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

Great so long as my pay and holiday entitlement isn't effected

My contract is TTO + 12 days extra during the holidays and I only get paid 46 weeks a year so effectively don't get paid for August. But i get a pay check every month

Also I live in Cornwall so the busiest time of year will be condensed into 4 weeks not 6 so everything will be even more over booked

As a teacher, I don’t think I’d want this. As pp have mentioned, we’re in a slump for recruitment and retention and the big holiday in summer is a huge pull.

Im in N.I and we have 8/9 weeks off which is too long, 6 weeks sounds good. 4 weeks is a bit short, and we are both full time working parents. I think longer Halloween and half term would be more annoying as they would be in and out of school every 5 mins

As a child I loved the endless summer. As an adult I love having my children home for the six weeks.

I think many of us forget what it is like through a child's eyes. Six weeks to do something that isn't school and following rules and routines. Time to be bored and discover interests. Kids being bored isn't a bad thing.

It's a no from me. Another one who is a teacher and a parent. We all need a big break when the weather is nicer. Imagine everyone trying to fit their summer trips away into 4 weeks.

Nope October and February are already cold miserable times to be off never mind for two weeks. I wish they broke up the end of June and went back mid August so they get the best of the weather

Swapping a hot sunny week off in July for a cold wet one in February would be utterly depressing!

Yep. I think 4 weeks would be great, and take the extra weeks at different times of year.
The weather in this country is now always AWFUL in August and 6 weeks is just forever. I would MUCH rather have the time in Oct/may holiday wise. And it's so difficult to fill 6 whole weeks especially when you work (not in education).
If we had summer camps and things like the USA then it would maybe make sense, but we don't... We just have rain and kids stuck in on devices!

Great for those who go off for winter sun, or skiing in longer holidays in October or February.

Less good for those trudging off to the local park for the 40th time in the drizzle and cold,

School attendance in the summer terms will plummet as people seek to take affordable holidays in good weather in this country. Camping and caravan sites will be full of kids on unauthorised attendance.

So everyone in the workplace is scrambling to get those few weeks at highly inflated prices?

Terrible idea

Private schools have a lot longer in terms of holidays already so it will add to the disparity. It gives children a chance to relax a bit and find new hobbies. Some children really need a longer break to unwind and destress a bit.

I would MUCH rather have the time in Oct/may holiday wise

Well, that’s not the proposal-it’s an extra week in October and February.

This would involve alot of negotiation with representatives of staff working in education. Some would prefer a spread of a week in Feb, 3 weeks in April and 4 in summer, 2 in October & December. Others would prefer the extra 2 weeks pay, teachers get paid for 40 days holiday as per other local authority staff, the remaining 20 days are unpaid but pay is spread across 12 months.

Exactly-I’ve seen this debated endlessly ever since I started teaching in the 90s-so many different people want a range of different changes to the school year/holidays and there is generally no one clear winning alternative.

Taking a week from July and getting a week in February in return is possibly one of the worse suggestions I've ever seen, though!

"Rewarding" is usually a mix of vocational, financial & academic. I didn't realise NHS staff were all volunteers, how wonderfully quaint.

I am in Ireland eldest gets three months youngest gets two. I would question will parents be able to renegotiate their leave to cover the change? There are a lot of sectors that reflect the school calendar, tourism, summer clubs, term time contracts. That is a lot of moving parts to be sorted together.

Bad idea. It's bad enough that kids are in school for most of July when usually all the great weather is happening. I'd be really annoyed if they said don't worry you can have an extra two weeks in Feb or October. It will also mean absence rates will go up.

When I was a teacher I usually spent most of the first week of the summer holidays in school and quite a bit of the last week too. I wouldn't want to do that if I only had 4 weeks. Also, think of all the families trying to get away for a summer holiday - things are going to be quickly booked up if it's compressed to a 4 week period.

6 weeks of no school i use to love it as a child no bullies no teachers telling us off we could just be kids.
Mum loved it tbh she was a lot less stressed in the holidays any holiday even on weekends.
Sleep in no worries go we wanted no time for mum to work around.
She loved it so did we soooo much fun.
Mind you we all hated school and the teachers so did our mum.
I hope they make the holidays longer for kids its so freeing for them.
I dont no why we have schools everything can be learned at the click of a button now.
I mean its not about socialising with other kids they do that out of school anyway.
I feel like schools are little prisons trapped in to get shouted at.
I bet there is a few kids just counting the years down to when its all over some parents are doing the same.

They get about 10 weeks here. It's very much needed imo.

I seem to remember this in Ireland. I went to a private primary school though. Off at the end of May, then home for June, July, and August. Back in the first week of September.

We used to just under 3 months in Cyprus when I was a child. I think longer is needed not shorter. I'd be very sad and actually rather concerned about the effect on children if they go through with this proposal. This puts adult wants ahead of the child's needs, which seems to be very very wrong.

Why not increase the length of the school day so that the extra weeks off can still be done? Most schools finish by 3.15, why not start 15 minutes earlier & finish 15 minutes later, the extra time would add up to at least 2 extra weeks in school which would mean 2 extra weeks for half terms?

Because the length of the school day for students does not equal the length of the school day for staff.

In a school where lessons start at 8.45am, the car park is usually full by 7.45am so that staff have time to prepare resources and attend the many morning briefings there are - training happens in the mornings, too.

Likewise, if the school day finishes at 3.15pm, staff are then expected to provide enrichment activities for students, in secondary school Y11 revision lessons are put on, training/ parents' evenings and other events happen after school for at least an hour at the end of the school day. Then staff mark and/ or prepare more resources, catch up with parents, meet with other staff for operational procedures etc. The car park is rarely emptying before 5pm and many staff are already staying until 5.30/6pm.

An extra 30min a day may not seem much to you, but it would make the difference between some staff being able to drop children off at childcare and still arriving in school on time, or not. Between taking yet more work home, or having slightly less to do. Every bit of extra contact time with students comes with far more work behind the scene - planning, marking, safeguarding, parental contact.