Gove says lengthen school days and shorten long summer holiday

[juneau]

Here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22202694

I think it's a great idea and I'm sure working parents will welcome it. I also think it's bollocks that teachers need the six week summer break to recharge their batteries. Do they work harder or longer hours than other workers who only get four or five weeks a year then?

Having just endured a bored DS1 over the Easter holidays I think any break of more than two weeks is actually pretty dull for kids and I'm sure poorer kids really suffer from lack of stimulation and/or money to do stuff.

Agree with all who oppose that idiot Gove.
On a personal level a longer school day?? My youngest 2 (7 & 13) leave @ 7.30am and arrive home about 5.00pm I will pull them out of school if this is implemented.
What I would like to see is 4 terms in a school year BUT the same amount of holidays

He must surely be wearing himself out with all his brilliant new ideas about education by this point.

I remember feeling extremely sorry for my English cousins with their pathetic 6 week summer holidays while I was off for three months enjoying the gloriously sunny Irish summer weather.

'The idea of homework is for it to be done outside of school, independently away from the class teacher. '

In my BS, we did prep for two hours a night in a classroom in absolute silence. The younger ones did an hour or an hour and a half, again in silence.

hedgefund (and other that mentioned it)

re 'disadvantaged' groups of children- they mean children on FSM, LAC, children that are working below Nationally expected standards (i.e. 2B at KS1, 4 at KS2, 5 at KS3).

There is funding available to schools this year for summer schools- this money is for children receiving Pupil Premium (so FSM children in the main) and is £500 per pupil, schools have to put together a programme and apply for the money by 31st May 2013. I haven't heard yet of any schools' plans in my area, but it may well be that lots of schools do this. Having said that, when the scheme was piloted under Labour govt there was very little take-up.

Manchesterhistorygirl

I don't want 2 weeks in October. It is cold and dark. I want longer in the summer, not in the winter months.

Fine if you can afford to go long haul I guess but most people can't.

2 weeks in June would be better than 2 weeks in October I guess if I had to chose one. But tbh really don't see an issue with the current system.

DD has over 7 weeks in the summer and is still not bored by the end of it.

Just because a child is working below the average, it does not make them disadvantaged.

GoblinGranny - how depressing for the children. What happens if that is not your preferred way of learning? Not everyone learns best sat in silence. Might as well be in an exam!

Anyone who thinks that this is a good idea should go into to school right before the end of term and see how much constructive teaching and learning goes on. None! The kids are knackered. They are kids not little machines and teachers are not babysitters. Has Gove been in a school?

I agree with ManchesterHistoryGirl's suggestions. I definitely don't agree with adding more hours in school, but I do think a little re-jigging might help cut down the deathly end-of-term-tiredness particularly in the autumn term.

So maybe a slightly longer day but balanced out by either a four day week or at least a half day off on Wednesdays (in fact I think some private schools do this, or at least have a half day of sport?)

And then maybe lose one week off the summer holiday and have a 2 week half term in October/November as it is such a long term. TBH I'd be very happy for them to keep the 6 weeks in the summer and still have an extra week in October, I'm sure they'd work better in the 2nd half of the term and easily make up the lost time.

Worth bearing in mind that Cambridge (and maybe Oxford?) has an 8 week term (so ie you only work 24 weeks out of the year) and they don't appear to have noticeably worse outcomes than universities with 12 week terms . . .

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but...

If the holidays are shortened, then how expensive are flights and holiday accommodation etc going to become during this time?

I love the holidays with my kids, we get to hang out without having to be here, there and everywhere, sticking to schedules. It's a time to wind down and enjoy each other and see friends and family. Don't make them shorter, Gove!!

Awful idea. The man hasn't got a clue.

Is it only me who views homework as work that is to be done at home??? i.e. a way for parents to see what skills their children have been developing and help them learn without the assistance of a teacher.

Time beyond 3 o'clock doing homework with a teacher is another lesson.

AvrilPoisson I teach in a secondary that regularly does summer schools. It's offered to students receiving Pupil Premium & staffed by teachers - younger, childless colleagues generally, as they welcome the £s & don't have childcare of their own to sort out.

