School Holidays -Could be cut?

[Tyler]

As quoted on ITV news....



England's schoolchildren should have shorter holidays and spend more time in the classroom, the Education Secretary said today.


In a speech today, My Gove said: "We've noticed in Hong Kong and Singapore and other East Asian nations that expectations of mathematical knowledge or of scientific knowledge at every stage are more demanding than in this country,"

"In order to reach those levels of achievement a higher level of effort is expected on behalf of students, parents and teachers.

"School days are longer, school holidays are shorter. The expectation is that to succeed, hard work is at the heart of everything."

I would hate this ot happen!.

[Red]

A 4 week holiday would be ridic lmao. England already get a shorter summer holiday than N.Ireland. People here get of late june/beginning of July and go back in Sept. Also longer hours would mean children would be going home in the dark in the winter months.

[Inseriousity.]

I agree with shorter holidays. The 6 weeks is far too long. I think the 9-3 day though is sufficient.

[Chippiewill]

9-3 seems really short to be honest, 9-4 would be much better

[Absently]

we get almost 3 months over here, which is way too long i think. if anything, ours should be cut instead of englands!

[Samantha]

When I was at school it was

9-3:30 junior school
8:30-2:45 high school

I think 6-7 hours is sufficient for a school day, but you have to consider a break and a dinner time too, at junior school we had 2 20 minute breaks and an hour lunch, at high school we had a 20 minute break and a 30 minute lunch so I think 7 hours with a 45 minute lunch and a 15 minute break would be 6 hours solid lesson per day and it'd be a lot more balanced probably.

[Kieran]

I quite liked my 9-4 school times. But then I did get a massive summer holiday compared to everywhere else in England.

[Empired]

There is a massive correlation between schools with shorter holidays and pupils being absent more often. Can't remember where I found that out.

I would die with shorter holidays :'(

[Chippiewill]

There is a massive correlation between schools with shorter holidays and pupils being absent more often.

Since you can't miss what you don't remember I imagine most people would eventually accept it. Also correlation does not imply causation.

[Cerys]

Honestly, after all the super amazing hard work we have done throughout the year, 6 weeks is nothing.

It gives us time to chill out and prepare ourselves for another rubbish school year

[Empired]

Since you can't miss what you don't remember I imagine most people would eventually accept it. Also correlation does not imply causation.
I understand that, but I still disagree with making holidays shorter. The Government are using schools as childcare because it makes parents happier.

[Chippiewill]

The Government are using schools as childcare because it makes parents happier.

Entirely the contrary, the Government is trying to removing regulation which means more than anything holidays will occur at different times varying from school to school, if anything that'll annoy parents as their children will be on holiday at different times.

[lemons]

I think the holidays are fine tbh but school days could be improved, mine is ok atm

For me its
Mon Tues Wed - 4:30pm
Thurs Fri - 3pm

[geo]

I need the holidays. It just gives me time to have a bit of fun and with shorter holidays it'd be way harder to go on Holiday, as the Holiday's would be tighter, so more people would be going at once surely. I'm getting about 3 months off this Holiday, but only because it's the end of my school time at Secondary and I do think that'll be a bit of a drag, but it'll give me time to get ready for college.

I'd hate for them to reduce Holiday time though. :(

[Matthew]

I quite liked my 9-4 school times. But then I did get a massive summer holiday compared to everywhere else in England.

I'm the same

9 - 3:45 days (and I have to go in from 9 - 12 on saturdays) but then for that I get extra long holidays (if you add up all the holiday i get and take away the extra time spent in school on saturday/each weekday I still get weeks more holiday than everyone else per year)

and saturday is just a day of sport for me anyway (although if you're not any good at sport you have lessons :P)

[Shockwave.2CC]

Ow well, i'm not at school anymore.

