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?

Lots of schools near me now do this (though not the one I work in sadly).
It generally comes from inset days or less time during other holidays. Your child will still have the same number of days in school as any other child.

I would love to finish this week. Everyone is tired and this term is the long one of 7 weeks then half term and then another 7 weeks til Xmas.

It is uncommon where I live. My friends child's does this and her child has 2 weeks in May and 0 inset days. I think the kids do enjoy a random inset day. I guess its good for booking hols though!

Our primary kids were off today - inset - then 2 weeks off. Secondary child has 2 weeks off too. Other local school one week.

The 2 weeks is only for one year, as they decided there wasn’t enough uptake locally and all the schools are doing whatever they want. Some are having shorter summer hols, some are making the school day 10 mins longer and adding an extra week of holidays (ie summer holidays staying same length), some schools not changing anything.

So, back to 1 week next year! People had already booked 2 week holidays etc once they announced the 2 week break so they couldn’t go back on it right away.

To answer your question - I don’t really mind either way but I work term time so not a big deal for our family. I would imagine holiday clubs would provide 2 weeks if it was a permanent change. Kids are shattered and big Christmas term coming up so a break is welcome!

Have added photo of our school calendar to help people understand where the days are coming from. School knows some parents will complain about it so is one step ahead. There is a key to colours at the bottom

I feel sorry for your child OP.

Did the majority of the parents petition the school desperate for an extra weeks break so they could have a cheaper holiday ? Somehow I very much doubt that.
I bet some of the teachers are having one though.
Sorry to say it but it will be true. Who came up with this nugget of an idea ? The parents or the teachers.

🙄 the children aren't having an extra weeks holiday. The staff won't be going on holiday.

The children will still be receiving their statutory 190 days of teaching and the teacher will still be working for their statutory 195 days.

If the inset days have been lumped together, the children will be having an extended break. The staff will be in school.

My DS has this. It would be lovely if a) my DD wasn't at a school that had a normal one week half term and b) I could take a week's holiday at that time of year.
As it is, I can't, so DH is taking DS to London for a few days to see things when they aren't so busy.
DS has an extra few days in July.
A family we know are off to Greece for the (regular) half term. V annoyed as the mum works for my employer but in a role with free reign of holidays, my role is more restrictive.

They are not. Every state school has to have 195 teaching days.

Unlikely. Most schools are bound by law to provide 190 teaching days a year.

I'd hate it. Some schools in my area do it and I don't know any parents or students who particularly like it.
Such a pain.
Most people I know can't afford to go off on holiday in October (even if it's supposedly cheaper).
For most families it means finding more childcare. Unless every single school in an area does it most of the holiday clubs don't run for one of the weeks.
Local activities that happen in places like museums don't run for both weeks.
I know of several families that the extra week consists of their child sitting quietly in the break room at their work playing on a phone because there's nowhere for them to go and nothing to do.

Our local authority in Scotland moved to a 2 week October break a few years ago, and reduced the summer from 7 to 6 weeks. We do go back mid August so it makes sense, and remember we don’t have a May/June half term as we stop for summer late June or early July. It’s about 50/50 here, some councils do 1 week and some 2.

I love it personally. The lead in to the Christmas break an be brutal, especially with so many seasonal events. Have used it to go to Florida before when the weather tends to be better than summer, or get a weeks holiday with a midweek departure.

I don't think that your school can be open fewer days than other schools in the same local authority. Teachers would be in an uproar.

Our school gets 2 weeks in October (Scotland but most of Scotland only gets 1 week).
We get no break in February and no May Bank holidays.

Our kids are in school the same number of days as every other school, 195 days.

I personally don't like it, 2 weeks hol in October seems a waste as the weather is shite. And the Jan to April term is horribly long with no break.

Academy schools in my area did this and added a bit of extra time to the school day so the face to face learning time remained the same.

The main disadvantage is holiday clubs still cater for the council term times so one week is hard to get childcare for if it’s needed.

No, they almost certainly aren’t.

Why don’t you email the office and check where the week is coming from. Ask for the school calendar and look for the inset days…, then count how many days teaching there are.

DD is on a scholarship at an independent school. She broke up today for 2 weeks. She has 3 weeks at Christmas and 7 weeks (more like 8 this summer) at the end of the school year.

Of course it’s different for independent schools, but she has a significantly longer day than our local comprehensives, and they seem to fit in a lot more learning during the day.

Has it caused childcare issues for you?

It's not always taken from inset days. Schools have to deliver 38weeks x 32.5 hours of teaching time. Many round here have added 10mins to the school day, which over a year can be taken as an extra week off in October.

Yes, academies can do this as they are not bound by the 190 days/380 sessions that LA schools are. You still aren’t losing any teaching time.

I would expect the school to have communicated how they’ve timetables/calculated this as so many parents will end up asking. If they haven’t, then you ask.

The OP said they were getting an extra week.
I think it is sad that they only get taught for 190 days a year.

They will make up for those extra 5 days throughout the year, unless the head is completely wreckless and doesn't give a damm about the rules and in that case what's the school so I can apply for a job there!

There is a legal number of days that the school must be open to students. A state school that has added an extra half term week in October (like many have) will have added a week somewhere else. Usually it's at the end of the summer term

One of my DC’s schools has done this. They explained that it meant that they could have blocks of weeks rather a one- or two-day hangover into the next week at the end of a term, when attendance was likely to go down.

I haven’t actually checked this against any academic calendar but it makes sense to do this.

if schools are using some or all of the days for inset it makes sense for them to be in October and not May, as staff development can be delivered and apply to the rest of the year. Not so helpful in May

my DC school do this, I’m sure holiday companies will soon increase the prices as more schools change to two weeks!

No, academies are bound by those rules.

FWIW we are in Cyprus and it’s bloody glorious! Circa £5-6k in August this hotel, we paid £3k with room upgrades and private transfer thanks to two week October hol!