My own dc's destination secondary does a massive programme of summer 'camps', aimed at kids from the feeder primaries. Mostly sport based, paid for by parents but subbed for children getting PP.

I'd welcome an expansion of programmes like this, ie. for those who need & would use them -NOT for everyone.

Gove, meanwhile, is just getting his ugly fizzog in the papers because he fancies himself as the next leader of the Opposition. Twat.

I agree this is a terrible idea as a teacher and as a parent of a soon to be school aged child. I also take complete offence to the line about "the best schools" having longer days and shorter holidays. The best schools being referred to are of course mainly academies who can select their own hours and terms. Academies don't have ownership on being the best schools. Myself and my colleagues work bloody hard to provide our pupils with the best education and maintain our high standards. But of course Gove has to pay homage to academies because that's what he'd love us all to be.

I'm relatively new to teaching, 7 years now since I qualified, and I until now I have never questioned my career change. Over the last year though I have found myself increasingly frustrated, worn out and dejected. The constant paperwork, monitoring, negative anti-teacher comments in the papers are so exhausting and infuriating. What makes me smile though is my amazing class who are only ages 4 and 5 but are so clever and eager to learn. I'm holding onto that very tightly because I went into this job for the children, they are why I put the extra hours in. Not for Gove and his ridiculous ideas or to be a pawn in his game of destroying our schools and children ??

Wish

What are you expecting you DC to do during the extra hours?
Only so many children could do P.E, Art, DT. Could he cope with extra hours of English? Maths? Science? History?

I just wonder how much it will cost the government....teachers get paid for 6.5 hours per day. They get paid a salary so their wage is split over 12 months bur they do not receive holiday pay. So take off a months holidays so that will mean another months wage for every teacher in the country. Then increase their hours to 7.30 - 5.30 = 10 hours. So a daily increase of 3.5 hours x 5 = 17.5 per week. 17.5 is almost half a weeks wage right now so in effect they would get approx 50% increase on their weekly wage and then an additional weeks salary.

*month.

Lets remember that these "best" schools do not follow a curriculum set by the government.

is what those numbers should have been.

In my experience also children are exhausted at the end of the school day and not just KS1. Maybe Mr Gove should spend more time in schools to appreciate the sheer pace of learning that takes place to meet all of the curriculum demands. Our school day is non-stop and the children feel that.

Boney very true.

I would agree with making school day shorter

Homework doesn't have to be done at 'home'.

A supervising adult could ensure anarchy doesn't break out, whilst the kids do their 'non-teacher led' work.

I haven't read through all of the thread..

but just to say, I have no problem working longer days or having less holiday in theory.

However. As it currently stands, I'm at school 7.30am until 5pm. Then home, deal with DD, food, bed/bath etc, then work from 8pm til 10pm.

At weekends I work all day Sunday.

In holiday time, usually I work 3 days out of the 5 when it's a week holiday and for longer holidays (e.g summer) I work at least 9 full days planning and assessing.

In all honesty, I just don't see when I would get my planning, marking, assessing and all the other paper shit work done if the school day was longer and the holidays shorter.

I've worked in other professions. Honestly. It was easier. Longer days, longer weeks, less holidays but definitely easier. The paperwork is ridiculous in teaching and only getting worse.

I think he is confusing schooling with childcare. I think school days are long enough and holidays are fine (although the 6 weeks could be redistributed).

Many families can only survive now with 2 working parents and school holidays are a nightmare for many working parents (as well as a school day that starts at 9 and finishes at 3.30). What is needed is fun, good quality, good value, nurturing childcare for school age children so that parents can afford the childcare and not feel guilty that they have to work. or have to juggle so much with different childcare sources which is stressful and exhausting and makes life so difficult. In fact, make good childcare free for working parents.

'GoblinGranny - how depressing for the children. What happens if that is not your preferred way of learning? Not everyone learns best sat in silence. Might as well be in an exam!'

Exactly, but this is not about the children, no indeed. You have not read my previous posts. If they start at 3, all ideas of individuality will have been smoothed out by the time they are 8. It's all in the indoctrination.