Petition to change summer school holidays

[Kellykt]

Please read and see the sense of the petition.

https://www.change.org/p/reduce-summer-holidays-for-schools/sfs/copy/1386960292?recruiter=1386960292&recruited_by_id=4678b200-876f-11f0-a60a-cdc055e4640a&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard_share_modal&utm_medium=copylink

Sorry Kelly. I don’t agree.

Can you tell me which counties have the lower holidays that they quote have better achievement levels.
Thanks

No thanks I like the longer summer holidays

No I disagree. This would be miserable for children who struggle with school or social situations for whatever reason. A long summer holiday often acts as a reset and is in the child's best interests.

We actually have the shortest summer holidays of the western world (perhaps there's an exception outside Europe/USA I've not heard of)

Completely disagree.

Kids in NI get even longer off - nine weeks and do better in exams.

The main issue for me was the lack of decent summer scheme / camp provision for working parents that doesn’t cost a fortune particularly for kids with special needs.

No thanks! Lengthy summer holiday to reset, spend time together & let kids be kids is perfect!

I love the long summer holidays and so do my kids. I also look back on my own childhood summer holidays with much affection and have great memories of them. It’s important for kids to have a long break from the routines of school, they will have a whole lifetime of the shorter holidays you want.

I think what you are proposing is an awful idea and why is it only now in 2025 that parents are seeing ‘first hand’ the terrible things you are claiming against the summer holiday - were the generations before unthinking idiots?

We have one of the shortest summer holiday periods in the world, the Scandinavian countries that are generally held up as “ models of good practice” have 2-3 weeks LONGER than we do. Perhaps we should be petitioning for longer summer holidays!

I like the holidays as they are tbh. Also we'd struggle for everyone to get their summer holiday in at work if we only had 4 weeks to play with.

My children are young adults now but I wouldn't have agreed to this. As a working parent it was difficult enough trying to get time off during the six week holidays as it was (fitting in with all the other parents). If the available period to take a summer holiday away was reduced, I would think it would cause a lot of problems.

No, no, no! Children need the full six weeks to rest and reset. I get that it's hard for working parents, but six weeks goes so quickly. I'm sad it's over! I love spending quality time with my children. Those who struggle with school would do so however short the holidays were. How do you think people manage in Europe? Most seem to have two months off!

No i disagree as well. Kids need a change to be kids. They have the rest of their lives to have short holidays. For now let them have some down time. If I had my way they would be 8 weeks or an extra week in May

Sorry I also disagree. I do understand for some children (and their families) this would work better but I think a big break is needed for kids and a chance to rest. I also am interested in the countries with shorter holidays and better outcomes. My brothers kids in Austria have longer off than mine and all doing well.

Well this hasn’t gone the way you’d hoped, has it op!

I agree with the others - I love the long summer holidays and wouldn’t change them.

I did read somewhere about a trail that was happening on some schools. They did a slightly longer day (half an hour I think) and then longer holidays.

Absolutely not.

No!!! Leave our summer holidays alone!!

There's more to life than school. Kids need time to just be.

I am surprised at how many disagree.
I am totally in favour of a shorter summer. 4 weeks would be just enough in my opinion and I would love an extra week in May (which I know some schools already do). This however would cause havoc with secondary schools and exams, so I don't see a big over haul happening any time soon.

No thanks, we love the 6 week holidays, it gives the kids time to rest. Don't forget it's the teachers annual leave, you can't mess with that.

Nope, children need the break. As someone else pointed out, NI has the best exam results in the UK on much longer summer hols.

I read it, as requested.
It’s full of absolute nonsense.
The long summer break is not just desirable, it’s needed.

I think the op is right. They should be shorter. We are addicted to going abroad when it’s now 40 degrees and it’s making some places far too hot for having a pleasant holiday. I’d definitely take 2 weeks off summer and put it on to the Christmas and Easter holidays. Or 2 weeks for October and May half terms. The only issue is very hot classrooms in, say, August.

It’s true some dc dont retain learning and Scotland schools are back. We don’t have to be the same as other countries - we could move 2 weeks and we might enjoy 2 weeks at other times.