To think summer hols should be 4 weeks long, then have another two weeks through the year

[Starfishswimmer]

Say for example may holiday becomes a fortnight as does the oct one

Would you find this better ?

yanbu for yes
yabu for no

Totally agree. Six weeks is far too short and doesn't give enough time to allow the children to both relax and experience new things.

I'm assuming people who love the long holidays and even want them longer don't work!

I'd probably love them too if I didn't have to juggle annual leave and £££ paid childcare. When you work it's shit!

Italy.

Not in my case, I work full time. I took 2 weeks off with kids this summer, and the odd day here and there.

The age helps -- I had set them up with a mix of work from home, friends and a lot of free activities, and council-sponsored activities or relevant to their hobbies so low or no cost.

I did use some childcare but the bill was cheaper than school time after school care.

I would holiday abroad in oct

The vote is very split on this one

I’d go a step further - have a shorter summer break but allow schools or LEA’s to individually choose an extra week or two whenever they like in the year. This would make a massive difference to the holiday industry.

Yabu we're teachers and it takes 6 weeks to recover!

Ha ha no. I home Ed now but the summer holidays are far too short. Children need family time and a break. 10-12 weeks is ideal.

Potentially a nightmare for parents with children at different schools, or families from different areas who want to get together in the holidays though.
Also could cause problems for children who do sports and other activities where there are summer schools, holiday training camps etc - it's already sometimes an issue when private schools have different holidays or schools break up for Summer on different dates in different areas If there was wide variation round the country it could be quite disruptive. I don't think there's an answer that suits everyone though.

That only works if you have DC at the same school/under the same LEA.

No thanks. The summer holidays went too quickly as it is!

We already have 7 weeks in summer, 2 weeks in May and October and often 3 weeks at Easter.

It becomes more of an issue for office type working parents who struggle as it is to share summer holidays between them. The reality is that unless the hoody says are tagged into the May holiday, then the summer break remains the most popular tune to go away.

October and February aren't great times to have short haul or U.K. holidays for someone who wants a sunny and warm holiday, so only the most wealthy can afford to have a longer break then. Christmas is long enough.

Easter and May holidays can be lengthened due to exams in years 10 upwards, especially GCSEs, a levels, etc.

I love the long holidays. I work full time and the kids do several church or scouts camps. Not expensive as only £80-90 per week. My son was away for nearly 3 weeks including the family holiday.

Also re exams and holidays.

It's not just Easter and May holidays that would be the issue.

Teachers mark papers. They do this outside of school hours, a big chunk in school holiday time. Even more so when they are the ones who are moderating and examining papers. If they lose time over the summer they can't then commit to marking, so who then does it?

Most people who push for holiday changes in the summer are those with primary aged children in my experience. It just simply doesn't work when you add in secondary schools and sixth form colleges.

And parents with children in both sectors, or parents with children in the different stage ti then wouldn't be able to deal with the mismatch of holidays

Yes you can - just the year 11s come in that week

And who supervises them? Or are you proposing the teachers lose a week if their holiday entitlement?

I'm always shocked at how short the school holidays are in England everywhere else seems to have much longer ones.

The weather in the summer is (usually) lovely and things are open.

I can't bear October and February half terms. Everything is closed and the weather is miserable. I'd much rather a long and enjoyable summer break.

Exactly - who supervises the Y11s? Who ensures their safety when on site? I sure as sh*t won't be coming in during my holiday to do it.

The points about teachers as GCSE and A level examiners are also well made.

In my area of Scotland we have 6 weeks for summer (7 weeks every seven years), two for October and two for easter. I love it. I would however, like to move Christmas day a month forward to 25th January. Then we could spend all of Decemeber and January brightened by the twinkly lights, and when we had to go back to work early Feb, the days would be starting to draw out and things wouldn't feel quite so grim.

It's 9 weeks in Ireland for primary. 13 for secondary which is fine if you're at working age. 9 weeks! My kids spend most of it alone as we both work maximum capacity as we work in a tourist area. I would prefer if, at least in this area, they could break it up over the year.

I’d like 2 weeks Oct half term and extra week at cmas

A long summer break is one of the great joys of childhood.

Yes. Add a week on to the Oct and Feb half terms. Much better.