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

We already do have totally different holidays?

4 or even 5 weeks is much better. Currently we are in the ludicrous position of having 7 this summer.

When I was a teacher, I was in favour of this idea (it seems to regularly get floated!) as I always found the autumn term relentless and wanted a two week break in it. Also, UK August weather is frequently disappointing, it's always nicest in June when kids are in school anyway. And I enjoy a rainy week off by dreary grey seas, wrapped up in big jumpers reading so I'd be happy with extra holiday in October/February. Now I'm self employed I find the six weeks a little stressful trying to juggle work and children. Six weeks is tough for children with SEN or from homes where they need the stability and structure of school plus a meal - there are children who go hungry in the holidays. And it's tough for a lot of working parents.

Secondary school gets June, July and August off here, Primary school get July and August. It gives the kids time to relax, a complete break. The exams for Secondary are usually at the beginning of June so even exam years have approx 10 weeks, I wouldn't like to see it change.

I have five off, different to other schools so only four weeks with my children.
Genuinely at the start of every Summer holidays I go 'this is why I do it'. I probably definitely would quit otherwise 🤣

As long as you still get that time during other holidays then I think that’s great.

I think shorter summer hols would be great if it was 2 more weeks of school but giving us an extra week in October and February when the weather is awful is pointless, where’s the benefit for anyone in that? If I had the luxury of being a stay at home parent and had the means to do whatever I wanted I would bloody love 6 weeks in the summer with my kids. But when you’re trying to balance childcare and work, 6 weeks is really hard

I’m a teacher. I’d prefer 4 weeks and two weeks at October and Feb.

Increase it to 8w.
they do not do any work for weeks before breaking up and august is bad weather

If they reduce it some holiday clubs may close. As its only 2-3 weeks childcare after a holiday.
It would be bad for obesity more time off in bad weather

I dont believe kids regress in 5-6w off. Thats a statistoc because teachers have to show progress so mark down at the start.

Set homework over the summer...

Well its one way to increase unauthorised time off school.

The july holiday is most popular in uk. So pushing people abroad as august rain

Teacher here and parent of two. Adding on an extra week to October or February half term would be a massive pain; weather is terrible and children would all end up stuck inside on screens. Yes I know there are plenty of things to do in poor weather but they’re, a) not free and, b) not widely available across all areas of the country. I know from experience that behaviour un primary is worse after October, Christmas and February breaks thanks to heavy use of tablets. I teach in a very middle class village with money available for trips, visits etc, and still all my class talked about for most of January was Fortnite and YouTube.

There’s an argument for adding on an extra week to May half term when the weather is usually nice, but that would cause havoc for exams in secondary and primary teachers would spend the entire time writing reports so might not help the current retention crisis.

If our school system wasn’t so chronically underfunded and thus a hideously stressful place to learn and work, perhaps children wouldn’t need six weeks to destress. Even then, I’d still want my own children to have six weeks to rest their brains, learn new skills like bike riding etc.

Awful idea. In most countries the summer break is 2.5-3 months. It is the only time of year they get a sustained rest. In two week holidays they are already thinking about the impending return one week in. Absolutely don't support scrapping their one decent period of respite per year and I say this as a lone parent who has a full time job and children who cannot use clubs/ group childcare. If this was implemented I would extend the holiday myself for the last two weeks of the summer term when they do next to nothing anyway and not send them in.

I thoroughly disagree for lots of reasons.

1. It won't reduce holiday prices; merely push up further those 4 weeks as more people want them.
2. I know as a child I really needed that time to recover.
3. It's also good for schools who need major building work to have time to do it in. It will make the summer even harder for them to get builders etc in too as more will want it then.
4. Schools can often hire out rooms for several weeks over the summer to foreign summer schools and similar.
5. We're already on one of the shortest summer holidays

Personally I'd add another two weeks to the holidays and give them an 8 week summer. I think actually both children and teachers would be better for it.

I'm another who thinks the children need more time off, not less.

I’m fine with the time off as is

A good break

Four is really short

The general trend is for summers to get hotter. I think DC are already in school for long enough when it's warm and stuffy.

It's also a problem for lower income parents to entertain DC longer when outside is less available. I heard about a lot of people really struggling this last summer when it pissed down so much, so the park was much less available.

This would have delighted me before wfh when I had to shell out ££££ for childcare in the holidays.

But not an issue for me now.

As long as Scotland and England keep different holidays do we Scot's can benefit from the cheaper travel costs when the English kids are still at school.

No, I don't agree. But I'm a TA and can't have holidays at any other time. And I cant afford to go abroad for sun, so have to take my chances with our summers.

Does Wales have the same issues with teacher and TA recruitment as we do in England?

No because anyone with a slight chance of being able to afford a holiday during the school holidays will be fighting to fit into 2/3 of the time.
Teachers will never be able to afford a holiday

Yabu 6 weeks is best.

I’ve been saying they should do this for years. Everyone says it’s 6 weeks, but where I am it somehow always ends up being 7 weeks minimum, and more than once it’s been 8. It’s a nightmare. Meanwhile, they make the first half term back interminably long, everyone’s knackered and then we end up with a 4 or 5 week half term somewhere. I’d far rather 4 weeks in the summer and then 2 weeks at October and May.

I’m a teacher and I can spend two weeks of the summer holidays preparing for the next year (especially when we’ve had the carpets done and or we move classrooms and I have to move all of the furniture!).

Wales are thinking about it. Hopefully I will be retired before it happens.

I’m all for a shorter summer break. 9 weeks is madness. Make the Christmas break at least a week longer.

9 weeks?