Good Luck for all you people who still are

[Zelda]

it would be dreadful for me to have less holidays or longer days, by the weekends I'm completely tired enough from getting about 7 hours sleep each night if that due to having to get up like 6, let alone when half terms come each time. If schools are completing their syllabus anyway I see no reason to make it lengthier at all?

my days tbh are ok now though at least -

8;15 - 3;30

Thursdays and Mondays are basically compulsory for me to stay till 4;45 though cause of step classes lmao

[Lew]

sure let them have shorter holidays i dont have to care in 2 weeks*+*++

[Gibs960]

Why are they comparing Asia with Europe? It's a completely different lifestyle and cutting school holidays and making school days longer won't make anyone more hardworking.

[Adam]

I completely agree, only people still at school and teachers will disagree and that is fact.

[AgnesIO]

I completely agree, only people still at school and teachers will disagree and that is fact.

Spot on.

---

Whilst at school I would have hated it - but realistically, English schools are failing compared to those in Asia, although I am not sure this is wholly down to holiday time. I think it is more due to being that much more developed (apart from Japan...). The incentive to work really hard doesn't exist here, like it does in many other countries.

More school would benefit the UK younger generation for sure, and the economy too. Whilst in India, the children there had Christmas holidays. But the older ones went to school every day bar Christmas, Boxing Day and New Years Day was revision classes (having said that, their exams were going on around this time). The economy would benefit as parents wouldn't need to take part time jobs or hire babysitters to look after their parents. I think it would make sense to make PE compulsory or something if the school day was longer - particularly in the winter where it would be dark early, meaning children would be unable to go outside and play.

Teachers would obviously be against it. However, it is about time they got a reality check, and experienced the "real world". Cushy holidays, short working days and a decent pay check are all things that teachers benefit from. Both of my parents at one point in their lives have taught, however they have also both experienced a real job. Teachers don't understand the normal problems many parents face. There is no reason why teachers deserve extra long holidays - despite what the Unions will try and claim.

I hate to say it, but I genuinely think Gove is right here. And believe me, it really does pain me to say it.

Having said that, I doubt these changes will ever actually take effect. The government is incapable of actually implementing anything in the education system this drastic, and there certainly isn't time for it to happen in the current parliamentary calendar. The Labour government wouldn't do this either.

[Zelda]

To the above that is not true at all, the fact is to do with people being unmotivated by teachers parents and themselves in this country a lot more. If you go to any grammar school you see the immediate difference really when people want to work. There is a reason extra time in school won't work and that is because these people will get more fed up with it, not be more motivated to pay attention. If you look at countries like China parents just basically force their children to do work and since they know nothing different than constant activities and school work they aren't going to be unmotivated obviously in school.

The suggestions that teachers get cushy jobs and everything is rubbish, their days are also not short or anything, they do more then the typical 9 to 5 easily each day, and then they have the hours upon hours of marking of a level and gcse student homeworks which just flood them nonstop, as well as preparation for lessons and everything, and they often do exam marking in the summer anyway when they aren't working. Teachers actually need the time off really for them to remain sane, if you talked to any you'd actually know what it's like for them.

[Ardemax]

Spot on.

---

Whilst at school I would have hated it - but realistically, English schools are failing compared to those in Asia, although I am not sure this is wholly down to holiday time. I think it is more due to being that much more developed (apart from Japan...). The incentive to work really hard doesn't exist here, like it does in many other countries.

More school would benefit the UK younger generation for sure, and the economy too. Whilst in India, the children there had Christmas holidays. But the older ones went to school every day bar Christmas, Boxing Day and New Years Day was revision classes (having said that, their exams were going on around this time). The economy would benefit as parents wouldn't need to take part time jobs or hire babysitters to look after their parents. I think it would make sense to make PE compulsory or something if the school day was longer - particularly in the winter where it would be dark early, meaning children would be unable to go outside and play.

Teachers would obviously be against it. However, it is about time they got a reality check, and experienced the "real world". Cushy holidays, short working days and a decent pay check are all things that teachers benefit from. Both of my parents at one point in their lives have taught, however they have also both experienced a real job. Teachers don't understand the normal problems many parents face. There is no reason why teachers deserve extra long holidays - despite what the Unions will try and claim.

