Would you book Easter break in GCSE year?

[solittletime]

Those of you who have weathered the stress of GCSEs- is it a good idea to book an Easter break in the uk for the week across the Easter weekend?

yes or no?

No- it’s just before exams and it’s better to be home revising

yes- a change is as good as a rest. Put things in perspective and catch a breath

Any input welcome! We would not go overseas and be back for the second week of the Easter holidays, in case there’s any revision classes to attend!

I have 3 DC who have all been through GCSE and I wouldn't.

Depends on the child. My DD would have been too stressed to go away because she wanted to revise. My DS has GCSE’s this year and is very unlikely to be revising all Easter holidays, if any at all 🤦‍♀️

No I wouldn't. DS has revision classes through the Easter holiday so would t have wanted to miss those.

My DS is GCSE year this year, every holidays apart from Christmas holidays he is going into school for revision sessions which the students are very strongly encourages to attend. So no I wouldn't.

No apart from the actual bank holidays our school had revision every Saturday and throughout all holidays from Feb onwards.

A resounding no! Thanks - really good to hear from people with experience and multiple experiences! I will book for July!
Just wish the whole thing didn’t have to be so stressful.

Sorry to hijack but can I ask whether a few days away at the Feb mid-term would be a good idea. Has anyone done that? DD1 got prelims in January, exams start mid May so not going to do anything over the Easter holiday but thought a wee break from the studies for 3 days might be welcome in February.

We took dd away for a few days for a uk break over Easter, just 2 or 3 nights. She was pretty well organised and had already done plenty of revision, and had a plan for the rest of the time afterwards. She was in study leave not long after so could focus on revision for full days after that.

Was fine, a nice break.

Not sure I'd have done longer than a week, tbh not sure I'd have done more than 4-5 nights but it would have depended in the situation at the time, would happily gone abroad or in the uk for a short break though.

We did go away over February half term, yes

DD's school didn't do holiday classes for pupils, fortunately.

No. We are even wondering whether to scrap our plans for october half term.

Feb half term is OK but I would not go for the whole week, maybe just three nights. But Easter definitely not.

No way. Also wouldn’t go away at Christmas or feb half term or take them out of school for a day unnecessarily. But I know many others who do inc a friend who took her son away may half term mid exams. Bonkers.

I would ask the school what their plans are regarding any holiday classes

We went abroad for the full 2 weeks of the holidays plus dd missed the first day back, not by choice was a three times postponed trip. But it was fine. Dd had been revising for months and was predicted good grades. I wouldn’t do two weeks by choice but a week would be fine. They need some downtime. Of course it does depend on the child as well.

No not at Easter. One or two days at half term maybe but many schools will do some Easter tuition sessions. There’s too much for them to do around that period.

No. Particularly as schools often host extra revision workshops in the Easter holidays.

With mock exams in Jan, none of my 3 DC did any revision in Feb midterm.

I think getting away for a short break in Feb is a good idea. Not the whole week, but it's important to reinforce that exams aren't the whole world. Breaks from work are necessary, particularly ahead of a stressful couple of months. I also think a break for the long bank holiday weekend in Easter is fine too, but many teens wouldn't want to go.

I've promised DD we won't go away for more than the odd overnight this year. There's lots of time after they finish but a bit of a break might be good too.

Thanks @Hellocatshome Good shout. The kids have got their exam timetable but still no information on what support available in run up. In previous years Easter holiday study sessions been organised so not considering being away then.

We did but also took them out during term time in Alevel year.

only way we could get a family holiday due to our jobs.

both DDs excelled and both at uni now.

No there's usually mocks after Easter

I’m a teacher and unusually relaxed about even term time holidays for younger kids.

But Easter of y11 is the biggest NO.

I cannot impress the NO-ness of this upon you enough!

Having had one go through GCSEs already and this year having one doing A levels and one GCSEs, we plan to have a long weekend away over the Easter holidays so they (and we) get a short break, with the plan being to aim for no revision for three days - but we may backtrack on that if they haven't done as much as they should have done by the time we get there!