff.
My sons school isn't offering anything so he's going to a random school for 3 days during the week. He's extremely shy and won't know anyone so I am worried about him.

So you acknowledge that some schools are already offering this, as your son is actually attending one during the holidays, but this isn't enough, and you want every school to offer it?

What happens if your Ds school offer a holiday scheme and:

He doesn't know anyone else who is going?

They have a low uptake?

They don't have staff who want to run the club?

The only school holiday roughly linked to helping with the harvest would be October half term, known here as "blackberry week" or "tattie week".

think that schools could be used/could provide summer schemes for children over the summer.

I don’t think that is possible-the buildings need to be painted, fixed, cleaned, maintained-all that stuff is saved for the summer holidays and the buildings would be a hazard if that was ignored.

Rather than blindly demanding a ‘modern’ way of working for which your only solution seems to be using the school buildings more (which isn’t feasible), perhaps we should take some tips from the countries that have longer holidays. How do their results/Pisa scores compare to ours? Their child mental health difficulties? School refusals?

I have already said I don't know the answer.
But not knowing the answer doesn't mean there isn't a problem.

My dc school partners with another school and together they hire an outside agency who provide clubs throughout the holidays. They're not free but much cheaper than a commercial holiday club.
The only thing is they're very limited.
Boys go to "multi sports" which is essentially football and girls go to "dance"

(The boy/girl divide isn't enforced by the club but that's what happens 98% of the time)

I'd love to see a wider variety of subjects covered.
Dc is doing drama, sailing, canoeing and cookery this year but all at different places and took some research to find.

I find it quite tricky to find summer activities for a boy who hates football and dislikes most competitive team sports.

I have already said I don't know the answer.
But not knowing the answer doesn't mean there isn't a problem.

But it's not the job of SAHM to provide childcare for the community. I ran a playgroup back when DC were small and its a thankless task with too many pisstakers. No one wants to help set up or tidy anyway and too many parents are content to sit back and let the volunteers try to manage little Johnny/little Jane while they throw the toys around, eat the paint, and shove Lego down the toilet.

And why should schools run it. Seeing as it's already been explained to you that most site maintenance happens in the holidays.
Why not set up your own holiday provision?

have already said I don't know the answer.
But not knowing the answer doesn't mean there isn't a problem.

But there isn't a problem.

You want schools to open in the holidays to offer childcare and activities.

There's a school local to you that's open in the holidays and offers childcare and activities.

Yes it might not be your DS school, but it's a school building that's open in the holidays that offers exactly what you're looking for.

It’s not unheard of, though. My mum was not a teacher and did not work in a school. She worked term time only and was salaried. Her salary was low, mind you.

School isn't child care

My dc school partners with another school and together they hire an outside agency who provide clubs throughout the holidays. They're not free but much cheaper than a commercial holiday club.

Ours are doing this for part of the holiday too, but yeah, also limited here. Just sporty stuff.

Well it's certainly seen as childcare by the government when they're attempting to get single mums on benefits back to work...

There used to be an idea that people in the community pitched in to help others. I used to help run children's activities. I agree though there are pisstakers.