TES article on the school year

[EuphemiaMcGonagall]

bonkers!

That's the weirdest thing I've read for ages! I tried to work out in my head how it would work and have given up...!

Same here! And how it makes life easier for parents, I don't know! More flexibility in when to go on holiday?

Can you imagine kids being allowed to choose when they have their education ...?

Might, I suppose, just work if children were in cohorts (so you're not forever repeating bits for the benefit of children who'd opted out the previous week).

And of course, every school would have to run cohorts at the same time, and undertake to put siblings - even at different schools - in the same cohort. Or it's good bye to the family holiday altogether.

Dreadful idea.

Well, maybe what the article suggests has its problems but I agree the school year needs talking about. I started a thread about reducing the summer holiday to 1 month and extending the half-term holidays in October and February to 2 weeks earlier. My view is that the summer holiday IS too long and there are good academic and economic reasons for at least thinking about changes. It amazes me how resistant people are to change and policies are based on what has gone before or assumption rather than evidence.

And it could certainly be argued that the recent riots involving young people have been partly enabled or exacerbated by the long holidays.

On a boringly practical note, schools periodically need the longer closures for disruptive maintenance work. Not every school all the time, of course, but if the buildings were in constant use they're would never be a natural opportunity.

I quite like the idea of pruning the long summer holiday in favour of a two week half term, especially in the Bank Holiday free, lengthy autumn term.

just as somone on the article has commented; what do you do when you only have 1 teacher for a specific subject?

Maybe the solution is to have a choice of schools in each LA who work to different holidays and parents can have a choice if they want it? After all, it is about choice isnt it?

Then the rest of us can choose the traditional pattern if we want. Teachers could also choose the kind of school they want to work in - jobs allowing of course.

jabed - it is about choice. But not everyone gets into the school of their choice. So especially at secondary school transfer time, you could get families unable to have a proper break because they could not secure "matching" schools - for years depending on age gap.

Or would you change entry criteria to prioritise "matching cohort" above everything else?

Edith - I wouldnt change anything personally. Its others who want these changes. I am not sure though if they speak for a majority.

I am sure those schools set up with a specific change in school year could make their entry criterai to prioritise for different holidays. Of course the problem will arise when as you say parents who do not want these holidays are allocated such a school because others are over subscribed.

But one always has a choice. I am curently choosing home education for my DS for example I and I am a teacher and work in a school nonetheless).
If I sent my VS to school I would certainly want to choose one which suited my own holiday pattern - and its a traditional school pattern and one I like very much. Indeed being very honest, its one of the few remaining reasons for staying in the job now. Most of the other reasons I entered the job in the first place have been eroded to nothing or changed completely.

But other parents may see things differently and the new pattern may prove very popular.