Would two weeks away in March be too disruptive before GCSEs?

[GCSE2027]

DC will have 2 weeks off beginning of March. I would like you to take them to my home country in SA. It would be great winter scape as I suffer from SAD. Will help DC recharge before GCSE.

Will be too disruptive? They do have to work on a portfolio/written project which will probably be due in April. But they start working on it in Jan

FWIW, we did go away the first week of Easter holidays before GCSE. Not too far so there was no fatigue from the trip and no dealing with jet lag. I think going to SA would have been too much, but a bit of a break before the grueling last stretch was very good. Otherwise it's a constant stretch from Christmas and by the actual GCSEs I think they would have burnt out.

But you need to know your DC. Our DC is very conscientious, so had been on top of their revision throughout, and they were also able to enjoy the short break without spending the whole time feeling guilty or worried. I'd definitely get their input into the decision as well.

Hard no. One week would bd pushing it. You have the whole summer

I think it would be be good for DC as well and they will recharge. It will be 2 months before GCSE starts; as long as they work consistently from September

We will stay with family

I think we may take a week off the first week of the holidays. It would be good for DC to recharge and recover.

Revision should be ongoing throughout year 11 and certainly from mocks onwards.

There will probably be revision classes from the time of youth two weeks onwards. Recharging isn’t really possible in GCSE year. They need to be engaged with the process all the time.

Of course they’ll need rest breaks, but I wouldn’t take them away at that time.

Sounds like it would be a tough year with no break.

Revision normally begins properly in September.

most schools do end of year 10 exams. For some students these results (which are given in terms of gcse grades) are a real wake up call and many parents make the decision to get a tutor after these results.

most schools will start a revision programme in Sept - students are asked to buy revision guides and workbooks ready for September and then eg homework is do pages from the revision book (so not what is being covered in class).

many schools will also do optional lunchtime and after school sessions and for some students (usually those at risk of failing) these are made mandatory,

coursework heavy subjects like art or photography often do catch up sessions or have open classrooms at lunchtime to work on the picture/portfolio.

most parents avoid significant time away unless it’s a week away somewhere fairly local and revision goes with them.

Yes it is.

again, a lot depends on where your child is. If they have targets of 9s and are on target you can afford to be a bit more relaxed.

if they have targets of 5s and are at danger of failing most parents will pull all the stops out to make sure they pass.

if your child fails maths and/or English it does limit the courses they can get onto in either sixth form or FE college and of course they have to resit it which is demoralising.

gcses are one of the rare points in the English education system where the results really, really matter and so most parents (if rather fewer students) will do everything they can to duppprt this.

You can’t do this kind of trip in an exam year

Thank you all. You talked me out of it. It would be disruptive; let alone expensive so we will wait until DC finishes school and do a big one without having to worry about exams. We may do a short break in Europe; will see

This is helpful. Thank you.

Not sure what came over me. I get so excited when I think of holidays; especially my home country. I shall ask DH to restrain me from booking anything.

I won’t go alone either, I am DC moral and practical support.

It is only one year and we need to give everything. DC will go to college; but even so.

Good choice OP he’ll be done in June you can go for a month!

Well, if you think that’s bad, wait for A levels.
Our school did extra revision classes in the holidays, I wouldn’t want to be missing those.

I don't understand how it would be so disruptive to go away during the school holidays. They could take homework and revision with them.

It's not as though they'd be spending 8 hours a day every day revising in the the school holidays anyway.

Depends on the DC and how much they want/need excellent results for A Levels. My DD would not have welcomed a holiday so close to exams, the easter hols were not a typical holiday that year - just more study time, and she was on track and achieved 9's. Had she been struggling she would have needed to study even more. Once the exams end in early June, they can have a big holiday then.

Yes.

What do you mean no break - they finish in June and get two or three bloody months off!

And recharge from what? They’re not spending 16 hours a day down the mine. They’re revising for national exams which have the potential to impact the rest of their lives. They should be totally in the flow of regular revision having had the results of their mocks which will be a guide to what areas they messed up and urgently need to strengthen revision on.

You are clearly desperate for the break, but don’t try and justify it as good for your kid to recharge. It won’t be. It’s for your benefit only.

Edited to add - sorry posted before I saw your update! Apologies. Good decision though.

March is not a great time to go away.
Practical GCSEs start around then and there is often stress about finishing coursework, as deadlines approach.
Towards the end of June you could go away for several weeks, with no pressure

We had a two week holiday in the Easter before my daughter’s A levels (USA, for a family wedding).

We were confident it wouldn’t affect her grades, and I can’t imagine that it did.

I don’t think I’d have done it just before the other daughter’s A levels though!

I wouldn’t. And my teenagers wouldn’t have wanted to go away like that at that stage of their GCSEs either. What do they think?

Yes, massively. By that point there'll probably be breakfast and after school revision and support sessions.
And even state schools often have Easter revision sessions (very hard working teachers!).

Yes it is a tough year

Both DS & DD were doing 8 hrs a day by Easter with maybe a day or 2 off a week.