When is a good time for holiday in Yr 11?

[whoamitojudge]

As the title suggests, My DD will be going into yr 11 next year and we are hoping to get a family holiday booked.
I know that Easter and May half terms will be out but would October half term be ok?
Unsure as don’t know when the mock exams will be.

Lots of students go away for one week of the Easter holiday.

Mocks timing depends on the school - there is no hard & fast rule.

I’d say any time before Easter, though it wouldn’t have made any difference to my son! We were contemplating a trip and he could have taken some books along but didn’t in the end. It’s not realistic (or healthy in my opinion) to think they will be revising all day every day. A short break might do them good (though not May half term when it will be right smack in the middle of exams!). October, Xmas, February half term, maybe first week of Easter all seem fine to me.

Our school does revision days in Easter (local comp) so would avoid that. You may have mocks after Feb half term but I wouldn’t see any problems with October half term!

The school will most likely run revision in Easter but usually in my experience they would be over one of the two weeks as teachers like to go away/have a break/Mark coursework too! So maybe check with them or ask what happened this year as it will most likely stay the same x

October half term would be a good option.

We had revision sessions every single holiday except Christmas.

In all honesty, there probably isn't a good time in Year 11, especially if there are any subjects that have a coursework/portfolio component and DC isn't already getting straight 8s in every subject.

Round about the 1st July is probably your earliest chance to do it without affecting the GCSEs or any prizegiving/end of term show or Prom.

Oh, and there were mocks in late November, December and March. Along with lots of other exam practices.

Forgot the Saturday/Sunday interventions as well. The Bank Holidays were the only other times that no sessions were held.

August?

Watch out re Bank holidays, the press is reporting the early may one is shifting to the Friday next year. (See my thread in Secondary and a very long one in AIBU).

We went away for the Easter break Thursday-Easter Monday, as we knew they wouldn't be running revision sessions over the actual long weekend.

I was thinking of getting away Feb half term with my DS.

Ds is going into year 11 in September. We are going away for the two weeks at Christmas. I have an older child so we have experienced gcse year before although he did the old gcses. Ds has undiagnosed sen and the last year has been difficult. If its taught me anything it's that academics are important but so is the wellbeing of my child. We felt that time away at Christmas would allow us all to escape from the year 11 stress. His mocks will be in November, his school do not run holiday revision sessions though.

I'm a head of English and I think it's worrying that people are ruling out family holidays for the entire year . Students need time to switch off too. A week or short break at Easter would be fine, and October half term would be fine too. Schools can't make holiday revision sessions compulsory.

October half term is a no go for us as dd and ds have different half terms. When dd was in Year 11 last year we went away for 3 days at February half term (after January mocks) and she went away for 5 days at Easter.

Ds is in Year 11 next year and we will probably do the same.

I think they positively need a break at some point. They cannot work intensely from Sept-June.
DD2's school have mocks early Jan. So when the time comes we will be doing something like:

• 5 days off over Christmas break, but otherwise regular revision
• possible short break for some of Feb half term
• 4/5 days over Easter

Reading with interest, because this will be Ds1 in September and I hadn't really considered this.

We are going straight after the GCSE exams finish. She's turning 16 but also it's a treat for working hard. Counting down the days as it's been a long slog! For me and for her!

They had two sets of mocks at our school so it was hard to fit anything in.

Thank you all for your replies it is really appeciated.
I think we will look at the October half term,

We went for a week of the Easter break with both DDs. The school did offer revision sessions during the holidays, but they weren't compulsory and even if they had been, I'd have stuck 2 fingers up at the school. Holidays are holidays and the kids need a break.

Having time off from revision is just as important as ervising enough.

October half term

Trouble is with sticking two fingers up and going on holiday is that you can end up frantically trying to get the kids to complete their final coursework submissions and finding out that they've lost their sketchbooks or they 'definitely handed it in electronically/is on their Mum's laptop' but it's nowhere to be seen whilst all the other subjects are pushing for interventions and dropdown days, before and after school revision sessions, etc, etc.

It never seems to be the kids who are well on track or above and submitting everything on the first deadline whose parents take them on holiday - it's the ones who are at best borderline for good grades or those for whom a pass in Maths and English and nothing else would be a fantastic outcome.

Subjects with a practical or coursework element are great for those who find sitting still and writing for over an hour nonstop very difficult - and for those who get anxious over it all hanging on performance on a particular summer morning. Even those who find writing easy, but are in danger of being overwhelmed by it can feel better if they know a proportion of their GCSE is already done and dusted. But that means they do not have spare time to go on holiday.

By July 1, there is nothing stopping you going on holiday until mid September. Christmas is normally absolutely clear. The Easter weekend is normally clear. But the others, including the Autumn half term, are likely to be important, particularly for those doing Art, Graphics, DT, Music, Music Tech and any other subjects that have a practical/preassessed component.

If places at 6th form were unconditional, it wouldn't be so bad, but many are subject to getting particular grades now, with no 'and if you don't get that grade, you'll go onto this lower level course instead'. I don't think it's fair, but that's how things have changed.

Talk to the school. See what they say - if they say it's fine to go on holiday in October, fair enough - but I'm not convinced that they will.

Any school who felt it was not fine for a child Togo on holiday during October or February half terms are being ridiculous. And there is plenty to stop some families from gong on holiday after 1st July such as younger siblings still at school (or in our case a teacher husband).

During Christmas and Easter a holiday is fine as long as the child makes some time for revision. (Easter can be tricky for us sometimes due to different term dates between dd and ds. )

Check with your school, but honestly, as others have said, it is as important to have good clear breaks, as it is to keep on top of your work. We only had one set of mocks, no revision classes, and the school actually runs trips in October, February and at Easter. They encourage down time, which personally I applaud.

Check with the school - many have autumn mocks. If I were you I'd look at Christmas or July/August when you can all properly relax.

Ds is almost through with his GCSE's and finishes on Friday. He is going away with his dad 12 days after he leaves school.

Unfortunately for ds, his dad booked the holiday without thinking about the prom and ds leaves for his holiday the day before prom. He was seriously debating what to do over going.

His school had 3 sets of mocks. November, January and March.
October half term would be ideal I think.