Holidays Year 10/11

[SorrengailFables]

Dipped into the year 11 thread and it hadn’t quite dawned on me how many hours kids/families are giving to revision etc and how early exams started (eldest is only year 9…)
How do people plan any holidays or do most just not go away in April/May (UK short breaks) of year 11?

DD is already signed up for school trips in several of the Year 10 holidays and now I’m thinking family holidays might be limited….

I don’t know anyone who regularly goes abroad on holidays in April and May to the point that they feel like they would find it a sacrifice not to go.

Year ten is fine to go away in May half term and Easter as the mocks are often straddling the February half term. In year eleven, I would not go on any holiday at all until after contingency day.

DS is year 9. He’s away with school in October half term of both year 10 (Rome- classics) and year 12 (Germany, Battlefields- history).
We will have a holiday at Easter of year 10, but in year 11 we won’t go away at all until the summer.
I love holidays but his education is more important.

We are going away this year at Easter, pre yr 10 mocks but not planning to go away Feb/Easter/May next year. Short trip with dd1 after exams and then family summer holiday once dd2 breaks up.

Yes agree, surely most people with school-age DC are more likely to go on their holiday in July/August anyway?

Actually GCSE year can be a win as (depending on prom and sixth-form induction days) you can often get a bargain or at least avoid the crowds by going away late June/early July. Obvs either only with the year 11 DC or if there are no other DC at school still!

Year 10 is fine for holidays if you avoid mocks (find out from school when they are as they vary).

For year 11 I would avoid holidays after Oct half term tbh. Certainly I wouldn't go away April and May. You might find your YP is not keen anyway. I recall reading about a family who had gone away May half term and then for some reason not got their flight home – and their DS missed his maths GCSE. That was tough for hm but a bit shortsighted of the family tbh.

Most families can’t afford more than one holiday and take that in the summer holidays, that is fine. If you are fortunate enough to be able to afford multiple holidays i would avoid Easter and both feb and may half term as these are peak revision times (you can always grab a couple of nights away short notice if your young person does want to get away). If your school has mock in January then Christmas will be out too potentially. One of my DD’s worked really hard with revising, one didn’t, the one that didn’t got better results, life isn’t always fair alas

Sorry I meant UK - not abroad! We would typically have some time away from home (but in the UK) in April/May and then our summer holiday….3 kids all 2 school years apart so just thinking how many school holiday periods might be affected….and whether to change our habits 😬

we have to negotiate leave well in advance at work and ensure there is enough cover with school holidays being extra stretched so this is another thing to factor in…

Year 10 we just did normal holidays. In year 11 October half term mine were revising for their November mocks. Their second set of mocks was immediately after the February half term which meant Christmas was actually a break.

Easter holidays school offered revision sessions in school for the first week, and second week was at home revising. May half term is in the middle of their exams.

Holidays after exams in June can be tricky due to compulsory sixth form attendance taster days as well as still having younger children in school.

Basically no holidays in year 11 until their exams were over including the exam contingency day, however we went on holiday within the UK over contingency day as we could easily get back for it.

Year 10 we did as normal. Year 11 - she was away on a school trip at Feb half term. Easter we plan to be here. May half term we usually visit family in the UK and will probably do that again. She can take revision with her and we will tell them that she is revising while we are there. I wouldn't book to go abroad and be busy doing stuff. However if you were planning booking a "sit by the pool" type holiday then I think that could work at Easter (not May half term as pp said, in case you can't get back) and revision could be done by the pool interspersed with eating nice food and swimming (aware others may disagree with me).

DS is Y10 and we’ve had holidays of some kind through most of the school holidays this year. But year 11 we only have one booked for August after results. This isn’t entirely deliberate tbh, circumstantially we can’t really get away in Easter or May holidays next year, if we could we would probably avoid May but would still go Easter.

(Our school doesn’t do residentials for year 11 or year 13)

We didn’t go away in either Easter/April or May half term holidays when my children were in year 11 or 13. Did go away in year 10. Their schools also didn’t have residential trips for year 11 and 13 after Christmas. They also held revision sessions over the Easter and May holidays.

@isthatmytrainleaving how did your young person cope with that? It sounds pretty gruelling/relentless with very few breaks….I don’t mean that in any way as a criticism just it sounds harder work/less rest than a working adult….I have to admit I don’t think I could do a year without some breaks away but recognise I’ve perhaps created an unhealthy habit where the normal working week is too much/too busy…

Y10 we did as usual. Y11 we avoided going away at Christmas as mocks were right after (check with your school, some have them before). May half-term is off the cards, but we’re still going away for a short break the first week of Easter holidays. It’s been a long hard slog of work and revision and we think a break will be good for them (we checked what they thought as well). Nothing long haul to avoid any jet lag issues.

@BananaDaiquiri this was what I was thinking with a family visit etc and maybe something very low key at Easter….family visit could always be postponed if she was very stressed/didn't want to go…

Sounds like she needs to find out when her school does mocks in year 11 and that might help…think the latest residential trip will be October year 11…

Things have definitely changed since I did mine - I don’t think I started revising until Easter or maybe even when we went on study leave in May….they do seem to have got harder (or more content heavy)!

@SorrengailFables We just made it all very calm, chilling, sitting out in the garden, facials, meditation, going on walks so a break from home but not for days on end. Revision done well isn't all day everyday revision. It is a marathon, not a sprint, we call it eating the elephant; one small bite at a time to cover 2 years worth of work. GCSEs are a game, learn what gets you points and how to level up.

