2-week half-term

[IsThePopeCatholic]

My DD’s primary school have introduced a 2-week autumn half term holiday. The justification is that the autumn term is long and also this will allow families to benefit from cheaper holiday prices. This lost week has not been added to any other term.

I feel that my DD has only just got back into the swing of things at school. AIBU that this extra week is unnecessary?

are they getting an extra week - less schooling - or is it like here - there is less holiday at another time ?

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

They’re getting an extra week’s holiday.

I think there are lots of pros to it depending on how they distribute the days. My children have always been dead on their feet by October half term and by the end of the summer holidays. One of the justifications as well is for the half term to act as more of a firebreak for illness. Where I don’t think it works is if you just have a very long summer term. July is becoming very hot and having the kids in for the whole month seems a bit silly when they’re sweltering and being sent home for heat waves.

Have they put all their inset days in one of those weeks? That’s not uncommon

The Primary I used to work at has done the same, along with the nearby Secondary school. They say they have put the 5 INSET days together so that families can have a cheaper holiday. Surely it would make more sense to have this this extra week added on to the May half term when the weather's better. I agree though that it seems bonkers to have 2 weeks off at this time in the school year.

I’m my area they have done this but made the summer break shorter.

My grandson has two weeks at autumn and I think it's much better. We are off for a mini break to Europe and it's a bit cheaper because we can go a week before most children are off.

You can also go for two week long haul trips in October when the weather is usually better compared to summer in long haul type destinations.

They won't be getting an extra week off. The inset days will have been rearranged.

Personally I think it is a good thing. This term is always a slog.

OP, is it a UK state school? If so it can't be correct that this is an extra week of holiday. There's a legal requirement about the number of school days in the year.

Are they? Don’t they have a set number of sessions they have to be open for (if it’s a state school)?

Are there fewer inset days because of it?

The legal requirement is for 190 days of school a year. They won't just be adding an extra week of holiday without taking it from elsewhere.

Assuming this is a state school, there won’t be an additional week of holidays!

They will have deleted INSET days or made each day slightly more teaching time.

This

they must be rejigging other holidays around

The reason they’ve put it now is because the autumn term is the longest and hardest in terms of staff and pupil illness.

Yes, it’s a state school.
There was no mention of inset days.

My daughter’s old primary school introduced this when she was in Yr5 and covered it by shortening the summer holidays by a couple of days and inset days.

We started to go away on holiday for a week - last sunshine before Christmas.

Do they publish the term dates and inset days on the website OP? If so, you should be able to add up the total number of school days and reassure yourself that it hasn't changed.

Yeah but I bet if you went through this year’s and last year’s term dates, you’d find fewer inset days now, and/or a slightly later finish in summer maybe.

They should have the same amount of teaching time as schools w/o the 2 week Autumn 1/2 term.
The hours will be made up by e.g. a slightly longer day, shorter break/lunch times.

Bollocks to it being anything to do with parents benefitting from cheaper holiday prices. I found that argument really patronising when our school was in consultation about this (consultation usually meaning "we're doing it anyway, but we have to go through the motions).

Thankfully DS2's school didn't introduce this until he was old enough to not need childcare. As a lone, full time working parent, the extra week off school when he'd been younger would have made me weep. Yes, I know school isn't childcare, but it's an accepted way of enabling parents to work.

If there is no mention of any Inset days then that is where the extra week has come from.

They don’t have to tell you, it’s obvious.

There WILL be 190 days of school. Count them.

They should have the same amount of teaching time as schools w/o the 2 week Autumn 1/2 term.

They will be. It's a statutory entitlement.

Why do people start threads with half the information required? They cannot just add on an extra week! The days have come from somewhere else. No drama needed.

Our secondary school has had a two week half term in October for a couple of years. All the secondary schools in our ardo this.

Local primary school sent out a survey to parents asking if they wanted to do the same because so many siblings at the secondary. The parents didn't want it so the school has not done it. Think it less a little less stressful with teenagers because if you work childcare isn't necessary needed. However with primary it will be.