I hate to say it, but I genuinely think Gove is right here. And believe me, it really does pain me to say it.

Having said that, I doubt these changes will ever actually take effect. The government is incapable of actually implementing anything in the education system this drastic, and there certainly isn't time for it to happen in the current parliamentary calendar. The Labour government wouldn't do this either.

I think your point about teacher's having an easy job is sure as hell not true.

If you go to the best school in the county then sure, it's not bad. But if you work pretty much anywhere else you have to put up with behaviour that is arrest-worthy in a public place. Is separating fights, putting up with abusive children/parents, marking until the early hours around exam times, holding revisions lessons after school which you don't get payed for and, for a lot of teachers, not even make as much as a train driver all considered part of a "real" job?

Being a teacher, in my opinion, is one of the hardest jobs to do, especially if you're a good teacher. I firmly believe it warrants the long holiday time compared with other jobs.

Imagine what you had to put up with in school and now imagine what a teacher has to put up with every day.

[AgnesIO]

To the above that is not true at all, the fact is to do with people being unmotivated by teachers parents and themselves in this country a lot more. If you go to any grammar school you see the immediate difference really when people want to work. There is a reason extra time in school won't work and that is because these people will get more fed up with it, not be more motivated to pay attention. If you look at countries like China parents just basically force their children to do work and since they know nothing different than constant activities and school work they aren't going to be unmotivated obviously in school.

The suggestions that teachers get cushy jobs and everything is rubbish, their days are also not short or anything, they do more then the typical 9 to 5 easily each day, and then they have the hours upon hours of marking of a level and gcse student homeworks which just flood them nonstop, as well as preparation for lessons and everything, and they often do exam marking in the summer anyway when they aren't working. Teachers actually need the time off really for them to remain sane, if you talked to any you'd actually know what it's like for them.

People in Britain getting fed up with it is due to the underlying issue here of people being extremely lazy, and used to the cushy lifestyle. People need to be taught that hard work brings success - nothing else. South Korea is an excellent example of a good education system, and if you look at good business Universities in Britain they do tend to have a good proportion of Asian students (as opposed to other subjects).

The summer exam marking is hardly fair to bring in. This is ADDITIONAL PAID WORK - they choose to do it to get more money. My father has been a head of year in a Secondary School - and honestly I don't see why six weeks holiday is necessary to keep him sane. If you read my post, you'd have seen that both my parents have worked in education and therefore I can evidently speak to them...


I think your point about teacher's having an easy job is sure as hell not true.

If you go to the best school in the county then sure, it's not bad. But if you work pretty much anywhere else you have to put up with behaviour that is arrest-worthy in a public place. Is separating fights, putting up with abusive children/parents, marking until the early hours around exam times, holding revisions lessons after school which you don't get payed for and, for a lot of teachers, not even make as much as a train driver all considered part of a "real" job?

Being a teacher, in my opinion, is one of the hardest jobs to do, especially if you're a good teacher. I firmly believe it warrants the long holiday time compared with other jobs.

Imagine what you had to put up with in school and now imagine what a teacher has to put up with every day.

Pretty sure if you ask new teachers what incentives they had to teach, there would be two main answers; the will to pass on knowledge to others... and the good holiday time. Revision lessons after school are optional - they don't have to do them (having said that, teachers are not paid on an hourly basis, meaning they are paid throughout the summer time etc, which would suggest that they are technically still being paid outside of school time - but I take your point there).

What am I supposed to be imagining I put up with in school? The teachers that really appear to have issues are the ones who cannot control a class - and in my eyes, they shouldn't be teachers for that reason. I wouldn't say teachers don't deserve any holiday, I just really cannot see any reason why 13 weeks holiday being cut down is seen as an unfair thing (which the unions will certainly say it is!)

