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

All the holiday clubs here seem to run 9-3. Which is less than ideal for work. I’m divorced so we each cover half the holidays The long summer is the biggest challenge. We tend to do wild camping in camper van holidays by a loch and do lots of kayaking/ paddle boarding/ cooking on a campfire type stuff. Which you can often still do at Easter/ Oct holidays with a warmer wetsuit.

I appreciate other families are different but a shorter summer holiday would work better for me.

I do think some children struggle with transition back to school to after such a long break. I remember returning to school, barely being able to write, not having held a pencil for the whole summer.

If they did it I hope the 4 weeks would be July not August. It’s unbearable working in schools in July as it’s so hot where August is now very wet and cooler.

Oh how do private schools and almost every other country cope - can their kids not hold a pencil after 8-12+ weeks off🙄

could easily be solved with holiday homework. Have to say though we had some going into y2 and they wouldnt even take it in.

Sports and running around and sunshine is good for kids
Many activities actually strengthen for handwriting etc

It seems this is more about getting people back to work so fewer sahp.

If people have to work to 71+ they arent going to pick teaching. Likewise without the break.
May even more imoact TAs etc as people may think they could cover the summer especially if they take 2w holiday.

I disagree with changing everything for a few kids who forget over the summer or arent getting school meals etc
as others say staying home in feb will be more expensive.

I think its possibly about UC and how it works in a shorter time frame than TC.

I do think some children struggle with transition back to school to after such a long break. I remember returning to school, barely being able to write, not having held a pencil for the whole summer.

This is really not my experience after 30 years of teaching. While you do have to brush up on some things I find September the nicest month in school. They tend to be fresh, less tired, and more upbeat after the break, and happy to see friends etc again.

Sounds like another exercise in scrapping the joy from life.

I suspect it will expedite the decision for a lot of people to homeschool.

If they want to do this then they need to make school a happier place to be in general.

Oh and an extra week in February is literally the crappest idea. It's already the shittiest half term in terms of weather/getting away in the UK. You're basically swapping a week of outdoors opportunity in summer to a week of gaming/TV because it's too wet, cold and miserable to do anything without it being a faff.

Then the key is not to reduce the holidays but ensure that children don’t go all summer without holding a pencil.

definitely not homework as that is the good thing about summer holidays, a break from that but maybe we need to find ways to encourage fun activities during the summer that mean they will write. A lot of attractions have things like giving out clipboards and pencils for children to do as they go round - so maybe more of that and in places that are free/more accessible for all.

No its not. We have 8 weeks here and love it but it is already often a problem to be able to book 2 weeks off work in the Summer so I can only imagine it would be a nightmare if the amount of holiday time was halved. Everyone wants july/august as its the only time when there is any chance of getting decent ish weather.

To be fair my kids draw and have access to art stuff whenever they want and so same thing wouldn’t happen with them. Life was different in the 80s. I used to spend whole days reading in the library in the holidays though and was top sets for everything so No one worried about me academically.

This is always being discussed ,however the long holiday is needed I think for both Teachers and children! I dont think 4 weeks is the same

Wales has said this is likely the last 6 week summer holiday this year. Then it is looking at removing a week from the summer, and adding it to Oct.

Then the year after removing another week to add to May.

They also are floating the idea of going down as far as 3 weeks in the summer to add a week to Feb too.

I loved my summer hols as a kid.

Really appreciated them as a teacher with young kids, as for me childcare was mostly sorted by my own timetable, even if it meant they had to come into my classroom frequently in the holidays (which they enjoyed mostly).

In hard years (this year is the hardest class, behaviour-wise, that I've had in over 25 years, and classes coming up are the same or worse!- and I teach in a leafy village primary) the holidays are really important to de-stress.

The tourism sector has written en-masse to the gov to complain as they are concerned that shortening the time of year when they make the bulk of their income will be devastating to their businesses.

The tourism sector has written en-masse to the gov to complain as they are concerned that shortening the time of year when they make the bulk of their income will be devastating to their businesses.

I‘m not surprised-this is a terrible idea for tourism!

In Scotland too. I wish summer holidays were in may/June, we always seem to have better weather those months than July/August (always raining) 😂, I also would like 5-6 weeks instead of 7 , but that's asking too much 😂

Sounds horrible.