Early School Holidays

Keep children off school till the end of May. Start their holidays running from the start of June through to the middle of July. Children return to their current setting, class, teacher. Then move up to their new stage middle of August as usual.

Why the contribution is important

Children need to be allowed the time to finish their school academic year before transitioning to ANY stage in their learning. The person who knows them best (in a primary setting) should get the opportunity to tie things up and allow the children to ease themselves back in with someone familiar, before moving to a new teacher / setting.
Children with ASN are of paramount importance here and cannot be expected to transition from a primary setting to a secondary setting without support.

by CJA18 on May 05, 2020 at 02:22PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.0
Based on: 29 votes

Comments

  • Posted by ImranL May 05, 2020 at 14:29

    If it is an option to take early school holidays and allow children back to school earlier that would significantly help parents who are in desperate need to get back to work.

    It will be detrimental to children and wider family members to expect children to remain of school until end of August. Many households will not survive such an arrangement

  • Posted by POLOPARKJ May 05, 2020 at 14:31

    Excellent use of time to our advantage

  • Posted by emartinedinburgh May 05, 2020 at 14:31

    It makes sense not to stick to old term dates in the current situation but to officially go on holiday early, then if possible, start the new term early to give children a chance to catch up.

  • Posted by Jomccolgan May 05, 2020 at 14:34

    I think anything that can be done to optimise everyone's safety but with minimal disruption to our children's education is a good thing. The longer the children are off school the more disruption to their learning and overall health - many are struggling as they miss the routine and their friends but they will also fall behind on their learning . Those children who should have been sitting Exams need special consideration as it's such a vital time for them - everything they have been working towards for many years has been turned on its head almost overnight. They need to to have some contact with school to ease their anxieties and keep them on the right path . If modifying school holidays helps to maintain education then it should be an option. As a parent of two senior school children, I would definitely agree.

  • Posted by stukni May 05, 2020 at 14:35

    I completely agree with the comment from CJA18, all aspects mentioned are key, both for the kids (finishing their year and transitioning) and for getting the wider population back to work (for this to happen the schools need to be fully returned). Delaying the return to school until mid July as a holiday would allow those teachers with kids to be at home with the kids until then, allowing spouses to return to full time work in June (with social distancing measures at work). Putting off the return of school until July also gives time for infection rates to settle, while allowing the completion of the current school year and transition to the next.

    No-one will be having any of their booked holiday or travel this summer anyway so there should be no impact there. Doing this would bide time while allowing some semblance of normality to return to peoples schedules - which very important for everyone's wellbeing.

  • Posted by LydiaRoss May 05, 2020 at 14:47

    Agree with the comment, but would suggest that Schools don't reopen until July

  • Posted by dp123 May 05, 2020 at 14:48

    Whilst this is a good idea in principle, it would create a very challenging timescale for school's to plan for the way schools will function once they reopen. This will need to be radically different in order to minimise risk to children, their families and school staff. This would leave just over three weeks from now until schools closed (to staff as well as pupils) for the holiday period.

    It also created a situation where we are making decisions earlier than necessary limiting the amount of up to date scientific data available to support successful reopening in August (or whenever appropriate).

  • Posted by vRam May 05, 2020 at 14:48

    Agree with principal of delaying schools opening to all before R number is lower.

  • Posted by Dogsbody May 05, 2020 at 14:50

    Might be worth considering for this year. No one is going away any time soon so would probably not inconvenience many people.

  • Posted by ABM May 05, 2020 at 15:47

    With travel restrictions resulting in few, if any, family holidays, why not end this summer term mid June.
    Restart the new School session at the start of August to give 1 or 2 weeks more teaching in August.

    Repay staff and pupils with a 2 week October break to avoid a very long Autumn term (and, if required an extended Christmas break).

  • Posted by Kenny36 May 05, 2020 at 23:35

    Only issue is that key workers will still need their children looked after whilst they work, plus some kids are going to schools to get a good meal, which might increase due to parents losing their jobs, etc. A better option may be to effectively cancel the holidays altogether and start to allow kids back into school. Starting with those not having access to, or willing to, do work at home to prevent them falling behind. Parents can make the decision, but need to ensure their children can complete their school work. If schools need to provide computers, broadband or equipment, then this should be an option open to parents, although a postcode lottery at the moment as some Councils already offer some of this type of help.

  • Posted by Kirklistonjohn May 06, 2020 at 02:21

    Remote teaching should be increased but be more focused and teacher led - especially create the opportunity for one to one video links for tutorials between teacher and pupil.
    This would take the weight of parents especially key workers and those working at home and tap in to the vast teacher at home resource.

  • Posted by HPorter May 06, 2020 at 15:25

    As a key worker who is struggling to balance working, home schooling and childcare, but also wanting to ensure safety of my family and others, I totally agree with keeping schools off until summer holidays but bring these forward by 2-3 weeks and returning earlier by same duration for next school year. Some systems could also possibly be introduced for transitioning students only to attend in small groups prior to holidays commencing. This strategy would allow infection rates to drop before schools return fully.

  • Posted by ProudBIL May 09, 2020 at 19:56

    This seems to make absolutely perfect sense. If the schools can’t go back in any meaningful way before the summer holidays would have started anyway then we may as well have the holidays early and adjust the next year to allow them to finish the year off. It would also allow the schools to have some sort of bedding in process for kids starting P1 .
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