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

From whaf I hear it is haemorrhaging teachers because of appalling working conditions with no respect or discipline and chronic underfunding, crumbling facilities and class sizes double what they should be, toxic work environments with incompetent management, political interference in how qualified professionals do their job and an SEN support budget that needs quadrupling rather than the latesf genius plan to cut it. I haven't heard of any teachers quitting because they think 4 weeks of annual leave per year with some flexibility on when it is taken would be preferable to 13 weeks of leave at fixed times, despite the inconvenience that inflexibility no doubt causes.

ThePeaAndThePrincess, because it hasn't happened yet. But if it did it would be the tipping point for a number of my colleagues.

If Wales does go ahead I’m not sure why holiday time making it more attractive won’t be considered

Seems a bad oversight

9 weeks for my DD.

4 would be much easier from a childcare point of view but once they're older I really think they need the extended break between years.

If we are talking UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks holiday a year. Not sure why teachers would only get 4.

I read OPs post and it simply made me wonder if people like that only have children to benefit the wider economy rather than because they actually want children.

Mind you I'm one of those weirdos who is not desperate to be rid of their children within days of school holiday starting.

My children get 9 weeks. It’s perfect

They mean that it was an alternative suggested, allowing teachers to chose when to be off.

Can you imagine the logistical nightmare. It would be awful

I'd have thought it would be impossible to do without massive disruption to kids. Obviously there are times teachers aren't there but usually unavoidable things like sickness.

@Iwasafool it wouldn't work. No spare teachers for covering absences now.

I really like the idea of 4 wks in the summer & longer half terms.

I read OPs post and it simply made me wonder if people like that only have children to benefit the wider economy rather than because they actually want children.

Mind you I'm one of those weirdos who is not desperate to be rid of their children within days of school holiday starting.

@Libgera I don’t understand the above?

No, this would be a fuc*ing misery.

It already is. The entire year would be revolving around school and education without a decent break. Also the 2-weak-long autumn breaks sound wonderful in this bleak weather.

European countries and European children have way longer summer holidays.

I’ve been thinking about this-we have just had a week off for February half term. It has rained for virtually the whole week and it’s bloody freezing. Anything you want to do with the kids needs to be indoors and costs a fortune. There is no way I would want to swap a week in July in the sunshine, for another week off now!

It would seem that the results of now closed consultation are now being analysed by Miller Research. With the Welsh government stating:

We will publish a consultation report and decision in spring 2024.

It will be interesting to see what Wales do and how popular it is.

I hope England doesn’t follow.

As a teacher, I would generally spent one week preparing for the next year and one week mentally recovering from the previous year as well as taking down my displays etc. If you're a head of department you're already going in to deal with GCSE and A-Level results which is another week.

So really it's only four weeks of actual holiday when you're not working, if that.

Two weeks off in February and November and only 4 weeks at summer? No thank you. Can't afford a long haul holiday on my teacher salary so would be stuck trying to fill two weeks of miserable English weather. It was hard enough to entertain the kids for one week last week.

Also much harder to staff holiday clubs and camps for two weeks in February and Autumn rather than a longer bloc in the summer where you can get students etc.

I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist.... but it's almost as if they want to indoctrinate the kids to be like robots.... because, I don't understand how most of the world have longer holidays, and the kids education doesn't seem to be suffering.

Yes I agree 6 weeks always been to long

4 weeks in the summer would fuck up exam marking and awarding.

Noooooooo! This would be a nightmare. Insane prices in the Summer break. Awful weather (on the whole) Feb and Oct. Incredibly difficult for me to take time off in half terms, at least in the summer there is the possibility of sharing time with colleagues and enough flexibility for everyone to have a break.

My DS has 8 weeks off. Initially I thought it would be too long but it’s actually great.
Four weeks isn’t enough. For children who struggle at school it can take a couple of weeks to relax, then have a couple of good weeks before the back to school anxiety starts.

There’s a similar thread running here

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5016317-to-think-this-will-do-nothing-to-help-absence-rates?reply=133339629

Bad idea. There's already a teacher shortage and this won't help at all.