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Original poster

Is your Easter buggered up by school hol dates which don't match?

32 replies

TheDullWitch · 24/01/2008 11:18

Oh woe, kids off in total for almost five weeks. Ds1's secondary school has hols which begin at Easter (which is early this year), ds2 has Good Fri and Easter MOn off, goes back to school for a fortnight then has two weeks off.

Their hols only overlap by four days in almost five weeks!!! How are we supposed to have time as a family? Then they wonder why people take kids out of school!!!

And how can LEAs just ignore Easter like that. Nightmare for working parents.

Anyone else affected?

OP posts:
morningpaper · 24/01/2008 11:20

I thought all schools were supposed to change over to the later spring break. How VERY annoying for you!

Peachy · 24/01/2008 11:20

No, we get 2 weeks from amrch 0th. But as baby is due mid Easter hols and the youngst ahs just lost his school, place after Easter, the LEA have found their own unique way of buggering it for us.
ho hum!

hotcrossbunny · 24/01/2008 11:24

Nightmare

We only have dd, but its still a pain. She has easter off( Good Friday - Easter Monday) then back for two weeks then off for two weeks. Dh works for a University. He gets a week off round Easter, but no time when dd is off properly So we don't get proper time off
as a family...No-one seems to have thought his through....

Original poster
TheDullWitch · 24/01/2008 11:29

Our situation is probably because ds1 is at a private secondary school whilst ds2 is in a state primary.

It seems the public schools are keeping to the Easter tradition thing. Since most of their students begin in prep schools (and have siblings in prep schools) they probably don't even calculate the chaos this is causing. Is it worth pointing it out to the (private school) head?

OP posts:
PrincessPeahead · 24/01/2008 11:30

we are off from good friday to something like 20th april
privat tho

Buda · 24/01/2008 11:32

We are just getting Easter Monday off but then 2 weeks in April. Works OK for us but not sure about others with children in UK boarding schools etc.

Idobelieveinfairies · 24/01/2008 11:33

Mine are off from 4th April until around 20th (ish)..not a problem here....hoping we get some spring sunshine then though!!!??!!!

bozza · 24/01/2008 11:33

Well our school breaks up on the 20th then has Good Friday, two full weeks and the 7th of April as a training day. Too early for decent weather to do much in UK so will not take hols and don't even get the bank hols (work Tues to Thurs) as they are pro-rata'ed. Might take Tues 25th march off to have a day out with DC. I have booked Spring Bank off and am busy trying to find a two week holiday in the summer. TBH I would prefer one week at Easter and two at Spring Bank. Then we could go to the Med when it was warm but not baking.

SmartArse · 24/01/2008 11:36

We're in exactly the same position, DullWitch. I work FT and I haven't seen sorted out childcare yet. We're going to go away for the Easter weekend then perhaps another weekend at the end of the holiday period. 'Tis a total PITA.

SmartArse · 24/01/2008 11:37

The private head probably knows, DW. I had the same conversation with the head of DD1's private school, who said the heads of both sectors had got together, discussed it, and decided to go their separate ways. Grrrr!

bozza · 24/01/2008 11:41

Well our state primary is sticking to having the holiday at easter.

Niecie · 24/01/2008 11:43

We have it here too (hols start 4th April for 2 weeks) but it means that the spring term is a decent length rather than have a 4 week half term and an impossibly long summer term.

It works for us because it means we might be able to get a very cheap holiday rather than trying to book around Easter and finding it too expensive.

My BIL's family have a similar problem to you thoug Dullwitch - BIL works at a private school but their children are in a state school with the later hols. I think he has mentioned it to his head. However, this is only going to be a problem when Easter is as early as it is this year so it won't be an issue for another few years to come. Maybe it does need some forward planning.

WendyWeber · 24/01/2008 11:43

It's not a private/state thing though - neighbouring LEAs have different holidays this year - the silliest one I came across is that Leicestershire and Rutland, which are virtually the same county, are different.

You can see them all via this link

Next year Easter is back to the normal sort of time in April so this shouldn't happen again. Agree the Govt needs to fix it for next time Easter is so early.

SmartArse · 24/01/2008 11:45

When I raised it with the private head, I pointed out how difficult that was for working parents, and she said: "I think you'll find most of the mothers don't work so childcare is not a problem". I could have decked her!

WendyWeber · 24/01/2008 11:45

It's the same for Feb half-term btw, with neighbouring authorities having either Feb 11-15 or 18-23 - related to which Easter break they are having.

pagwatch · 24/01/2008 11:48

yep
I have a five week easter break too altogether.
DS1 and DD finish first , then two weeks later poor old DS2 finally finishes. then two weeks later DS1 and DD go back and a week later DS2 returns to school.

Stuff that . We are pulling DS2 from school after the first week and having a two week holiday. When we get back the eldest two can go back first and I then get a sneaky week with DS2 who is NEVER at home when the others are off - it is always the other way around. What fun !

SmartArse · 24/01/2008 11:51

Ours have different half terms, too. [sigh]

bran · 24/01/2008 11:55

DS's school finishes spring term on 14th March and starts summer term on 10th April, which seems incredibly long to me, nearly 4 weeks. Fortunately we decided on the year-round option that the school offer.

I had originally toyed with trying to get unpaid leave for the summer holidays and using annual leave to cover the other holidays, but that would never have worked now that I know how long the Christmas and Easter holidays are.

ivykaty44 · 24/01/2008 12:01

I completly messed up - I booked flights to portugal for the 17 March as it is the Monday before easter....then I found out that this year the schools dont shut one whole week before easter and one whole week after easter as normal and they finish on 19 march the Wednesday before and they go back to school on Thursday 3 April.

So had to go to school and say ok messed up really sorry but can i take my dd out of school for 2 days?? Then we come back from holiday and I go back to work and dd is off school ahh so will have to find childcare.

What a complete mess i have made for myself - whereas I thought school and work holiday tied in now have holiday to pay for and childcare.

chisigirl · 24/01/2008 12:02

same here, bozza. two weeks at easter at a state primary.

Original poster
TheDullWitch · 24/01/2008 12:34

Yes, mine have different half terms in Feb too. Sob. Which means between now and end of April, I have almost 7 weeks of one kid or another being off!

OP posts:
bozza · 24/01/2008 12:37

Well I have jsut looked at DS's holiday sheet again. And he is in on Monday 21st July. Just that one day that week. I bet there are tons of children pulled out for that day. How ridiculous is that? giving them 5 weeks and 4 days holidays?

Original poster
TheDullWitch · 24/01/2008 12:38

Parents fear early Easter holiday balls-up will cause truancy.

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article2434706.ece

OP posts:
IdrisTheDragon · 24/01/2008 12:45

DS breaks up on 20th March (Thursday) and goes back on 8th April (Tuesday).

His half term is from 11th to 15th February.

IdrisTheDragon · 24/01/2008 12:46

Same as Bozza I think - again this is state primary.