[Ardemax]

People in Britain getting fed up with it is due to the underlying issue here of people being extremely lazy, and used to the cushy lifestyle. People need to be taught that hard work brings success - nothing else. South Korea is an excellent example of a good education system, and if you look at good business Universities in Britain they do tend to have a good proportion of Asian students (as opposed to other subjects).

The summer exam marking is hardly fair to bring in. This is ADDITIONAL PAID WORK - they choose to do it to get more money. My father has been a head of year in a Secondary School - and honestly I don't see why six weeks holiday is necessary to keep him sane. If you read my post, you'd have seen that both my parents have worked in education and therefore I can evidently speak to them...



Pretty sure if you ask new teachers what incentives they had to teach, there would be two main answers; the will to pass on knowledge to others... and the good holiday time. Revision lessons after school are optional - they don't have to do them (having said that, teachers are not paid on an hourly basis, meaning they are paid throughout the summer time etc, which would suggest that they are technically still being paid outside of school time - but I take your point there).

What am I supposed to be imagining I put up with in school? The teachers that really appear to have issues are the ones who cannot control a class - and in my eyes, they shouldn't be teachers for that reason. I wouldn't say teachers don't deserve any holiday, I just really cannot see any reason why 13 weeks holiday being cut down is seen as an unfair thing (which the unions will certainly say it is!)

Do you truly believe that teachers get 13 weeks off and get to sit around doing nothing?

If they didn't have the holidays away from the classroom then my God the marking of coursework, essays, papers etc. would never get done.

I know most of my teachers in my school have hardly any free time in the evenings as they're on a tight marking schedule (and they're also hosting revision classes which most, if not all, teachers do). I do see your point as it being considered unfair on other professions but surely if you balance out the marking time throughout the whole year it would appear that teachers may even have less time than those in other professions.

[AgnesIO]

Do you truly believe that teachers get 13 weeks off and get to sit around doing nothing?

If they didn't have the holidays away from the classroom then my God the marking of coursework, essays, papers etc. would never get done.

I know most of my teachers in my school have hardly any free time in the evenings as they're on a tight marking schedule (and they're also hosting revision classes which most, if not all, teachers do). I do see your point as it being considered unfair on other professions but surely if you balance out the marking time throughout the whole year it would appear that teachers may even have less time than those in other professions.

No I don't, but I also know for a fact that the six weeks summer (or even 2 weeks for that matter) is spent doing school work.

How many teachers mark coursework in summer? :S Some may mark exam papers (hello paid work). Also, surprised to hear about the revision classes that "most, if not all, teachers do" - certainly didn't know about these at my school on a regular basis (of course, these could be scrapped if school hours were longer as they could actually fit in the curriculum and revision time, meaning revision would effectively be compulsory, which should mean an increase in exam results...)

"Barely any time in the evening". I mean, because commuters obviously finish at 5 and get home at 5 - yeah, you guessed it they have even less time in the evenings (especially when some idiot jumps infront of the train!).

I want what I believe would be best for Britain - yes you may need more teachers (obviously longer school time means more lessons so teachers would need the free periods - which they get and are there to plan lessons and mark work etc etc) - but I think it would be best for Britain in the long run.

[Ardemax]

No I don't, but I also know for a fact that the six weeks summer (or even 2 weeks for that matter) is spent doing school work.

How many teachers mark coursework in summer? :S Some may mark exam papers (hello paid work). Also, surprised to hear about the revision classes that "most, if not all, teachers do" - certainly didn't know about these at my school on a regular basis (of course, these could be scrapped if school hours were longer as they could actually fit in the curriculum and revision time, meaning revision would effectively be compulsory, which should mean an increase in exam results...)

"Barely any time in the evening". I mean, because commuters obviously finish at 5 and get home at 5 - yeah, you guessed it they have even less time in the evenings (especially when some idiot jumps infront of the train!).

I want what I believe would be best for Britain - yes you may need more teachers (obviously longer school time means more lessons so teachers would need the free periods - which they get and are there to plan lessons and mark work etc etc) - but I think it would be best for Britain in the long run.

