Summer holidays - outdated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 🤷🏼‍♀️

Funny how neither OP or any other posters saying the summer hols are too long here have any comment on the much longer holidays that a lot of other countries have.

👆👏👏

My holidays were nearly 3 months. Somehow I managed.

Nor at all. Much needed for children and school staff.

I always got 3 months in Ireland

was the best time - school was awful and I used count the days down to summer 😂 I don’t think I’d have coped without the time off tbh

kids need a break and I actually find the school holidays shockingly short here 😂😂

This is such a great point, and one that some posters on here seem to be ignoring. The amount of posts commenting on the long school holidays, when they're actually not long at all. I think some posters would be really surprised to see how other countries compare.

@Wednesdayafternoon

Nowhere in my post have i said i want to retrain in a new career!

Today i said goodbye to children i taught more than once, that goodbye for a few of them was hard for them and me, and knowing it was hard because I've had an impact on their lives is the most amazing feeling, that makes it all worth while!!

I was clearly trying to make the point that its not all plain sailing. I bet you get paid overtime? My contracted hours are actually 8.30-3.30....thats it, i dont get paid for the hours i work either side of that but do far more than that!

As I've already said in another post we don't get paid holidays either, and have had a real terms paycut since my teaching career began! This week, the government announced pay rises for new and newish teachers, but for senior teachers like me, the pay increase is yet to be clear...a real kick in the teeth for teachers like me who work their backsides off to give your children a better future!!

Im not complaining, just telling you how it is. But use it as another opportunity to spread your bias!!

Should there be more support during school holidays for working parents? I don’t think you’ll find anyone who disagrees.
Exactly.
And teachers would be the first to realise the importance of sure start style provision. But they understand it should be well planned and resources, not a tag on to the endless teaching/parenting duties teachers are expectwd to

Absolutely right.

It seems to be the expectation that school staff solve every problem in society. It's a worrying trend.

I never understand why this point is always made.
Surely everyone states their pay as being their annual salary, which takes into account their holiday. For example, I get 6 weeks holiday per year. I would never say I get paid for 46 weeks of the year, spread over 52 weeks. I get paid the same per month whether I have 2 weeks annual leave or none at all.

I think some posters would be really surprised to see how other countries compare

You would also have to look at the wider society. Net income, childcare provision, working hours and so on.

I know for a fact that the country I grew up in has 14 bank Holidays, 25+ days annual leave is standard when starting a job. This increases with time of service for almost all jobs - public or private!
Not sure your average cleaner/ warehouse worker or delivery driver will get this as standard in the UK.

When DC are off sick, most Dr's will write a sick not for the parent- this translates to paid leave...
Most families can afford for one parent to work p/t or not at all- yep that includes lower paid workers. So yes, when DC have more/ longer holidays there is a balance to it.

I think the UK is very "poor" when it comes to taking care of future generations. The route course of this is obviously the low wage- high service cost economy. And we know who is to blame for that!

Because you get paid the hours you work, teachers get paid for 190 days per year 8.30 - 3.30 but actually work far more! If the job is as easy as other posters make out maybe they should do it! They can be awake at night worrying about the kids they know and are reporting but very little is done, they can spend hours planning and preparing above their work hours. I love my job but it isn't at all what non teachers think it is!

@Sarahcoggles

Teachers are paid for 6 weeks holiday as well. But get 14 weeks in total so actually only get paid for ten months a year.

Any professionals work more hours than they are paid for. Totally normal.

It’s a point usually made being teachers in response to being told that they could do xyz during their massive long holidays.

Probably fewer other professions are told that they have too much holiday or that it would be a good idea if they worked more of their holidays.

I’m not sure why everyone doesn’t become teachers since everyone thinks their pay, holidays etc. is so great. You’d really wonder why there’s such a recruitment and retention crisis.

@Supergirl1958 spread my bias? What is my bias exactly?! I've never said anything negative about teachers or asked them to work more! You seem to really have a grudge about your work to be SO defensive about it to someone who has said nothing bad about your job.

I don't always get paid over time. Today I worked through my lunch hour and logged on an hour early at 7am to deal with someone's complaint. I won't get paid for it but sometimes I have to do this and so do many other people. It's absolutely crap, it is unfortunately part of the job that I've chosen to do. But can I make someone else feel bad about this? No because I chose to do that job.

Just because you're a teacher and you work hard as being a teacher doesn't mean I can't question whether school holidays are still appropriate!
It also doesn't mean that you are the only person to state you work hard or over time. Many people do.

Schools educate. They are not child care.

But why not just say they're paid for the whole year, and state a lower salary? Because that's what it amounts to. I mean, it's not as if they can get a whole other job in the holidays.

Bias doesn't mean negative!!! @Wednesdayafternoon it means 'one sided' your viewpoint is very one sided and doesn't take into account the job teachers do!

I have also never once said that you HAVE said anything negative...just biased!!

How does me telling you exactly what i as a teacher do mean i have a 'grudge' against my job exactly? Im just giving you the facts...since a comment about teachers deaerving their holidays to spend time with their own children clearly irked you...I'm paraphrasing a little but that's pretty much it!!

And no, im not the only person to teach, work hard, or do overtime...never said that i am!!! I also havent even gone into the half of my job, but i won't bore you with that in this thread!!!

Well done you for working hard today!! Thankyou :)

Meh. Different Jobs have different perks. You can go to the toilet anytime you want and take annual leave for random days. I get 6 weeks off in the summer. I agree childcare is extortionate but surely it’s better to sort out the lack of annual leave and price of childcare as opposed to taking cheap shots at teachers

These conversations always go down the same route. The issues with a lack of childcare options and teacher working conditions are the least important question to ask.

Do you want schools to open for more weeks because you want your children to have more time learning? The best educational models in the world (Sweden, for example) see children learning for fewer hours and for fewer weeks of the years, but achieve far higher standards academically and are much happier children.

Do you really want your children to take part in more learning? Do you feel that the quantity of content of the curriculum isn't sufficient? Do you imagine they will be happier, more well-adjusted, better education humans with more time in school learning long multiplication?

As an ex-primary school teacher, I know very well that the children are exhausted with what they already receive in terms of educational hours. I personally think that they should have more holidays. And I say that as a parent who now works in the private sector and suffers the same struggles as many of you when it comes to desperately scrabbling for childcare during the holidays.

None of the above invalidate the struggles the OP and many of you experience. We should be campaigning for more and more flexible annual leave from our employers. We should be campaigning for more and more affordable/subsidised holiday care options.

Think of what you're asking to take away from your children in asking for more time in school. Our kids deserve time to be kids. The UK's factory style education system is not fit for purpose as it is and I certainly don't want more of it for my child, no matter how convenient the prospect may be for my working hours.

Surely it's more for the teachers than the children?!

Love this answer! My dissertation foe my psychology masters is on the hidden costs of our education system...more time on maths and English means less time outdoors, doing art, music etc! We also have a massive semh problem in this country

This is why I don't see the argument for spreading the holidays.

And nobody will want their time off work in the winter months everyone will still be clambering after the same weeks in summer. And holidays prices will sky rocket.