To think we don’t need more school holidays?

[Halftermforever]

The schools locally all seem to be either consulting too, or already implementing a 2 week October half term. This has really riled me because:

1. The extra childcare will cost £500
2. Schools already have 13 weeks holiday, whilst parents have 5 weeks. Is it really necessary?
3. I get fined for taking my child out on holiday, but now suddenly the extra week won’t have an impact because they’ve reduced lunch by 10 minutes!

The talk about reducing staff and student absence is baffling. Yes it’s peak time for illness and stress, but the rest of the country seems to get on with it without having to run on 6 weeks off, 6 weeks in, 2 weeks off, 5 weeks in, 2 weeks off!

From July - December the schools are off almost as much as they are in!

It’s insane and not possible for working families to keep up with.

AIBU?

If the argument is "the winter term is to long" why not start the term later into September?
Some years the term has started right at the 1st/2nd September when people will still be coming back from holidays they've combined with the August Bank Holiday.
What's the point of the August Bank Holiday if you can't actually take advantage of it because you are having to rush home in order to go back to school practically the day after.

But there’s a week break within that - it’s not up to 16 weeks straight.

Yes and this makes sense as you’re not adding more holiday - just changing the time of year. But this is not what the OPs school are doing.

@rainbowsandraspberrygin We have a 38 week year, 14 weeks of holidays. OP mentions they have 13 and that’s long enough. So I think we do have more holidays and what her school is proposing would be the same as ours.

Most state schools follow the standard pattern of 13 weeks of school holidays.

summer - 6
easter - 2
xmas - 2
feb, May and Oct half terms 3 (1 week each).

then 5 insets.

So I understood it that OPs school was going to add one - making it 14 weeks - by adding a week to Oct?

academies and private can ignore this though I believe and do their own thing.

No, but 2 weeks is beneficial for the children.

Reducing teacher absence directly benefits pupils. Having their usual teachers in the classroom, facilitating learning is the best thing for the children.

Our council (Borders) held a consultation a few years ago, majority of parents voted to change the two weeks October holiday to a week and change the February short break to a week too.

Miss having an October holiday!

I’m sure, but having a supply can’t be any worse than having no teaching at all for a week?

In the holidays, I know mykids will be fine, lots of kids will spend that extra week hungry, maybe in unsafe conditions or best case with a tv for a parent.

Its a very middle class luxury to want extra holidays.

Ours already did this the Oct half term just gone. They will NOT have 1 less week holiday in the summer as per information from the school. It is a secondary school and thankfully my dc are sensible and able to be left at home alone whilst I work. There was no consultation with the parents, nobody knew until they checked term dates on the school website. It is a regular comprehensive academy school. I think it’s awful. I would prefer them to start later in September or have 2 weeks off at May half term if they have to do it. I am curious as to how teachers (because in our county teachers could vote to do this on a school by school basis) think it’s ok to remove a whole week of education.

Ooooo it can!

It can take time once the teacher's returned to re-establish routines, get behaviour back on track and catch up on what should have been taught while they're away.

That’s awful!!

we have to plan our AL months in advance. Not sure how people can manage this.

I wonder if there’s a way to improve the supply/cover teacher system so each school has a couple of known supply teachers that can cover all the sickness. It seems to be teacher sickness that is the biggest theme here.

earlier on I also mentioned the flu jabs. I wonder how many teachers have them?

These aren’t the best solutions I know - but it’s better than the kids losing schooling and parents struggling with childcare.

like OP said - it’s also a sfg concern for some families. The best place for some kids is in school. It’s how they’re kept safe and fed.

Why not prioritising the children for a change?

It's getting boring to have parents whining that they have to look after their own children. School holidays are not a recent invention, surely you plan childcare when you plan children?

And the race to the bottom: some children are left hungry. The solution is not to punish every child and stick them to school like little robots, the solution is for help to be given to the children who need it!

Why do you think private schools have better results?

I'd prefer an extra week at Christmas. It seems to be all of a rush to fit in festive things and it would be nice to just have a bit of down time.

