Two week half term October results

[Newtonianmechanics]

I know there is a running thread about summer holidays. I personally like the 6 weeks as it is.

This is about extending the October half term and the impact on attendance.

However it says that the 5 days were taken elsewhere. Does anyone have a child who goes to these schools? How was this time made up?

I do think the results are quite staggering and it is something to bear in mind.

The bulk of learning is done September to December and its brutal all round.

www.unitysp.co.uk/proposals-announced-to-extend-october-half-term/

amp.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/26/staff-absences-fell-50-after-schools-introduced-longer-half-term-break

Sorry if I'm being a bit dim, are you asking where the extra five days holiday are taken from? Our school has a two week October break and we don't have any other inset days, ie no random Mondays or Fridays off at either side of other breaks, unless a normal bank holiday.

Nottinghamshire has been having 2 weeks in October for a while, I live just over the border in Derbyshire and have friends with children in Nottinghamshire.

Yes for example are the days longer or is there and extra day of each holiday or summer?

It says in the article the school day is longer to make up the extra week's holiday.

I wonder if the same would be true if all schools had two weeks off in October. As surely all the holiday venues would put their prices up.

Less inset days and ridiculously short lunch breaks

For one of the secondary schools in the Unity Schols partnership they have added 10 minutes a day onto each school day. This (surprisingly!) adds up to 5 days.

How much? An hour a day? Only certain days?

Just trying to decide if I would prefer it or not.

Interesting.

So 1 week is 1500 minutes. Presuming 25 period week. This over 185 days is 8 minutes a day.

I would definitely prefer that.

I work in a school with a two week oct break . We have longer days and start earlier . We also have an extra week at Christmas

My daughter goes to an independent school that has 2 weeks half term in October. It's great 👍She also has longer summer holidays, but school finishes at 4pm.

I find the first term/second half up to Christmas so so busy and so stressful. I am all for two weeks off!!!!

I teach in Notts. We've had 2 weeks in October for a while now. Most of our INSET days in my academy trust are disagregated I. e. we do the training after school over the year rather than go in for days. However, my neighbour who teaches down the road, and over the city boundary doesn't so had a much shorter summer than me.

Ours it's because they have put all the inset days together to create a two week half term. Not sure if the teachers also get two weeks off and then have all their training etc in the evenings but it would make sense

If the school put the inset days together, that would be what the school is doing.
Unless the school has put some real thought into the inset days it must be brutal for the teachers

Our local schools do all inset days in a block attached to a half term, to give the parents an opportunity to get a cheaper family holiday.

The unwritten agreement with this arrangement is that parents stick to school holidays for away time.

It works and doesn't impact learning.

I would hope that it would have more to do with the health and wellbeing of the pupils and staff than "cheap holidays".

Can I ask what time the children start and finish?

People take their kids out of school for holidays mostly because it’s cheaper for them to do this.

If this becomes a national change-all schools will have the same two weeks at October half term and the prices for those weeks will become immediately inflated. This means people wanting cheaper holidays will look at other weeks outside of the new ‘normal’ school holidays.

It won’t improve attendance.

We have a 2 week October half term & have had for a while. It's good - the kids need a good break as that term is long. Summer is slightly shorter (think 4 full weeks and 2 half weeks rather than 6 full weeks, but it's plenty). Still have inset days and school day isn't particularly longer.

I think the article refers to staff absence rather than pupil absence - so presumably it's evidenced that it does improve things

@FrippEnos this extra week stops parents taking children out of school for affordable holidays in term time. So I guess it does benefit the children as they are not missing school.

A great many families couldn't afford a holiday in the normal school holidays as it can be more than double the cost.

So yes, it is down to cheaper holiday opportunities which in turn creates family time.

Wales are having a consultation about this. Initially the proposal is to have 2 weeks in October and only 5 in the summer. Then they would like to do 2 weeks for whit week and only 4 in the summer.

they also want to evenly spread out the terms so it doesn’t matter where Easter falls, each term (or half term) is pretty much the same length

I’m all for it as a teacher and a parent personally

That’s what I was reading. Make shorter the summer term and longer the October one. Tbh I’d not mind the shorter summer term as long as it’s not boiling hot in the rooms like few years ago

But if holidays are altered nationally-everyone will have the same weeks off. No weeks would be ‘cheaper’, so people would still want to take their kids out of school in term time.

I know this is referring to a MAT making changes, but the Nuffield research which has just come out is suggesting this as a nationwide change.