The end of the 6 week Summer Holiday?
- Thread starter chilango
- Start date
Not only will this create problems for people who have children in different schools but even more for teachers who have children in different schools from the one they teach in. The other interested parties in this are the English holiday towns where the influx of holiday makers is biggest during the six weeks of the main school holidays. They will not be happy if a shorter 4 week summer break becomes common.
There has been an argument that the six week holiday means that children forget what they have learned over such a period (snigger). Perhaps that is true of MPs. They certainly don't seem to learn much while in the House and surely soon forget anything they learn from their work there. Perhaps Westminster should no longer have such a long summer break especially as they will be getting large salary increases. Why do politicians need a summer break? Was it set in history that they had to bring in the harvest in days of yore, as is told of the origin of school holidays?
There has been an argument that the six week holiday means that children forget what they have learned over such a period (snigger). Perhaps that is true of MPs. They certainly don't seem to learn much while in the House and surely soon forget anything they learn from their work there. Perhaps Westminster should no longer have such a long summer break especially as they will be getting large salary increases. Why do politicians need a summer break? Was it set in history that they had to bring in the harvest in days of yore, as is told of the origin of school holidays?
rioted
redundant
in nottingham the local authority has changed the school year. they originally wanted a 5 term year with only 4 weeks in summer. After much opposition from teachers and parents the proposals were watered down but still implemented. ALL the local academies have said they will NOT change from the traditional pattern. They already have the power to do so if they wish, even before gove's intervention.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
about time to
kebabking
Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
its still 190 school days per year, its just spread out differently.
the logic of changing the school year so that the holidays are more spread out over the year and there's not such a big gap between terms over the summer is sound, and the logic of having the holidays differentiated by, for example, county or region, so that the prices of holidays are evened out is also solid. the logic of every school head deciding for themselves when the holidays are however is utterly fcuking batshit mental.
mr steev
magic thought wizard
It's a minimum of 190 days.
But presuming they are just spread out differently then parents are just going to have more days during christmas, easter and half-term to deal with.
mr steev
magic thought wizard
kebabking
Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
probably easier for employers to deal with actually - if the staff members absence is more regular, more spread out, its easier to schedule the workload around them, rather than managing a couple of disperate holidays through the year and then the office emptying for two months.
mr steev
magic thought wizard
Surely you have to book your holidays in advance anyway? I can't see how it will make that much difference to employers. They will already refuse to give you holiday if there aren't enough staff.
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
we're an academy, and we time our holidays to match every other school in the area, give or take a day or so. our bosses are pretty Govian and hardline, but there's never been any noise about cutting the six weeks either.
Thing is, a school would have to be 100% confident about it's popularity to consider fucking about with holidays. holidays at different times to other local schools and you're going to see applications drop like a tonne of bricks, and kids being transferred elsewhere.
oh, and our long holiday is comparatively short when you look at many other countries. 2 months is not uncommon in europe or america, and i believe is standard in the public sector, who obviously aren't too worried about learning loss.
Thing is, a school would have to be 100% confident about it's popularity to consider fucking about with holidays. holidays at different times to other local schools and you're going to see applications drop like a tonne of bricks, and kids being transferred elsewhere.
oh, and our long holiday is comparatively short when you look at many other countries. 2 months is not uncommon in europe or america, and i believe is standard in the public sector, who obviously aren't too worried about learning loss.
_angel_
.
That sounds like total hell, that said, the Americans seem to have a holiday camp system set up as a way around it, in a way we don't have a joint answer to childcare (and entertainment!) in the school holidays.
Schools don't have to do playschemes and to my eternal disgust the one at James school won't give him a place because he doesn't live locally. They can't discriminate against mainstream kids in that area
give me strength, likewise he can't get a place on local special school schemes, if they run, because he doesn't go to that school. 
eta: dara is only three and six weeks away from nursery is, I fear, going to leave him back at square one
J Ed
Follow Back Pro Expropriation
This is even more worrying http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...let-firms-run-schools-for-profit-8682395.html 
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
We all know what's happened the last few times schoolkids have demonstrated down whitehall. What this wants is another such demo perhaps around a slogan about mps' holidays
kebabking
Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
obviously you have to block book your holiday, and almost all employers need some cover in all the time - but its easier to manage your workload if you give 90% of your employees 4 weeks off than it is to give 90% of your employees 6 weeks off.
having the holidays more spread out evens out the workflow, rather than trying to get 12 months work done in 10. an employer who refuses people holidays is likely to have a morale problem, followed by a productivity problem, followed by a retention and recruitment and retraining problem - it is not in an employers interest for people to not get the school holidays off, and having the school holidays in one big long drag is about the best way for the government to make granting the holiday requests difficult. little and often would be far, far better - and therefore more companies would be able to offer term-time.
That article is very revealing. To some extent the for profit school idea has already started with the Cognita group run by ex-chief inspector of Schools Chris Woodhead and also Edison learning which started taking over schools (I think in Leeds - It doesn't say in the article) many years ago.This is even more worrying http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...let-firms-run-schools-for-profit-8682395.html
This is the nightmare that many of us feared if a Tory government was ever to get in. They didn't win the election and these policies were not even in their manifesto, but somehow they are ruling the country. Thanks Clegg. Sadly an incoming Labour government won't have the guts or the finances to reverse any sell offs of land and schools that will have gone into the profits of the education exploiting companies.
mr steev
magic thought wizard
I take your point about workload, but it's not like most (if any?) give a parent 6 weeks off anyway.
Brixton Hatter
Home is south London mate
If the schools consult the parents (which clearly they should) about ending the traditional 6 week holiday and changing it, I imagine most parents would tell them to fuck off!
Why is 6 weeks "too long" anyway?
Maybe we could get the little scrotes to do a few shifts in Tesco or something.
Why is 6 weeks "too long" anyway?
Maybe we could get the little scrotes to do a few shifts in Tesco or something.
chilango
Hypothetical Wanker
It isn't so much about whether they will shorten the Summer holidays it's about letting everyone know that they can .
...and should teachers complain, or God forbid try and block this, then it's an nice easy extra way to reduce public sympathy for them due to the nightmare of arranging childcare and so on
There will, I'm sure, be enough rogue Academy and Free School bosses who think that shortening holidays will raise achievement and make their staff more productive.
Yet, as mentioned above the Independent sector don't agree. They quite happily have Summer holidays of 8 weeks.
...and should teachers complain, or God forbid try and block this, then it's an nice easy extra way to reduce public sympathy for them due to the nightmare of arranging childcare and so on
There will, I'm sure, be enough rogue Academy and Free School bosses who think that shortening holidays will raise achievement and make their staff more productive.
Yet, as mentioned above the Independent sector don't agree. They quite happily have Summer holidays of 8 weeks.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Either the schools where most of the fucking cabinet went to do OK with their 8-9 week summer holiday 3-4 week Xmas break & 3 weeks at Easter, or they don't and the cabinet should resign and sign on (after a 7 day wait).
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