You think private schools have better results because they have more holidays?
Nothing to do with the demographic, parental engagement, entrance tests, small class sizes and massively increased budgets meaning they can afford to give kids a good education?

Delusion.

Kids aren’t robots in school either. Maybe if there were less holidays, they wouldn’t be worked so hard in term time to get through everything.

Im not even saying for less holidays, I know that would never happen, I’m saying there is no need for more.

We are!!! We want kids in school learning!

and you’re right - schools and holidays have been around for ages so what’s changed?

why are teachers struggling so much more now? It’s this that the government need to look at with the teacher retention crisis.

Nobody has been able to offer a solution to the extra childcare parents would need?

I love my kids but need to be able to work to pay for them and look after them. We’re fine for now. But if our schools added a week we’d be really stuck. That’s what I’m getting at.

Longer school days and more school holidays
work for private schools.

It would actually be a lot more fair and a lot more inclusive: state school kids with engaged parents have long days anyway, after school sports and clubs and tutors, music lessons, foreign language lessons and what have you. Being at school wouldn't make that much difference.

It's the ones with lazy parents - or parents unable to bring them to the free community clubs that exist, they are the ones who suffer. Kids going home to watch tv or "chill"because parents can't be bothered to look after them - or kids hanging outside because parents work non stop and can't afford to take them anywhere.

All kids need a lot more holiday!

Funny how parents who complain the most are the ones who take their kids away during school time, and then moan that official breaks are too long. Too bad, the kids who haven't missed school need a break too 😂

Do you really want them in school learning, or do you just want them somewhere where you know they are safe so you can go to work? Because if you want them in school learning, you'd support shorter terms. Right now, children are exhausted, teachers are exhausted, and everyone is trying to come up with excuses for why putting on a movie is educational. This next week is going to add next to no learning to most children's brains.

Teachers are exhausted because the expectations on them are ridiculous and necessitates a 70 hour work week. School holidays should be called what they are- teacher planning and preparation weeks. Actual holidays for most teachers are one week at Christmas, one week at Easter and four weeks in summer, just like every other worker. Then they work partly from home through every half term, one week each at Christmas and Easter, and the first and last week of summer, without pay because it's counted as unpaid leave. Even when they are expected to welcome the children back into a freshly decorated classroom with displays for the coming topic, with tailored lesson plans and resources for every subject ready to go, SEN paperwork completed and books all marked.

14 weeks including inset isn’t long enough for a break? You need 15?

190 days of education is only 52% of the year. Add in that the school day finishes around 3pm and you’ve got lots of scope for time away from school for a break! Take off an extra week and the half day insets and you’ve got more days not at school than in during the course of a year.

For what it’s worth I’ve not taken mine out of school for holidays.

they have had good attendance

and it may make you laugh even more that I used to be a teacher 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I’ve never taken mine out on holiday. Mainly because I can’t afford to take annual leave outside of term time and then take it again in term time…

Both. I want them in school as much as they should be and I need to go to work. My leave is planned around the current school holidays - like I’ve said.

the questions I still have

1. what is different now to years ago - why are kids and teachers suddenly so exhausted?
2. if more school holidays are added - who will look after the kids? My work won’t give me more leave and neither will my husbands. I can’t drop hours - I can’t afford to.

I know that some teachers think we’re a load of whinging parents - but none of this is parents fault.

Yeah this is the issue we have. We tag team most the year to cover the holidays as we have limited clubs for the hours we work. So we have limited time off together.

it is what it is and we manage with the current system.

I sometimes wonder if we’re in the minority - how does everyone else manage? Grandparents? Live where there’s holiday clubs 8-6?

Sometimes get the mum guilt for going to work and earning a living because working mums are also criticised. Can’t win.

I agree with you.

I’ve been advised by older, wiser mothers during each of my pregnancies to always make purposeful budgets, manage finances carefully, and save for anything involving children. That way, whenever holidays came around, they didn’t ruin our finances thanks to planning ahead. I’m in my 40s now, but I had my children when I was young, and I know about holidays simply because I was once a student myself and learned about their existence.