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

6 weeks is fine - always was, and still is.

Most kids need a long break in the summer and all teachers do.

Adding a few more days to other holidays does not help staff as employers tend to add meetings etc and planning and marking ends up being done. I strongly suspect that reducing the summer break to 4 weeks will not help with staff retention.

European states have longer holidays and many have better academic performance- messing about with school holidays is not the priority.

Kids in NI generally get roughly 7 weeks summer holiday and I believe my DS needs that to reset and get ready for the next academic year. So I disagree with the petition. However I would really like to see adequate childcare provision for all age groups over the holidays that doesn’t cost a fortune and runs for the full working day. I’ve found that local “camps” start at 10, break for lunch (at home) and resume at 2 until 4. It’s just not workable for most of the parents I know.

Ours are nearly seven weeks. Two inset days this week before the start of school.

I work for a university and May is not a time I could take leave. Both the bank holidays are working days in our uni. I like the holidays at the length and time they are now. July and August are a tiny bit more flexible despite the academic financial year end in July and clearing in August.

Hard no from me! I’ve worked in an infant school and both the children and the school staff need the break to reset and come back fresh and ready to learn.
Schools are really hot and uncomfortable in July (well ours was) and the children are hot and tired and struggling to focus by the end of term. As were we!
My children are older now but I absolutely loved having them off for the summer and would have happily had longer!

Can you imagine the prices in those 4 summer weeks too! Though I'd prefer 2 weeks at a cooler time, many wouldn't.

I have an office type job.

I do realise it will be harder for those with shift jobs and those where annual leave is restricted in certain periods/ ways.

Are you a single parent? If not, what job does your partner do?

The couples I know who make this work are ones where both partners are fully on board with using their annual leave to cover holidays, and take very little of it together so as to maximise.

I very rarely take annual leave days for myself.

@SomeLikeitSnot I love the long summer holidays.
I don't have a good job. I don't earn a lot and am a single parent. I work 4 days a week.
I take some holidays and I've had her in holiday club quite a bit as well. I take the hit because what choice do you have

I loved the six weeks holidays. Spending time with my children, going on holiday and doing things all together. I got quite sad when they were over, and they had to go back to school.
i won’t be signing the petition, it should stay!

Scotland schools are back because we finished earlier. We got 7 weeks in my corner of Scotland. They finished end of June.

No I'm all for longer summer holidays

No way am I signing it.

6 weeks is a good break for the DC.

You are only a kid for a short time. Let them enjoy it.

Perhaps some people need to come up with a better plan to keep their DC busy rather than inflict shorter summers on our DC.

This absolutely. The long summer break is necessary to both children and teaching staff.

As someone who enjoyed 9 weeks holidays, as did my kids, I don’t agree. I think the kids need the break. Now a petition to abolish A levels - I’d sign that!

We always did 2 weeks family holiday, 2 weeks grandparents, 2 weeks holiday clubs/days at friends houses etc.
I'm NHS too so very limited time off in school hols do everyone gets their fair share.

I never take A/L days for myself! DH has a 9-5 job but has to be in the office/on site. We take 2 weeks off as a family each year then the other 2-3 weeks seperately but it doesnt cover all the school hols/inset days. Everyone seems to be so flexible, can wfh with kids around or take the whole summer off and I just dont know how!!

What a horrible petition.

Childhoods are about more than just retaining timetables. They pick it all back up again fine. Long summers are needed, if anything I'd petition the state ones to be as long as the private ones.

Yeah thats fair enough- I just feel like as I can't be off and I end up ferrying them to holiday clubs it doesnt feel like a lovely long summer and I want to change that.

No.

Yes, it really wouldn’t work for exams. Also, who wants 4 weeks at Easter? If it falls in March it’s quite often cold and grim.

I think a lot of parents who want the shorter holidays are only seeing it from the point of view of having younger children who need entertaining and childcare, not older kids who need set times in school for revision, mocks and actual exams.

I can’t agree with you more! Stop telling children that things are emotionally challenging, cause fear and anxiety, increase stress and apprehension FFS! It just becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

it would help those (including teachers) who would like to book holidays without paying a 'summer holiday' premium and so on

It wouldn't though would it? Look at the price hikes for Easter, June and October school holidays…all that would happen is the new ‘two weeks in May/September/March’ have a price hike,

It isn't a ‘summer holiday premium’ it is a price increase that reflect that everyone wants to go at the same time and the travel industry can sell out even at the higher prices.

The only way to remove the most popular times is to not have the same school holidays across the country…totally unworkable.

I am hugely in favour of a slightly shorter holiday and holidays to be a bit more spaced out, but this petition is ridiculous and embarassing in its arguments and vagueness.

I'm also quite interested in how many people actually have 6 weeks. My children are at state schools but we have had 8 weeks and 7 weeks respectively this year, which I think is too long. I'd like to see summer for my children reduced to 5-6 weeks, with additional time in October and possibly at Christmas/Easter. I find especially at the end of the first term - which is the longest one - the kids are exhausted and then add all the craziness of Christmas etc, they don't seem to go back to school feeling any more rested so an extra few days there would be good and I think would help them a lot. I also think that bearing in mind how many of us have family in places that are different to where we live, it would allow a lot more flexibility for people to travel to spend time with family - whether that's to different parts of the UK or internationally. I concede however that this may be more of an issue in London and surrounding areas than it is in other parts of the country.

I don’t find long summer holidays particularly easy to manage as someone who works full time, but I do think it’s good for kids to have the time off. I also think that the long summer holiday is one of the reasons why people go into teaching and that teachers also need this time to recharge. I know many do work during this period preparing lessons etc, but it does give them valuable breathing space away from classroom teaching.

I have an office type job too, as does DH. We always do a spreadsheet well in advance of the holidays and it's been a mix of a family holiday all together, separate annual leave, grandma, holiday clubs and a few days of them running feral with the neighbour kids while we WFH.