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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

AIBU, to think school should not have three whole days doing no school work this week?

28 replies

lowlandlady · 20/07/2009 23:36

ds (yr 3) finishes school on Weds afternoon.

The children packed up their classroom on Friday with the teacher. This morning they had leavers' assembly and one lesson of maths. They watched movies, other than lunchtime, for the rest of the day. There's no more work now, just parties and playing and toy day etc.

Teachers used to clear up the classroom after school shut. Why just throw 3 or 4 days away? I mean they don't have to do masses but just some work?

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filchthemildmanneredjanitor · 20/07/2009 23:37

why?

they are all tired, and distracted.

what harm does it do? they are children!

TheFallenMadonna · 20/07/2009 23:40

Ha! The school I teach in broke up on Friday. I do something 'fun' (but still generally science-related) in the last lesson only. It took me a good 10 minutes to persuade my year 9 class on Thursday that yes, I really did expect them to do some work...

Piffle · 20/07/2009 23:42

well it cannot do that much harm as ours broke up last week, and managed to learn enough in that time...

cat64 · 20/07/2009 23:43

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Original poster

lowlandlady · 20/07/2009 23:43

Good point of course, it's just the school is strict about holidays in term time and it seems to be a bit of a joke to just stop teaching completely.

Why not carry on teaching but using games, quizzes, problem solving, do some more kinesthetic (?) learning, just carry on educating but do it more creatively?

But our kids can watch movies at home. We don't send them to school to watch movies ALL DAY. I mean one movie, ok, but they watched about 3 today. Why not take them out and play games with them? I just think the teachers appear a little lassez faire.
They are paid to TEACH our kids!

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TsarChasm · 20/07/2009 23:43

Mine watched Shrek one afternoon last week I know it's near the end of term and all that but, but I get the impression they've been winding things down for 'some time'

There was an interesting phone in discussion on the radio the other day. People phoning in and saying very little work being done at some schools during the Summer term.

hobbgoblin · 20/07/2009 23:44

I sort of agree. They fuss over not taking holidays in school time but then they spend last week of school having a holiday in school. I think it is nice to have a few days fun in school at the end of term as education is about so much more than academic stuff but they could make it vaguely optional so that one can go to Tenerife if desired rather than forcibly sending DC in to watch DVDs for several days.

Saucepanman · 20/07/2009 23:49

Agree here- mine has been watching films for a few weeks, and attending loads of other year assemblies and shows. Meanwhile I have been getting loads of homework for him at weekends, and tonight after a day when they watched 3 films, had to do more religious homework and a 32 page reading book. He is 6. And doesn't break up till Friday. Oh what fun we have had tonight!

Original poster

lowlandlady · 20/07/2009 23:49

Lots of parents could have saved nearly 200 quid by having left last week. It's just the inconsistency of the message that irks me.

Ds's school has a great atmosphere, warm and caring ethos etc. Loads of creativity and opportunities. But academically I think it is really lame. It's not at all ambitious and the leadership always wrings it's hands about the 1200 (give or take...) languages spoken in school and mobility blah blah blah.

But we're supposed to address our core business and then fuss about fancy creative doo-dahs, not the other way round.

I think the staff are bored with the core business and look for the school to provide them with the creativity their lives lack.

All for creativity but we'd like our children to be able to read, write and count first. Please. Core business.

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nessus · 20/07/2009 23:50

DD's school is one of the few in the Borough that is still open. Thankfully she finishes tomorrow but the past few days have seemed pointless and the 2 days this week is just like but I agree with a comment above that it is nice for the kids to spend time in school chilling and realising that it is more than a hot-house!

DD had a party today and said they did no school-work but had to work hard digesting all the chocolate biscuits they had been eating!

nessus · 20/07/2009 23:50

BTW DD is in Yr.3 too.

TheFallenMadonna · 20/07/2009 23:51

Oh I love that they see plays and assemblies. And in our secondary we have had at least two sports days and activity days, and achievement assemblies, and of course they have been worthwhile. School would be a lesser without them.

