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Education

Are summer holidays outdated?

91 replies

emkana · 03/09/2007 23:07

So Caitlin Moran says in the Times today. She says they would never be invented now and are a relic (sp?) of the time when children had to help bring in crops etc. Totally impractical nowadays with work etc.

But I would hate for my children not to have that experience of six weeks stretching ahead of them...

I think summer holidays should stay.

OP posts:

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Eliza2 · 06/09/2007 21:28

Thanks, Anna8888!

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snorkle · 06/09/2007 18:05

I love the long holidays my children have (private school, so 8 weeks in the summer) - it's one of the things that really sets childhood apart from adulthood imo. I also agree with scienceteacher (miles down the thread) that it's only after a good break that they get bored and start doing really creative stuff.

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Anna8888 · 06/09/2007 12:39

Eliza2 - if ever you are looking for a ski camp, UCPA are the big providers.

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Wordsmith · 06/09/2007 12:27

I agree with Hurlyburly. 6 weeks is too long, my DS was climbing the walls at the end of it. The only parents I know who enjoy it are teachers - they need the break too and don't have to worry about childcare.

Any school hol is difficult when you WOTH but from a kid's point of view, weeks and weeks of childcare is not much fun.

Anything that gives families more flexibility when to take hols etc is good from my POV. And as for the school not being childcare argument, well yes of course, but schools are part of society. Employers have had to get used to being flexible when they employ parents, and as a working parent myself it would be nice to have some give and take from the school instead of being made to feel like you're an oddity.

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Eliza2 · 06/09/2007 12:18

Anna8888--I can certainly see how well it works in France (lucky things to have those Alps). Ski camps sound like a good solution.

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Eliza2 · 06/09/2007 12:16

Anna8888--I can certainly see how well it works in France (lucky things to have those Alps). Ski camps sound like a good solution.

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twinsetandpearls · 05/09/2007 23:36

Have not read all the posts but I can see this from 2 standpoints.

1 a teacher - I can see that the children may regress and that perhaps the holiday could be split up more equally.

As a parent though I love the six weeks, as I get quality time with my own daughter as during term time I can get so tired that my time with her other than at weekends is very minimal and not what I would call quality time. However I would perhaps like three weeks at Christmas so we could have longer at home before to do Christmassy things together. We have two weeks in October as we have twilight INSET - I think those two weeks are really important as that first term drags and is really hard especially for the new year sevens.

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Judy1234 · 05/09/2007 23:20

it depends on the school. Private schools are 8 weeks+ in the summer and usually 3 weeks Christmas and 3 Easter etc. Some have a 2 week half term in October. State schools have longer terms in the UK.

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superalienstitch · 05/09/2007 22:00

we had three months off for th esummer holidays. i was horrified to learn kids only get six weeks in this country.
andhalf term? what is that all about. i mean, why? no point to it at all.
i'd rather have proper summer holidays, and a decent time off at christmas, rathr than the laughable two weeks we get, and dispense with the waste f time half term.

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AufishFeQueen · 05/09/2007 21:57

Not long enough for me! I enjoy having the kids home on holidays.

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Nymphadora · 05/09/2007 19:27

I was already to type a long response but now I have read the thread I can just say I agree with MartinBishop

Especially the 2 weeks in Oct though as that term always feels so long and that wouldn't be a bad time to go away (better than going abroad in the summer anyway)

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figroll · 05/09/2007 16:32

I love the 6 week summer break - it gives us chance to catch up on being a family again. The children love it and I think when they get up to GCSE level, they really appreciate the break from all the coursework and homework.

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NKF · 05/09/2007 13:43

Thank you. Much appreciated. Insider knowledge always the way to go.

