To think 4 weeks summer is ok

[comeonlabour]

So as the title suggests, if the plans do go ahead to make summer hols 4 weeks I for one am not against it. I always think 6 weeks is way too long so 4 is more manageable

Also we will have longer half terms of 2 weeks in some cases instead of 1 so all good

Anyone else feel the same/agree with me

I have heard nothing about this! From
any of my children’s 3 schools.

No, I do not agree with you.

I like the long summers. We have 10 weeks off where we live and I wouldn’t want them any shorter.

Do you work in a school OP?

6 weeks is much better. I miss my kids and I resent how much school gets them all strung out and unhappy. School is, overwhelmingly, an unhealthy environment in this country (and most countries). I think kids need to decompress, be bored, slow down the life race and lean into reconnecting with themselves, above all, without all the noise. We love a long, slow spell of living in my household.

Kids and teachers need a break. When I was a kid we got 3 months off, my dd had 8 weeks. She needed that break. It goes by so fast.

I haven't heard anything about this. We already have a two week October half term.

I think the holiday prices would soar as there would be less availability and I like going on holiday so I don't think it's a good idea!

Agree. 4 weeks sounds better. Six is too long and my kids start to get bored and fed up. Most mums work nowadays so it is actually just a childcare nightmare for a lot of people rather than a relaxing break

For me as a single parent I find 6 weeks too long as it's a pain to sort childcare for that long.
On the whole I think it is beneficial and positive for my 2 children, they enjoy the time off and can reset nicely in the 6 weeks.
It's a difficult one and I don't know what is best.

I'm a teacher... I'm quite happy with the 6 weeks tbh!

4 weeks would be better for my autistic DC as he does better with routine and after 6 weeks going back to school is a big adjustment again.

We get 7 weeks (Scotland) much prefer longer holidays when the nights are lighter and the weather is supposedly better. Two weeks in February and two in October? No thanks.

Where are you hearing from this plan?

I suppose the 6-7 weeks do seem endless and it would be better spaced out throughout the year.

Learning is easier in shorter breaks and some terms are longer than others.

I'd be all for it if my DC were younger

I'd be all for it. 6 weeks is really hard for working parents, and it would give them more learning time. Possibly 6 weeks is ok if you're a SAHP who can facilitate weeks of wholesome forest picnics, but for the rest of us it's a patchwork of clubs etc, so hardly much of a rest for the kids. I never buy this "kids are so exhausted by school" line, anyway.

Mine are the same, the first 4 weeks great, lovely time to reset and rest but the rest of the weeks is spent asking is it time to go back to school yet? We’re bored, we’re hungry and on it goes till they go back!

I’m a teacher and a parent and I couldn’t disagree more.
I love my few weeks with my children and my children need the break.
It may happen and there is in the end not a lot that could be done about it - some schools already run on this model. It would make very sad and even less likely to stay in my job. I would certainly never choose a job in a school with this set up if there were alternatives.

@BoxOfPaints yep exactly, mine go to a childminder who is great and I only work till 2 but then I spend the rest of the time trying to fit in activities and feeling guilty for not spending more time with them you can’t win

Four weeks would be better, maybe with longer half terms? Two week a piece , some of the academies do this already, back to school last week of August , two
weeks off in October.

The summer holidays are very much like any usual day for us as We both worked. We’ve just got the added cost of paying for holiday clubs too!

I’d like an extra week at Xmas, they break up so late here (23 December in 2022)! Then the 2 weeks are just gone in a blink, another week would help reset after a busy run up to Xmas it’s relentless

More holidays at times of the year when the weather is rubbish? Not a great idea for families who can't afford to get away somewhere warm and have to find/pay for stuff to do to entertain their kids.

The reasoning behind it is that the most disadvantaged children fall further behind over summer, as their parents don't read with them or do anything educational - they arrive back in school after 6 weeks of mainly screen time having forgotten how to sit and concentrate, and their reading and maths skills have dropped too.

For this reason alone I think it's a good idea. The better off majority needs to compromise for the sake of the less fortunate minority.

Where I live teenagers are still spending every summer holiday helping to get the harvest in. It's not just a feature of the pre-industrial era. I don't think cutting the summer holidays down would be popular here.

All for it, it’s a childcare nightmare.

We have 2 week October half term here, making the other 2 half terms 2 weeks by taking it off the summer would be much easier to manage.

Exactly, three weeks at Christmas would be horrendous!

I love the 6 weeks summer hols (not a teacher; DH and I juggle working around occasionally grandparents time which realise makes us lucky). I think it's important for kids to have a period in the year where they can almost forget about school altogether. Four weeks wouldn't be long enough for that imo. I didn't appreciate though that not all children have a happy set up at home and for them 6 weeks off isn't a positive.

Wales is pushing this through now.
6 weeks this year.
5 weeks next if it goes through, but they turn to push stuff through whether it is favoured by the public or not ( see also 20mph limit!) so it will be done.
Then most likely 4 weeks the year after.

Regardless of the effect it is going to have on the tourism sector, or how it will affect other businesses who will then have staff who are parents all wanting the same holidays off but squashed into 4 weeks not 6.

I'm not hugely against 2 weeks at whit instead but they are talking about putting a week in october first when weather isn't always great so harder for parents to find free and/or outdoor stuff to do with the kids.