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| Open thread: should schools have a six-week summer break? | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Teachers and parents preparing themselves for the summer break are mulling over potential changes to their holiday routines today, after the Department for Education announced all schools are to get the power to set their own term dates. | Teachers and parents preparing themselves for the summer break are mulling over potential changes to their holiday routines today, after the Department for Education announced all schools are to get the power to set their own term dates. |
| The change, part of the government's deregulation bill, comes after the education minister, Michael Gove, suggested earlier this year than the current terms, complete with a long summer holiday, "was designed when we had an agricultural economy." Academies and other free schools already have the power to set their own dates, with some, such as the Boulevard academy in Hull, planning to cut the summer break to four weeks. | The change, part of the government's deregulation bill, comes after the education minister, Michael Gove, suggested earlier this year than the current terms, complete with a long summer holiday, "was designed when we had an agricultural economy." Academies and other free schools already have the power to set their own dates, with some, such as the Boulevard academy in Hull, planning to cut the summer break to four weeks. |
| Our news story attracted views from teachers and parents both enthused and alarmed by the proposed changes. Below is a selection of their views - share your own in the comments section below. | Our news story attracted views from teachers and parents both enthused and alarmed by the proposed changes. Below is a selection of their views - share your own in the comments section below. |
| OhTheGoats | OhTheGoats |
| I'm a teacher and I'd be happy to have a shorter summer holiday. I'm a bit concerned about a 5 x 8 week term idea I once heard though (with 2 week holiday gaps instead of a week) - 8 weeks is a long term, children get burnt out by the end of about 6 - 7 weeks continuous teaching. I'm not sure what the best all round option would be, but a shorter summer? No worries. | I'm a teacher and I'd be happy to have a shorter summer holiday. I'm a bit concerned about a 5 x 8 week term idea I once heard though (with 2 week holiday gaps instead of a week) - 8 weeks is a long term, children get burnt out by the end of about 6 - 7 weeks continuous teaching. I'm not sure what the best all round option would be, but a shorter summer? No worries. |
| Sue27 | Sue27 |
| I am struggling with the logic. At the moment, childcare providers know when the long summer break is and there are a good range of options available for paid for child care. However if schools are on different holiday breaks, we face the possibility that childcare providers will not be providing cover, or do not have access to venues for all of the schools. There are also friends around to share child care arrangements with and just muck around with for the day. | I am struggling with the logic. At the moment, childcare providers know when the long summer break is and there are a good range of options available for paid for child care. However if schools are on different holiday breaks, we face the possibility that childcare providers will not be providing cover, or do not have access to venues for all of the schools. There are also friends around to share child care arrangements with and just muck around with for the day. |
| Then we get on to the issue of siblings being at different schools so parents actually having to make more complicated arrangements to allow for differences in term time. | Then we get on to the issue of siblings being at different schools so parents actually having to make more complicated arrangements to allow for differences in term time. |
| And then how does this fit in with the last few engineering companies who have a 2 week compulsory shut down so we, as a family, have no choice about when to take a summer break. Whilst it is good to review the status quo, the possibility of my children, my partner and I not being on holiday at the same time is very real. | And then how does this fit in with the last few engineering companies who have a 2 week compulsory shut down so we, as a family, have no choice about when to take a summer break. Whilst it is good to review the status quo, the possibility of my children, my partner and I not being on holiday at the same time is very real. |
| auditspice | auditspice |
| Teachers need the break or they will burn out. If this were instituted I would immediately stop all extra curricular. I can't run trips, extra study sessions and 2 sports clubs all year, going at 110%, without a serious summer wind down. But that's just me, I have the option to lessen my workload, children don't. Children need their summer breaks. Ever notice how tall children grow over the summer? When the brain is not working so hard, the rest of the body can develop. They also need the summer to wind down. We steal their childhood as they are under so much exam pressure from an early age. It's not right to take their summers away too. | Teachers need the break or they will burn out. If this were instituted I would immediately stop all extra curricular. I can't run trips, extra study sessions and 2 sports clubs all year, going at 110%, without a serious summer wind down. But that's just me, I have the option to lessen my workload, children don't. Children need their summer breaks. Ever notice how tall children grow over the summer? When the brain is not working so hard, the rest of the body can develop. They also need the summer to wind down. We steal their childhood as they are under so much exam pressure from an early age. It's not right to take their summers away too. |
| dillinja | dillinja |
| Half-term times that last longer than six weeks see a real hike in discipline related problems - the seven and eight week half terms leading up to Christmas really test the kids and their productivity (and mental acuity) palpably alters in the last fortnight - excitement about presents notwithstanding. Offering "longer school terms and extra classes" will suit very few of the pupils I have taught, in this school or any of the other four I have taught in. Are children allowed to be children any more? They are allowed a break, are they not? To enjoy themselves without acres of homework, stressing about tests and Controlled Assessments and everything else that worries them? | Half-term times that last longer than six weeks see a real hike in discipline related problems - the seven and eight week half terms leading up to Christmas really test the kids and their productivity (and mental acuity) palpably alters in the last fortnight - excitement about presents notwithstanding. Offering "longer school terms and extra classes" will suit very few of the pupils I have taught, in this school or any of the other four I have taught in. Are children allowed to be children any more? They are allowed a break, are they not? To enjoy themselves without acres of homework, stressing about tests and Controlled Assessments and everything else that worries them? |
| jakedog | jakedog |
| There is an argument for splitting school terms into four, with more, but shorter, breaks. However, particularly at primary school level, longer terms will increase the work load for young children, and that is not sensible. Any primary teacher will tell you that children, some as young as five, are getting very tired by the end of the summer term, and to extend this by two weeks would not be a good idea. The chaotic nature of different primary and secondary schools in a local authority area setting their own, different, holiday dates, is obvious - does Grove actually think through any of his policy pronouncements? | There is an argument for splitting school terms into four, with more, but shorter, breaks. However, particularly at primary school level, longer terms will increase the work load for young children, and that is not sensible. Any primary teacher will tell you that children, some as young as five, are getting very tired by the end of the summer term, and to extend this by two weeks would not be a good idea. The chaotic nature of different primary and secondary schools in a local authority area setting their own, different, holiday dates, is obvious - does Grove actually think through any of his policy pronouncements? |
| Are you a teacher or a parent? Share your own view of the proposed changes in the comments section below. | Are you a teacher or a parent? Share your own view of the proposed changes in the comments section below. |