I'm referring to all the holidays really, and the summer holidays can be a time of relaxation for teachers. That is, of course, if they're not helping out on school trips or running DofE expeditions.

Are you insinuating that because teachers may spend their evenings marking work that they don't face everyday problems? Sorry I really don't get your third point :P

Just a question, what type of hours are you thinking of for schools? Do you want a mechanically-engineered generation or do you want children to be children, teenagers to be teenagers?

[Circadia]

I think it would make sense to make PE compulsory or something if the school day was longer - particularly in the winter where it would be dark early, meaning children would be unable to go outside and play.


Just thought I'd point out that PE is compulsory in primary and secondary school. You have to do at least 1 hour a week with many doing more than that :P


Anyway I wouldn't mind shorter holidays because the 6 weeks drag a heck of a lot and I'd rather be in school learning (I know I'm lame but whatever) , and I normally end up staying at school until late for revision classes so the increased school day wouldn't really affect me. I ended up staying till 5pm for 2 revision classes after school on Tuesday which I'll be doing next Tuesday as well

I don't know how i'm going to cope with 3 months off before I start college in September

[JACKTARD]

If the holidays become more spread out then that'd be better for parents and for the kids, I used to always get so bored during summer. There wasn't enough to do for 6 weeks.

[Adam]

I'd rather be a teacher than do my job. Weekends and school holidays off? Bingo.

[Demi]

It won't happen :) Don't worry!

[Maatt.]

LOL at everyone like, my life is so hard,

my school is a 8-8 school every day and Saturday is 8-1. If Nything you should just have longer days and keep your holidays,

[Lewiis,]

Im not still at School and I dont think it should change.

When you start work you get hardly enough time off at all so at school you should enjoy all the time off you get. They shouldn't cut it at all. People need to have time to enjoy themselves and if they cut the holidays you have at school your basically saying spend most of your life working with little time to yourself from day 1.

It wont change anyway it would cause way too much trouble with teachers striking and all sorts. Lol

[Adam]

Im not still at School and I dont think it should change.

When you start work you get hardly enough time off at all so at school you should enjoy all the time off you get. They shouldn't cut it at all. People need to have time to enjoy themselves and if they cut the holidays you have at school your basically saying spend most of your life working with little time to yourself from day 1.

It wont change anyway it would cause way too much trouble with teachers striking and all sorts. Lol

Maybe you should still be at school.

Your =/= you're.

[Lewiis,]

Maybe you should still be at school.

Your =/= you're.

Agreed! Not my strong point but oh well. Lol

[Adam]

Agreed! Not my strong point but oh well. Lol
That was a little harsh but I'm just trying to raise awareness and help people along the way.

[Cerys]

We were talking about this in Law today - basically everyone agreed that Gove is an idiot *didn't use the word idiot, but I wouldn't be allowed to use the actual word on the forum (; *
Teachers jobs are hard enough as it is, so if they had their holidays cut short? Poor them.
Lets just hope that this is another one of Goves failed ideas.

[AgnesIO]

I'm referring to all the holidays really, and the summer holidays can be a time of relaxation for teachers. That is, of course, if they're not helping out on school trips or running DofE expeditions.

Are you insinuating that because teachers may spend their evenings marking work that they don't face everyday problems? Sorry I really don't get your third point :P

Just a question, what type of hours are you thinking of for schools? Do you want a mechanically-engineered generation or do you want children to be children, teenagers to be teenagers?

Firstly, school trips over the summer are optional for teachers - you would only do them if you genuinely enjoyed it.

In terms of school hours, I don't want the 8-8 figure that some have been bandying around. I see no harm in say.. 8-5 - possibly 8-6. The advantages of this are clear; parents could take full time jobs (which at least one parent often can't), enabling them to earn more money and therefore improve the quality of lives for their children. The economy would benefit as families have more disposable income, and also less families would be dependent on benefits.