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Anna8888 · 05/09/2007 13:40

One day - if you were walking around the centre of Paris you could have lunch at a very small restaurant called Aux Bons Crus on the rue des Petits-Champs just behind the North exit of Palais-Royal. Or if you want a fantastic view, try the Café Marly in the Louvre (on the terrace overlooking the pyramid) - this is great because the terrace works all year round as it's covered/heated. Or go to Café de Flore on boulevard Saint-Germain at Saint-Germain des Prés metro.

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NKF · 05/09/2007 13:33

All suggestions gratefully received...

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NKF · 05/09/2007 13:33

Anna, you never got back to me with ideas for Paris. Shameless hijack here. I'm planning another trip soon and I need to know.

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Anna8888 · 05/09/2007 12:40

Eliza2 - here in France the rationale of the two week holiday in February is the promotion of the ski industry - and the holidays are staggered across the three academic regions that France is divided into so that more people can go ski-ing.

But of course very few people can afford (or have time) to go ski-ing for two weeks with their children, so either the children go on there own, to ski-camps, or they stay at home for at least one week.

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Eliza2 · 05/09/2007 12:23

Why on earth would anyone want two weeks off in February--the most grotty month of the year? If you can't afford to go skiing or to the Caribbean, what would you do with them?

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karlou · 05/09/2007 12:00

From my point of view I like the 6 week break. It's lovely having no routine and as I'm 32 weeks pg I've certainly not missed the rush in the mornings! Our local library runs a yearly "mission" where children have to read 6 books over the holidays and at the end will receive a certificate and medal sent to their school in the next few weeks. This seems to help with the risk of their reading regressing. My dds are very strong readers anyway but dd2 who is going in to Year 1 has definitely improved still further over the holidays and has now taken to reading Enid Blyton with very little help so I don't think the long holidays are necessarily a problem educationally.
That said I'm a SAHM so I don't have the problem of finding childcare, I can understand how much harder it is for working parents so I can see Caitlin Moran's point. Selfishly I'd like to keep the 6 weeks but I can see that they do present huge problems for vast numbers of parents too.

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crayon · 05/09/2007 11:12

No way should they go. The level of relaxation a child reaches after 6 weeks off is so much deeper than with the usual poxy half-terms and holidays.

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Anna8888 · 05/09/2007 11:00

MB - here in France "half-terms" are ten days (October) or two weeks (February) and to be honest the February one is a bit of a nightmare as the weather is so bad that we end up putting the boys on a course (eg British Council English) for one of the weeks. I'm not sure they are that rested...

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Anna8888 · 05/09/2007 10:58

If you shorten the school holidays, it prevents those parents who have the money and time to afford it to do all kinds of things with and for their children that are much more interesting and stimulating than school.

My elder stepson spent a week in England and my younger stepson a week at a climbing camp in the Alps. We then all went on a family holiday to Greece for nearly three weeks, the boys then went with their mother to the South of France for a week and to the US for a fortnight. So they've had a wonderful summer which was much more enriching than being in a classroom.

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elliott · 05/09/2007 10:28

I used to be a fan of the long summer holidays, but now I think I'm convinced by the argument that children forget a lot over such a long break. Ds1 has done no reading at all for six weeks and I'm sure he will have gone backwards (ok, maybe my fault for not keeping it up...)

I would prefer 4 weeks in the summer with the other 2 weeks tacked on to October and May. NOT february, please - I agree that is one of the hardest times to find something to do. Second only to the week after new year - woudl far rather break up before christmas than have the time afterwards, as we always seem to do...

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KTeePee · 05/09/2007 10:24

I enjoy the other half-terms, it's just the February one I find hard work. We have tried visiting family then but the weather is even worse in Ireland in Feb and grandparents houses are too small to make staying indoors anything other than stressful...

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Blandmum · 05/09/2007 08:32

A break then would be great for us as we don't live near to any of our families, and it would be a good time to visit.

I just find that the kids come back to school after that week still tired.

It isn't just about providing 'holiday away' time for the kids, just giving them a break from the pressure of school work. Half terms IME, are just not quite long enough to give them the rest that they need.