Extended School holidays leaked document (Scotland )

[Peppafrig]

What’s everyone’s feelings on the leaked document suggesting school holidays could be extended till the 11th January ? I think it makes sense to keep them shut for the week. Allowing everyone to not mix again for two weeks after the Christmas bubbles end . Seems like it could save a further even longer lockdown later on in January.

I'm not totally against it, seems sensible to keep infection rates down. Thankfully DS is in senior school so no childcare issues and we wfh.

I do worry about him missing school, he's in first year of Nat 5s, but for a short period online learning would be fine, or perhaps slightly increase length of school days in summer term.

It would be a bit annoying if they started chopping and changing school summer holiday dates - we had to reorganise a UK break with family for the third time to first week of next summer.

It has to be one or the other though rookie if there are to be changes to other term dates the there can't be any online learning this time.
I think a lot of people would like the holidays when the weather is warm and many of us will hopefully have been vaccinated...

I don't even know why kids went back full time in the first place. It's clearly contributed to the hundreds of deaths per day we currently have. I don't feel children attending lessons full time is worth killing people over.

I also don't know why people only feel learning happens inside a school.

My daughters learned loads over lockdown and would have happily continued to do so.

@Mistressiggi well yes, I wasn't implying that teachers work additional hours so I know it's one or the other. At our school there's already additional holidays for the week the schools started back early.

My daughters learned loads over lockdown and would have happily continued to do so

I’m guessing you had at least one parent available to help them learn, not two full time working parents?

Our area has two weeks off... the same as every year? Actually with an extra day as Monday 4th is an inset day.*

We usually get around 2.5 weeks and go back around the 11th, this year we are due to return on the 6th.

@midnightstar66

* Our area has two weeks off... the same as every year? Actually with an extra day as Monday 4th is an inset day.*

We usually get around 2.5 weeks and go back around the 11th, this year we are due to return on the 6th.

Ah well we always get 2 weeks, so the same this year as any year (with an extra day for inset).

And as I said we lost a week in august. Staff are exhausted, kids are exhausted- an extra few days would be amazing now rather than in June where we already have nearly 7 weeks and don't need more.

Because of the days there are two weekends in this year's holidays in many areas, if you finish up on a Friday and have two weeks off you get three weekends. Which just puts more of a buffer between your dc and the possible need to isolate.

@midnightstar66

And as I said we lost a week in august. Staff are exhausted, kids are exhausted- an extra few days would be amazing now rather than in June where we already have nearly 7 weeks and don't need more.

Yeah, sounds like it would work for you. We get 5.5 weeks in the summer.

Well my DS 14 is not exhausted at being back at school. He's thriving on a proper routine and exercise. If we're talking purely about what's best for him, I wouldn't want him to miss a single day of classroom education, but I know it's wider than than that hence why - if a longer Christmas break stops protracted online learning - I understand the need for it.

Don’t get me wrong, I would absolutely love an extra week at home with my children at the beginning of January. We’re all knackered too, and it would give me a weeks extra protection from Covid in my own workplace. Sadly though I can’t work from home.

Teacher here (ASN) I wish they would just tell us outright, this leaked speculation is ridiculous, it’s now 27th November if they are or aren’t going to do it people need to know for childcare etc. The EIS is going mad about it.

Teachers are all knackered many have been working in class all day/ cleaning their classes/usual paperwork then string up home learning for all the self isolators.

In my job we simply cannot self isolate and the children pull our masks off most of the time. We wear them in corridors etc but not in classrooms. I’m regularly hugged, kissed the drooled on, there’s no such thing as personal space. For our parents school is also respite and an extra week for them will feel like 5, they were on their knees during lockdown some getting no support.

From a parental point of view I have one in S5 and one in S4 so both heavily affected. I want them in school as much as they can be. My wee S1 has had such a strange start to high school too and DS who is in P6 well he’s just asked for jumpers for the first time as his class is freezing.

All I want from ScotGov is transparency and consistency!

It's a system set up for teachers, not children.

Actually it is a system to suit parents and pupils not staff.

If there was less socialising out of school there would be less cases in school and less bubbles bursting. However tge majority want to mix so this is the compromise. (I doubt schools will go to online learning or close doors, these leaks just help focus peoples anger at school staff).