Another advantage of longer hours is that "homework" could be done under supervision whilst at school - this is clearly positive, at least in my eyes. It is fairly standard that young people work better at school than they do at home - this would therefore improve their school grades, and also mean that time at home is not spent doing school work. Furthermore, the school day could include more PE - which will help fight the growing obesity problem in Britain, and (according to scientific research) help boost school grades in the meantime.

I don't want mechanically-engineered children. I want what I genuinely believe is best for Britain and the future generation. I cannot stress how important I believe the Maths and Sciences to be - something that I was foolish and didn't appreciate four years ago. If Britain genuinely wants to compete on a global scale - particularly if the eurosceptics want to leave Europe - it has to be a strong independent state. It simply isn't at the moment.


Just thought I'd point out that PE is compulsory in primary and secondary school. You have to do at least 1 hour a week with many doing more than that :P


1 hour a week? I did 2 hours per week in years 7-9. Is this enough? No - compulsory 1 hour a week should be 4 hours a week! There's a reason there is an obesity problem in Britain - and I genuinely believe more PE in schools would help fight it. Once at home people use computers (as we are doing right now), games consoles - not fitness. Fitness along with a diet and sleep is essential if you want people to perform well in schools.



If the holidays become more spread out then that'd be better for parents and for the kids, I used to always get so bored during summer. There wasn't enough to do for 6 weeks.

Got to be honest, this is something I have never experienced. This may be due to always going away for the majority of summer - so for me the holidays never felt that long. They are also less than I used to get at one point. Having said that, I don't see any harm in reducing them either - sure I didn't get bored, but I don't think I needed 6+ weeks off at once (just made it a shock once school started again!)


Having a parent who is a teacher, I can easily say that teachers do not have an easy job. Maybe some do, in brilliant schools, however this isn't always the case. Nowadays, teaching doesn't bring in a huge amount of money. Holidays are spent planning lessons for the students, marking work, writing reports, etc. People commonly believe that because of the short days and holiday time, teachers have it easy when in reality it's not true because there's such a lot of work that people just don't realise. It doesn't always matter if a teacher can control a class or not, because, in some cases, when teachers work in learning support, some of the things they have to deal with is ridiculous. This isn't claiming that everyone in a learning support will abuse teachers, this is just in the case of some people teachers do have to put up with abuse from kids.

Both my parents have been teachers, one still is. I don't think they have really easy jobs - I have seen a range of teachers cry from the stress - but I have also seen people in many other professions cry from stress - accountants, bankers and hairdressers all included.

My father used to specialise in working with children in possible (in fact, he left teaching when the field selling, milk snatcher took over!) My current job (still a student too) basically revolves around getting abuse from people - personally I think it is something that you do get used to, and stop being hurt by. Certainly that is not to say it is right, it is absolutely disgraceful. Mind you, I think it would be fair to blame the lax punishments in schools (although that is a totally different debate).

So, yes teachers jobs are not incredibly easy - no they don't work 6 hours a day and nothing else (I know this). But do I think they work so hard they need 9 WEEKS more holiday than almost every other profession in England? No, definitely not. And I doubt anyone can convince me otherwise.

---

My reasoning behind seeing the benefits of this are not to punish teachers, to put them in to the real world. No, I think it would benefit the future generation. I firmly believe it is a genuinely beneficial proposal, and won't harm anyone. Unfortunately, I cannot see it ever happening. Teachers Unions' will prove that they are too powerful and block it, and the government would have to be elected in the next election for it to happen - as there isn't enough time for them to implement it in the current parliamentary calendar. Having said that, the Conservatives are currently the most likely party to gain an election in the next election...

[Ardemax]

Firstly, school trips over the summer are optional for teachers - you would only do them if you genuinely enjoyed it.

In terms of school hours, I don't want the 8-8 figure that some have been bandying around. I see no harm in say.. 8-5 - possibly 8-6. The advantages of this are clear; parents could take full time jobs (which at least one parent often can't), enabling them to earn more money and therefore improve the quality of lives for their children. The economy would benefit as families have more disposable income, and also less families would be dependent on benefits.

