To think this will do nothing to help absence rates

[Imonthebloodyphone]

So a report published today says that school summer holidays in England should be cut to four weeks. (I know Wales has been consulting on this for a while but don't know if anything has been decided)

The report recommends longer half-term breaks in the autumn and spring terms in a proposed overhaul of the academic calendar. Article here:
www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/26/school-summer-holidays-half-term-england-calendar-nuffield-foundation-report

AIBU to think this is only going to exacerbate school absence? Because what struggling families really need is even more pressure on the already expensive 6 week summer holiday period when they can take their kids away!

Who on earth wants extra weeks in November and February, especially families who can't afford to go abroad. The last two weeks have been so bloody wet and miserable here in the UK; I can't imagine if a February holiday was my best hope of a break.

i do think that the autumn term is long and could do with a longer holiday, but February, really?

But yes I think it needs leaving as is!
having less summer holiday won’t benefit anyone !

As many posters have mentioned, this is not the proposal in England and won’t happen any time soon due to the external exam timings.

The proposal is an extra week at October and February.

It bugs me that we used to get a decent Christmas and Easter break. The two weeks in October happens just as the kids are settling back into the school routine. It's a really long term - maybe the kids should start back a week later instead and then add a couple of extra days to Christmas and Easter instead.

It did work for my children and for me as a parent, as I mentioned the difference is that I signed up for a non traditional dispersal
of holidays.
My now adult children have good jobs, decent salary and an excellent work ethic. They have not been impacted at all by having a shorter term!
Perhaps if there was a fairer distribution of wealth in this country schools wouldn’t need to be doing the work of children’s social care!

I would be for this if the extra week was in May half term. Me and the kids aren't sun worshippers and we now actively avoid travelling in the summer holidays. Last year we went in October which was perfect, this year we'll be going in May and hoping for our ideal warm weather. An extra week in February is ridiculous though! Do the people coming up with this stuff perhaps enjoy skiing and would like more opportunity to go?

Do the people coming up with this stuff perhaps enjoy skiing and would like more opportunity to go?

Ha ha, you’re probably onto something there!

Extra time in February is a terrible idea-I doubt it will ever come to anything, thank goodness.

For the eleventy millionth time on this thread - extending the May holiday will not and can not happen without a major overhaul of external exams.

On the plus side, February's great for some cheaper sunshine, though agree not everyone can afford that!

Rewriting the school year so that a small segment of more affluent parents can take their children on slightly cheaper foreign holidays, doesn’t seem like the greatest of plans, no.

The research seems to be part of this https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/project/covid-19-and-social-mobility

The three authors are highly respected academics; but perhaps, although we've not seen the actual full report and how its recommendations are actually worded, its authors may be not wholly attached to the daily realities that many parents face. So a good idea on paper can often fall at the first hurdle of real-life reality. Not that I'm convinced this is a good idea to start with.

or it could just be about the skiing. 😁

No F^ing way !!! I’m voting labour

Labour are pushing ahead with shortening the school holidays in Wales by all accounts, despite their first consultation delivering a resounding ‘no’ response.
They are just doing another consultation and I’m sure this time they’ll find the results in favour. Not dodgy at all.

@Hihellogoodbye its not the tories proposing this. There aren;t many things they can't be blamed for; but in this rare instance its not them.

The "recommendations" come from the Nuffield Trust - hardly right-wing.

Separately the Labour Government in Wales has run a formal consultation on moving to a 4wk summer break. With a decision due in the next couple of months there. Which translated likely means Wales will be moving to a 4 wk school summer holiday irrespective of what the consultation results are.

slight x-post with @Overwhelmedmum1 there. Apologies.

First of all they aren’t shortening the holidays (even if it happens) they are redistributing them as recommend in that report. Second you have absolutely no idea what the second consultation will say, you’re making that up.
That said, I think it’s a shit idea and I’m glad I’ve left teaching apart from a bit of supply.

Oh damn … thanks then maybe reform UK may be the solution 🤣🤣

I haven’t RTFT but I’m pretty sure wales want to do a 2 week half term in May, a 2 week half term in Oct, a 4 week summer holiday and spaced out terms regardless of where Easter falls. Well that was one of the suggestions anyway but they are beginning with a 5 week summer holiday and a 2 week oct half term which I’m in favour of. I would also be happy for a 4 week summer and 2 weeks in May. 2 weeks in February like England are suggesting- not so much. I’m unsure how 2 weeks in May would work in wales re exams though.

Is that now how it operates in Scotland now?

I'm in the US, where school term schedules are very much local. Quite a few have gone to a year-round schedule with six weeks on, two weeks off. While there was a HUGE outcry when they started this, almost everyone loves it now. Families aren't all scrambling to schedule vacation time away from jobs at the same time, which is good. Also, the kids don't have time to get out of the habit of learning. Absences for other than legitimate illness are down, and grades, overall, are rising. But it took a year for everyone to realize that it was working very well for them. I really pity the teachers though, with no real breaks.

Apologies, I meant shortening the summer holiday, not shortening the holidays overall. I am very anxious about it all and getting worked up. My error.

I was making reference to the message my union has given us, that it’s a done deal. Perhaps it’s not, but that’s what we have been told.

It is a shit idea, I’m with you on that and teaching a bit of cover is definitely the way forward. I can have summer breaks as long as I like then. I hope it doesn’t come to that, because other that this, I absolutely love my job and love my school.

I'm sorry but the same argument clearly, and more importantly applies to medical terminology but health professionals deal with it. Teaching, whilst important, is not a special case.

This is exactly what they do in the Czech Republic and other countries too. It’s an excellent idea for keeping travel prices down.

Er...yes it is. Health professionals are not dealing with 30+ children in a classroom. As I said upthread, if the government thought it was a good idea to be recruiting teachers from countries whose first language isn't English they'd do it. But it isn't so they don't.

That's how it works in my country. Two terms, Autumn term goes from around the 10th of August to late December (break up 2 or 3 days before Christmas) and Spring term goes from the first week day after Epiphany (so sometime between the 7th and 9th of Jan) until the first week of June. One week off in October and one week in late Feb/early March, and a long weekend for Easter. Then a lovely long summer.
I guess they must manage the learning and behaviour somehow because teachers do not want to change it.

It's not easy as 'just bring teachers from abroad'. I've considered in my career whether to move and teach abroad.

Teaching involves so much knowledge about the history of the country you live in, the culture, the geography, popular culture, language, the education system etc.

To learn all of those things takes huge amounts of time, support and will also involve the teacher making errors from time to time.

Teachers coming from abroad are very welcome, however it's not a quick fix to the teacher recruitment and retention problems.

Supporting the teachers we have, making the job appealing and sustainable to ECTs and funding education properly including support for pupils with diagnosed or suspected SEND, smaller class sizes and money for resources are all things the government should be focusing on.