Online learning sucks for everyone. It increases workload for schools, puts pressure on kids and parents and on return there is another increase in workload to get kids settled back in.

But, in this country kids are still being sent in with symptoms, waiting on test results, with positive cases in households. We don't know how it is spreading in schools as testing of kids is so low and so many show few or no known symptoms. If this changed we could hopefully reduce the bubbles bursting and get nack to a completely normal life. But when you see the selfish people on usforthemscotland saying that any measure against covid in the classroom is too much and should be stopped you realise, that, with such selfish people around, we have to consider measures to reduce risk.

@sweetkitty

Teacher here (ASN) I wish they would just tell us outright, this leaked speculation is ridiculous, it’s now 27th November if they are or aren’t going to do it people need to know for childcare etc. The EIS is going mad about it.

Teachers are all knackered many have been working in class all day/ cleaning their classes/usual paperwork then string up home learning for all the self isolators.

In my job we simply cannot self isolate and the children pull our masks off most of the time. We wear them in corridors etc but not in classrooms. I’m regularly hugged, kissed the drooled on, there’s no such thing as personal space. For our parents school is also respite and an extra week for them will feel like 5, they were on their knees during lockdown some getting no support.

From a parental point of view I have one in S5 and one in S4 so both heavily affected. I want them in school as much as they can be. My wee S1 has had such a strange start to high school too and DS who is in P6 well he’s just asked for jumpers for the first time as his class is freezing.

All I want from ScotGov is transparency and consistency!

I am so thankful for all the staff at ds' asn high school, they truly are angels. I'm absolutely dreading if another week is added to the holidays as ds struggles so much when his routine changes and he's found this year very challenging.

Absolutely this.

We are finishing on 18 December but I am sure that has been brought forward from when I looked at the council website admittedly pre pandemic as it was to book my work holidays.

I don’t have much issue, tbh as we are being careful over Christmas I was worried about my kids mixing with people who perhaps hadn’t been, and it’s only an extra 3’days for us

This is fucking ridiculous. Its the end of November.
We have three days next week where they are off school for In Service and St Andrews Day. Now they want to cut another 6 days off between the end of this term and the start of next?
I have a child in an exam year, who needs to be in school, learning.

As a working single parent, I am exhausted right now. I am not planning to see anyone over Christmas because my parents are clinically vulnerable and my sister is several hours away. So it will be me for two weeks with two children. I don’t think the extra few days to 11 January will make a huge difference in terms of spread of infection, as others have pointed out, but I do think it will make a difference in terms of teachers getting a break from what must be a stressful situation. I am just annoyed at the fact that a couple of weeks ago we were being told there was no risk in schools and now apparently there is (who knew?). Roll on spring, is all I can say.

If Scotland do this they are sensible imo. One week of missed school for everyone is not going to be here or there educationally.

I am angry that the government think the way to lead is to leak documents to the press days before they will confirm the leaks. That's no way to run a country. Why can they not be more transparent? Why leak stuff, see the public reaction, then decide if that will go ahead? Why not, if they believe in that policy, just announce it, so people know what's going on? Here we are, almost in December and now neither teachers or parents now know when schools finish. I know of schools who had planned, and paid for, access to virtual panto's in the days before school finished, in lieu of a party. What happens there? School get a refund?

I'm angry that my eldest got pulled up for his attendance (3.5 days off for non covid reasons and 2 periods of self isolation) and lectured about how important these few days were in respect of his education, and how he must try and work towards 100% attendance, yet the government can take away 5 days with seemingly no effect.

I'm angry that when in self isolation, it really seems like a postcode lottery as to the level (if any) education delivered. Sadly we are not anywhere near winning that lottery in my area so again chunks of education missing.

I really feel for these about to do prelims after the holidays.

Also will people effectively self isolate? Or go to the shops etc?

Kids forget everything over summer and no one advocates for shortening summer holidays... honestly, whether or not it will make any difference to transmission, your children won’t suffer in terms of their education for one week. It doesn’t make a difference to me, I think schools need to stay open. One extra week is really more of a logistical and childcare issue than a concern about genuine, lasting impact on children’s education, surely.

Furious, I’d have preferred they said no mixing than sacrifice my kids education again. Also I’m not sure my job can withstand another bout of homeschooling

Very sensible if they do this. The spread in schools after the Christmas mixing could be huge 😬