TheFallenMadonna · 20/07/2009 23:54

A lesser place

I think core business and creative doo-dahs are inextricably linked BTW, in education.

TsarChasm · 20/07/2009 23:58

It annoys me when they send home basic stuff homework though and then you find out they've been learning drums or whatever for most of the day.

Original poster

lowlandlady · 20/07/2009 23:59

I agree, thefallenmadonna, when in capable hands. But it's easy for creativity to replace academic achievement unless there is a really clear focus from the leadership.

I love all the creative stuff but my son's handwriting is abominable, I wish the school took that more seriously and that he had had a series of targets this year to help him progress. But his report shows a lot of 'no progress'.

Why not be creative and aim high academically?

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herbietea · 21/07/2009 00:10

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primarymum · 21/07/2009 08:58

Much as I would love to carry on teaching as late as possible, a good proportion of my class have "left early" to take advantage of cheaper holidays! We have 1 day of "non-learning" where we MIGHT show a topic related video ( for example, we have been studying WW2 so watched Carries War) or take the opportunity for more art/music/PE, and we have 1 day of leavers assemblies and awards ceremony. Personally I prefer this to days of trying to keep 30 disparate children "entertained" I'm a teacher,not a clown

cory · 21/07/2009 09:01

don't blame teachers for winding down, but the weather has been quite nice here: it does seem a shame that ds has spent the last week in a darkened room watching dvds when he could have been outside playing football

fancy creative doo-dahs would have been a different matter

TwoHot · 21/07/2009 12:05

My dd is in Reception and is so tired she wouldnt cope with too much. For her a few days of fun are just what she needs!

Original poster

lowlandlady · 21/07/2009 16:40

of course a day or two is fine but it's really almost four days as they cleared up the class room on Friday just gone.

You can do a lot of learning through games and more physical learning. I just don't see why children need to plonked in front of dvds. They could be running around at least!

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Stayingsunnygirl · 21/07/2009 16:52

When my dses where primary school age, I used to find that by the end of the summer term they were tired and unmotivated, and a few winding down days did them no harm at all.

Neither did it lead to any of them becoming academic underachievers or lazy. In the grand scheme of their education, this really isn't that big of a deal, honestly.

That said, the senior school that the older two go to (and that ds3 will start in August) doesn't approve of winding down towards the end of the summer term, so the children start the next year's curriculum and timetable. I do support this.

Hulababy · 21/07/2009 16:54

The Y1 class in work in did no work for a whole week before they broke up! The head has decided that almost all the teachrs have to move classrooms this summer, so lots of packing away and oving has taken place. Lots of playing, colouring, lego building, etc have taken place. They watched a film. They had at leats one extra assembly. They did a whole year group singing with TAs. I took my teaher's class into the hall and we danced for an hour to HSM songs. Had extra play times. Oh, and extra story time.

Year 3 are still little children, and little children learn lots just from playing IMO. Edcation isn't just maths and english after all.

Teachers did not used to do it in the holidays IME. They used to always have children helping out and playing before the bug holidays. I remember watching films, having parties, having extra activities in the hall, etc. Amd also reemember bringing in games to play from home.

Hulababy · 21/07/2009 16:57

I do agree that they ought not be watchign DVD after DVD though. That isn't good and some children will just get bored anyway, which in turn can lead to behaviour issues. Some of our Y1s struggled to watch just one DVD one morming during the week.

Original poster

lowlandlady · 21/07/2009 16:59

I agree, shouldn't be that much screen time. Really no excuse imo.

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scienceteacher · 21/07/2009 17:14

We finished a couple of weeks ago and our last day was a half-day, and the only day when we didn't have any classes - it was clearing up, Mass and final assembly. We worked right up until 4pm the day before.

I don't think it is a good idea to not work on these last few days, and once this attitude gets ingrained, the downtime seems to grow and grow.

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