As an Australian teacher who reads MN

[AllThreeWays]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/trendy-teachers-cheat-the-poor-and-lay-the-groundwork-for-riots/story-e6frg6zo-1226143966471 this is an interesting read. What do you think?

In the US state where my DCs went to primary school all snow days had to be made up somewhere else. This usually meant a maximum of two days in June, as they were really good at dealing with snow when (not if) it arrived and only a serious blizzard would stop school. The state mandated a certain number of school days per school year and those days had to be accounted for. If there were snow days i December, January or February, then you could automatically forget about booking your 'vacation' on the official first day of the summer break.

Yes, but in the States you get 3 months of summer holidays and would probably be glad of the childcare savings...

I grew up in Holland where we definitely had snow days and no making up required. Did us no harm whatsoever.

About 8 or 9 weeks where I was -- they got out around mid June and returned just after the middle of August to a very hot school. Some states got more iirc and some school districts now do year round school. There were no mid term breaks that schools get in Ireland and Britain but a few national holidays as well as some religious hols (two days plus a weekend at the end of Nov. for Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas, a week in Spring/Easter, Good Friday, sometimes Rosh Hashana, Labour Day, Memorial Day, President's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Columbus Day, a day off for the parent teacher meetings). I don't think they needed the make up days either, but the state required that there be a certain number of days in the school year. You could phone your DCs in sick.

that's drastic the experiences your friend made math. I am getting depressed reading school threads. I think I have to leave them for a bit. How hard can it be to provide a decent , fair education for the mass of schoolchildren in the end?

Pointy- it seems to work though, and it is comp rather than Primary: at comp I am fine, primary not so much. It's tacked on as an inset day would be rather than in the random middle.

School has an intake that should be falling through the floor yet has results that are the envy of the more local posh comp. Clearly he is doing something right- especially as ds1 is pretty ahrd to impress (ASD + pre teen = shocker child atm) but admits his admiration of this head.

Peachy I very much doubt that making up snow days is what is working in this school - it's more likely to be about good leadership and high expectations of the children in terms of achievement and behaviour.

And you can have those things without draconian measures like this, you know.

It's the package

And I don;t feel it's draconian

Not a package I would choose for my children, but to each their own. And for someone with ASD total consistency is of course hugely important, so I can see where you are coming from.