They started compiling flash cards as soon as the GCSE content was covered in class. End of topic tests revealed what they needed to revisit, whether that was content or exam technique. This is the part where most students go wrong, they don't go back, they accept their mark and move on.

The school basically held their hand all the way through, tailored classes to differing levels of ability, so these children did X, those children did Y ie in History where some children were a grade 3 and some were a 7+. In year 11 they move forms to have 30 minutes every morning with a teacher in the subject they are struggling with the most. Their school is an outstanding state secondary with a high Progress 8, incredible pastoral care and a low tolerance for fucking around.

Year 10 summer should see them look back over their exams and see what they need to work on. They are awake for what? 12 - 14 hours a day? That is a lot of time for both revision and a whole load of downtime.

Not my message you are replying to but do you mean all the mocks (standard) the revision sessions at Easter (not unusual and hopefully helpful) or no holidays at all in year 11? I don’t think that is all that unusual tbh. We didn't go away in my DC's exam years apart from in the summer.

There are breaks in year 11 – holidays when the YP doesn't have to get up and go to school, so they can set their own schedule and yes, have time to do other things (sport, music, Guides, Scouts) but they may feel better if they can work rather than being away from their studies.

Times have changed, there is a lot more content to cover. Mine did 24 exams including MFL verbal. Also no study leave until after the last compulsory subject (English, maths or science) which for mine was mid June, after the morning exam they had leaver's assembly, shirt signing and then off site before lunch time when all the other students kick out of lessons.

During exams they had a personal timetable for pre exam revision, exam, then what class to head to after the morning exam. Basically they were in school for a normal school day hours wise with an extra bit if there was a morning exam.

We did go away at the Easter of year 11 but honestly it was more of a revision boot camp than a holiday. We went to the lakes.

definitely do not go away April/May of year 11.

Absolutely no way would I or have I gone away after October half term in year 11. If mocks are in Feb you could probably do a Xmas holiday but other than that no way. I wouldn’t dream of an Easter holiday and May half term they are already well into exam

Great tips about about how to chunk it from the start @isthatmytrainleaving Your school sounds amazing!
we’re at a state grammar that’s very nurturing and not particularly high stress…I think year 10 could be a shock though…I think she probably only averages about 3 hours of homework a week so far and I don’t think that will cut it next year.

Appreciate all the comments about downtime etc….I don’t feel like she does have a lot at the moment (swimmer training 12 hours a week, after school sports and 2 instruments) so something will need to give!

Thanks everyone - will find out when mocks are and see if I can find out how they support them with revision in year 11…

MFL speaking exam is a good point. It’s my subject and the spec has changed for this year – the speaking exam is very different. Obvs that as such won't make any difference but the teachers may feel less confident of how it will play out as there will only have been one iteration. Speaking exams are within a set period from mid-April to mid-May (usually after Easter but not always), so earlier than most exams as a rule. So if they are doing MFL they may want to factor work for the speaking exam in as well.

I definitely wouldn't arrange a holiday for April/May in Year 11. Probably not at all tbh until after the exams. I think a holiday after the exams have finished would be a lot more enjoyable anyway as they can get quite stressed leading up to them (but going somewhere doesn't help at all and could just make it worse).

One thing to find out is when your DC’s school do their mocks and how many sets of mocks they do. Some schools do them before the Christmas break in Yr11, some do them immediately afterwards which obviously has an impact on what you do that holiday.
We holidayed as usual in Yr10. We’re now in Yr11 and went abroad in Oct HT. DD had mocks to weeks after we got back but we knew this when we booked so stayed somewhere where there was not only space for her to study in the mornings but it wasn’t disruptive to our plans for the day. We would usually ski at Easter but aren’t this year. Instead, we’re going away for a couple of nights in the UK, again making sure that there is a desk space for DD. We have just reduced this from 4 nights to 3 as DD’s school are running some revision sessions and one of the ones she wants (needs!) to go to clashed with that. We’re not away at all over MayHT but do have theatre tickets one night and will go to an event over the bank holiday weekend as I want DD to have a break. Then this summer, we have arranged our holidays and visits to relatives around the prom, 6th form transition days and GCSE results day.
Sport commitments mean we rarely go away for weekends but that has been further curtailed as there have been a few big 16th bday parties recently and, as DD is working so hard, I thought it was important she went to those. We’re also saying “no” to overnight visitors during May & June.

The other thing which has come as a bit of a surprise to me is how busy a lot of 16yo are at weekends. Many of DD’s friends have a job and do a least a 6hr shift. Lots of them - like her - are sporty and, at their age, if you’re good, that can involve quite a bit of travel. DD left at 7am this morning and will hopefully be back in an hour or so; another of her friends travelled to an event yesterday evening and will be back late tonight; another has an all day comp
tomorrow. And then there is all the training. Others are doing dance or drama and have shows coming up which can often involve long rehearsals at weekend.
For us, it’s the combination of GCSEs and sport which means that we’re having to choose what we prioritise. But it is a choice. And it is important that they have time away from their revision and their friends

We don't usually go away Easter, sometimes May half term, but definitely not in Y11. If your kid has mocks before Christmas, that might be as late as you'd want to do a holiday in GCSE year. The mocks are pretty much non stop otherwise.