To ask how you feel about school holidays?

[Justformenow]

Especially if your children are young (reception / KS1 age.)

I am kind of looking forward to mine starting reception but dreading the long holidays as well.

Why do want 3 weeks in winter?
Also if school choose 2 how does this work with siblings in different schools? And if parents choose 2 how does the school plan a curriculum?

I feel like Christmas is too quick it feels like they have barely looked at new toys and it’s time to go back. Some Augusts it rains almost every day. June is often nicer.

We use holiday clubs a lot, so it's really just a case of filling the remaining days and making sure we get some down time as well. I must admit I find solo parenting multiple days in a row very daunting, but not quite so bad at age 6 as it was at 2.

The summer holidays are too long. I would like another week on summer half term - my friend's school do this instead of random Inset days and it seems like such a good idea.

I think you’d end up with more abused / neglected children as well honestly. From the after Christmas low, the cold, lack of food don’t see the council ran clubs over winter either with food. No children playing out with friends getting snacks at mates houses.

The last couple of summers have been HARD. DD is now 3, her older brothers are in school.
Summer 2022 DD was newborn so it was super easy.
Summer 2023 we were mid extension chaos.
Summer 2024 I failed to instil any form of structure or normality and we didn’t go away at all either so it was just a bleak 6 weeks with everyone pissed off! I had no reserves left to do what I needed to do and give everyone my all.
So this summer I am going to be a bit more rigid with the weeks - I don’t mind a couple of homey screeny days but need to limit it. Have 2 holidays booked and might take the kids away by myself too (DH’s annual leave is all allocated).

I work term time so that helps with logistics. DSs are doing 2 days of camp over the Easter break but I always feel terrible and can’t use the day to relax as they always come home saying they hated it.

Literally that’s insane- I get 25days and the holiday clubs are £45-£70 a day per child (I have 2)

Id agree with moving them to start earlier in the year, basically once GCSEs finish all schools close. Then another half term between going back and October.

Our school puts all the inset days in August and throws in a 2 week October half term- it’s awful. Inset days enable you to go to Lego land and theme parks without a queue- there’s no benefit the way our school is set up- I hate it!

could be area wide so all schools in that district do same.

school could agree to upto ten days off in set periods eg December, or July . Our school already has a method that anyone taking a term time hol gets all work missed emailed to be completed. So would be no different.

Regardless of how everyone feels, I can guarantee they’re one of the only things keeping at least 40,000 teachers in schools! Get rid of them at your own peril.

I only have 1 DC still in school, and he’s in Y13, so school holidays will soon be a thing of the past. I can’t wait. DH and I have always worked while they were at school, when they were very young, we had a nanny who was absolutely wonderful, we’d have our holidays (5 weeks for us in the private, non teaching sector!), and we would JUGGLE.

As they got older and stopped requiring childcare, I found the holidays fairly stressful, as we live rurally, and they would often just sit around at home on devices (plus of course Covid during their teenage years).

I’m very excited about my last DC leaving school this summer, being able to have holidays when suits our needs, and which are hopefully a little more budget friendly.

Love them, counting down the days.

I don't think holidays are that expensive to fill, especially to the point of having to "financially recover from them" 🙄. I am doing low-key stuff here this easter. I've got veg seedlings growing so DD has a job everyday of watering them, checking on their progress. Going to do some baking. She has a couple of craft kits that were presents at christmas that haven't even been opened yet, so we're going to get those set up. I have a day out with her planned with another Mum / kid - getting train to the city for a museum exhibit and lunch booked after. Got a play date another day. A couple of sleepovers with her Nanna. Lots of playing.
My DD needs quiet time - she finds school quite overwhelming and tiring as I think a lot of kids do. They don't need big days out to occupy them.

How olds your child?

Thank heck - DH is a teacher so holiday childcare is sorted.

I look forward to holidays as I work term time and I like the break from
having to get up for the school run/work… but after a while I also do like the routine of going back to school!
The weather is fab at the moment which makes all the difference.
I have a 6yo who wakes early, holiday or not, and today we went on a long walk and to a park and home to make Easter cakes. After lunch we played in garden and went over the road to another park.
But honestly today I’m shattered as I didn’t sleep that well - & still have 2 weeks, tho dh will be off for the Easter weekend.
I dislike having to spend money every day and there’s only so much free stuff you can do. Dd is too young to play out (at parks etc) on own, but is fine in garden, and in reality she has already spent way more time in front of TV today than I would like.
But we do keep busy in between and I guess that’s her way of relaxing also 🤷‍♀️

Just plan to spend the first few days quietly at home, do some baking, local walks, library etc. For longer hols make sure you plan some cheap trips away. My dh isn't a teacher but he used to take a day off most weeks in the hols so we could do a long weekend or have a midweek family day out.

National trust is worth it if there are quite a few properties near you. They often have games and trails for kids and it's free parking for lots of woodlands and beaches. You can plan your minibreaks around where you can make use of it too. Could also invest in a year's membership to a zoo or little kids theme park / farm park and arrange to meet a different one of their school friends their each week. Just make a plan, like Monday at home day. Tuesday, National Trust day out. Wednesday, bikes and scooters. Thursday, playdate either have someone over or meet at the park with a picnic. Friday: shopping, baking, packing for weekend away.

We get 10 weeks in summer but no Easter holiday (except the long weekend). Always loved the long summers when I wasn't working but this year I only get two weeks holiday (new job and haven't accrued full holiday yet) so it's not going to be so nice but at least my youngest is still young enough to go back to nursery and my oldest is old enough to look after herself.

Apparently the UK has one of the shortest (if not the shortest) summer holidays. Some European countries have 3 months.

on a slightly different note, the government recently suggested our kids need shorter holidays because they forget too much...so how come European kids don't have this issue?

I’m a teacher. I bloody love the holidays, especially the summer. It assuages my mum guilt for basically ignoring my children term time!

I will confess my European child forgot how to write the letter G over the long summer when she was 11
They always spend some time in the autumn doing review work in maths and language, I assume to counter what has been forgotten over the summer.

it really depends on individual circumstances but for working families with young children its hard and stressful and very expensive.

its fine now my kids are teens so don’t need childcare and I wfh.

But back when I had to shell out thousands for childcare then the length of the holidays pissed me off no end.

10 weeks for summer here, it's long but does go fast. Helps that I'm a sahm , partly the reason why I am because they have so many holidays!

I work in a nursery term time only, my children are 12 and 16 so still school age. I definitely think the breaks are needed (DS has been exhausted from exam mocks and prep. He's got 5 GCSE revision sessions at school through the Easter break, he's come home this afternoon from his first one and gone to sleep on the sofa!) but I think spreading them out more evenly might make more sense.

The best days are the free days. Meet up with friends at a local park/beauty spot. Packed lunch, ice cream money, a tree to climb and lots of running around- those are the best days.