The six weeks’ holidays are an idea that dates back many generations. The root of it was that the children needed the time off school while their parents were harvesting their crops and they could help out around the land. But today, a tiny percent of kids would be involved in the family business in this way. So has this holiday lost its appeal and should schools shorten the summer holidays?
The teacher’s view
One teacher, writing anonymously, voiced their opinion in favour of the shortening of school holiday because it would be a benefit to their students. They acknowledge that many of their colleagues would hate the idea and the trade unions may be against the concept but all of this pale against the benefits for the kids.
One of the main reasons that this teacher is against the length of the summer break is that kids in their school don’t actually like it. School brings structure and routine to their lives and for some, it offers a safe and secure place to be with food on offer. This is of course the extreme of the viewpoint as many kids have a perfectly good structure when they are at home, but is a point to consider.
Kids often get bored during the holidays due to the length of time they are at home with little children’s entertainment. This is when they start looking for other things to occupy themselves and end up getting into trouble. If they were back at school earlier, this urge to do something naughty would be alleviated because they would be engaged in their studies once more.
Then there is the benefit for the teachers and their workload. While it may seem they would have more to do with a shorter holiday, the reality would be that they spend a lot of time and effort dealing with the lost time of the summer holidays. tudents fall behind during the holidays and a lot of work is needed when they return to get them back up to speed – by reducing the period of time they are holiday for, this effect would be reduced.
The cost of holidays view
One of the biggest complaints most parents have today is about the cost of going on holiday during the summer school break. Combine this with the new regulations that fine parents for taking kids out of school for a holiday and this means many families cannot afford their annual break, either abroad or even in this country.
Parents face an on-the-spot penalty of £60 per child issued by the school, which doubles if it is unpaid for more than three weeks. Two or more unpaid fines can lead to parents being referred to the education welfare service for their local authority who then have the power to take them to court. Here fines up to £2,500 can be issued and parents can even be jailed for up to three months.
In 2014, 16,430 people were prosecuted for taking their kids out of class during term, an increase of 25% on the previous years. And according to Ministry of Justice figures, three quarters of these were found guilty. In addition, over 9,000 fines were issued by the courts at an average bill of £172, an increase of nearly a third on the previous year while 18 jail sentences were handed out, compared with seven in 2013.
According to schools, good attendance is crucial to a child’s education and this is why they are taking such a hard line against absences without a valid reason. Yet the lack of flexibility in these rules is being criticised by a number of sources.
