Summer holidays should be longer

[noblegiraffe]

Our kids have the shortest summer holidays in Europe, Italy have 13 weeks, even Ireland has 9.

They're under pressure so much at school they need more time to just be kids. Classrooms are so hot in the last few weeks of term that it's impossible to learn effectively anyway.

I think we should add at least an extra two weeks to the summer holidays, so break up near the start of July. This would bring us more into line with private schools too.

And with longer holidays it might help recruit and retain teachers, and reduce competition for summer annual leave slots for working parents. It could even reduce the cost of holidays as 'peak season' would be longer.

Increased holidays is often mentioned for teacher retention but might well work against other professions with staffing gaps - e.g nursing and midwifery - inflexible shifts, no working from home and poor pay. And there is no chance of their holiday entitlement being increased as they won’t have the cover.

Marlborough college do lessons on Saturday mornings and sport in the afternoon….

Oh well just because you've googled 🙄

DDs independent school has lessons on a Saturday 8.45am-12.30pm then sports fixtures all afternoon

Because our children are in school until 5pm weekdays and then Saturday mornings! So they get longer holidays.
I reckon if state schools brought those hours in you would be up in arms

That’s when the Scottish school holidays are.

FYI 25% of kids in independent schools are from lower income families and nearly 30% get fee assistance
Don't let your bigoted prejudice get in the way though

Looking at Marlborough term dates they are barely in school...break up for Christmas on 10th December!!

But look at the total contact hours!

I'm too busy looking at the fees. Bloody hell.

In my Nephews family (he lives in Spain with his Spanish wife and family) - school holidays are covered by holiday clubs that are not anywhere near as expensive as here and family - her grandparents and parents and aunts and uncles all support them. I don’t have any other experience of this so I am not saying it’s true every where.

6/7 weeks is too long - we don’t have the infrastructure for it. Holiday clubs fees are really expensive, many grandparents are still having to work to get by! Most people can’t afford holiday clubs, nursery fees and days out!! There are loads of campaigns to ensure kids (with nothing) eat properly in the summer holidays - it is a nightmare for many, many parents! On top of that the average amount of annual leave is 25 days - it just doesn’t add up.

The big thing for me is that families with absolutely nothing are hit the hardest.

2 weeks in June or Oct may be easier for some.

I mean obviously it's one of the most prestigious public schools in the UK. I think 15-20% are overseas pupils ie China/Hong Kong etc

There are loads of campaigns to ensure kids (with nothing) eat properly in the summer holidays

How is that managed in Spain?

Summer holidays are already too long. It’s a logistical nightmare every year for working parents of young children. Plus studies show children’s learning abilities drop during the summer holidays, before they pick up again when back at school.

I have no idea - as I said in my post I only know the set up my nephew has, and that it works well for their family.

What I do know is I visit families/kids with nothing, and I mean nothing - no TV, no garden, little food, very few toys and absolutely no money. 6 weeks holiday is lovely when you have money, a car, a park near by, food, a TV, room for friends to come and play (and money to fed them!) If you don’t it can be an absolute nightmare.

This is my child's school holidays in Northern Ireland. 8 weeks for summer. A week in may we can go abroad for cheaper. Plenty of breaks scattered throughout the year. You need to have good childcare in place or some employers let you work term time so you are off over summer.

I'm Irish and the school system is just completely different here (I'm not implying either is better or worse). My brother lives in the UK and I find it shocking that small children are in school for such a long day, let alone a much shorter summer break. Here primary school hours are 9-1.30 until 7yrs and then 9-2.30 until 12yrs old. Summer hols are 9 weeks for primary and 12 weeks for secondary. It's a struggle for parents but between annual leave, parental leave and summer camps etc everyone manages. It's also socially acceptable here to go on holidays throughout the year which again is very different 🙈

I loved the summer holidays as a child and would have had mine off longer too in the summer.

I don't know if we should lengthen them but I don't think we should shorten them.

That graph you posted is incorrect, I live in the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and it’s only 6 weeks there.

I’ve never found it much cheaper to go away early July when my DC breaks up from private school as it’s prime holiday season in the rest of Europe. It’s also when the hotels are at the busiest due to the rest of Europe being on holiday already. The last week of August is generally the best value and it’s quieter.

I'm with you, my kids were so jealous of their Italian cousin.

If I'd have been a stay at home mum I'd have loved it - I lived for school holidays and had 3 weeks unpaid in the summer.

Unfortunately though, with two parents at work schools are BABYSITTERS, never mind if the system benefits the kids!

I think in an ideal world where parents (and everyone else) got much, much more leave and flexible working the best for kids would be shorter school holidays and much shorter school days.

In the place I grew up in we got roughly the same amount of holidays but our school started at 8am and till year 10 finished at 1pm every day, ie Monday to Friday.

This meant we had every day hours of unstructured time where we could just be kids. Plenty of time for extracurricular activities as well without being overloaded

of course back then mums often didn't work and if they did kids just stayed at home alone. I csnt imagine doing thst myself now (and I'm definitely not going to quit working) but it was a better, more relaxed childhood.

We also only started school at 6 / 7 and I think that is really something that the uk gets wrong. Kids are forced into formal learning way too early.

It would wonderful if everyone had more holidays, if you have young children then having the option to work term-time only would be hugely beneficial. Companies like Amazon have been exploring this. We have a situation where most people (often mums) feel burnt out and exhausted trying to juggle working effectively and parenting to a relatively acceptable standard.
There are lots of university students who would welcome the opportunity to cover the holidays and earn some money. In proffessions where this isn't possible, it might help with recruitment (nurses, social workers etc) if there was a term-time only option for parents with children aged under 14. We can't keep expecting parents to work like they aren't parents.
Schools aren't responsible for childcare.They shouldn't be responsible for trying to fix all of society's flaws either. They are only responsible for education. There is a huge difference.
As a wider society we need to recognise that mothers (especially) need flexibility. It would benefit our mental health, our children's mental health and provide better bonding time for families. It would also be cheaper than having to arrange state funded holiday schemes. It would cut down on people quitting their jobs from burn out and a host of mental health conditions. More holidays for everyone!

In Poland, the kids break up at the end of June (around the 25th) and go back on the 1st September so we have two full months. The kids love it! We don't have as much time off at Easter and Christmas and we don't have half terms but we do get a two week 'Winter Break' in Jan/Feb. There are lots of summer camps but not organised by schools. Most people manage child care by using family: it's pretty usual to have family in the same town or even house and lots of kids go and stay with Babcia (Grandma) for weeks on end! I've taught in schools in both countries and although the slog through to December is difficult here, the two month holiday is fantastic!

Absolutely not. My DS is autistic and disregulated to hell and we’re only halfway through.

Massive meltdowns over trivial things. Lots of TV (too much) as it’s the only way to regulate him…

It isn't bigoted. It is true. How lower incomes are we talking about anyway?