Another advantage of longer hours is that "homework" could be done under supervision whilst at school - this is clearly positive, at least in my eyes. It is fairly standard that young people work better at school than they do at home - this would therefore improve their school grades, and also mean that time at home is not spent doing school work. Furthermore, the school day could include more PE - which will help fight the growing obesity problem in Britain, and (according to scientific research) help boost school grades in the meantime.

I don't want mechanically-engineered children. I want what I genuinely believe is best for Britain and the future generation. I cannot stress how important I believe the Maths and Sciences to be - something that I was foolish and didn't appreciate four years ago. If Britain genuinely wants to compete on a global scale - particularly if the eurosceptics want to leave Europe - it has to be a strong independent state. It simply isn't at the moment.

I totally agree and I want Britain to become a strong, independent nation too. However: do you honestly think students will attend 9/10-hour school days? All we need to do is add a bigger focus on maths and science in school instead of forcing students go to school for longer than a lot of parents go to work.

I believe that if you pressure children too much at a young age they will crack and fall out with the education system altogether.

[dbgtz]

The economy would benefit as parents wouldn't need to take part time jobs or hire babysitters to look after their parents.

Not really. Yeah they may be able to get full time jobs, but that is hardly guaranteed. Then those who already have full time jobs and hire babysitters, well if the kids were at school then you would find some child minders out of work who would go on to claim benefits. Parents would also not stop claiming all benefits apart from that recent childcare vouchers scheme which should never have been put in place to begin with. You'd likely find teachers would want more pay which means a higher education bill.

Personally, I think the problem with education is down to attitudes of both teachers and students and the lack of discipline there seems to be. The worst students seem to get away with their disruptions in class and get praised far too heavily when they act how they should. I remember a group of what I will call the "worst offenders" all went on a trip to thorpe park (for free I believe too) which is absolutely absurd. I'd quite like to see a few reforms when it comes to discipline including: harsher discipline (i.e. actually punishment not detentions or suspensions which would be seen as a holiday) on those who continuously disturb others and act; fairer discipline so genuine mistakes aren't brutally dealt with and more even discipline so that those who do the same wrongs under the same circumstances do not end up getting treated differently. I believe that once the issue of discipline is addressed then the quality of learning will go up.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Another attempt or move by government to turn schools into daycare centres now that their original intent of damaging the traditional family (with masses of single mothers having to work long hours and children being carted from family member to friends house every day) has been completed - so this is just another result and cost of that experiment that has gone wrong.

Interestingly if we want a good education in this country for younger people, maybe we should start looking at what worked in the past in our country (ie teaching proper subjects, having strict discipline and having grammar schools) rather than going down the futile route of keeping disinterested and badly behaved children in drama lessons for longer.

The Conservatives are as clueless as Labour when it comes to education, despite silly gimmicks at election time.


The economy would benefit as parents wouldn't need to take part time jobs or hire babysitters to look after their parents.

If I understand this quote correctly i'd ask - where is the money coming from to keep the children in school for longer? remember, that means bigger schools open for longer (more classrooms built, more resources needed, longer heating hours) and teachers teaching for longer (wages).

[iBlueBox]

My personal school day in sixth form is, 8:45 - 2:50, However after that I'll stay behind till 6PM get some revision/homework/coursework done.

[Aaron]

I would honestly hate this for all of you living in the UK, I really would.

I love my 3 months off for summer holidays. :P

[AgnesIO]

If I understand this quote correctly i'd ask - where is the money coming from to keep the children in school for longer? remember, that means bigger schools open for longer (more classrooms built, more resources needed, longer heating hours) and teachers teaching for longer (wages).

Could you explain why we would need more classrooms built? We will have the same number of students, in the same schools - just there for long. The money, at least in my eyes, would be a worthy investment. In the long term you end up with more properly educated students (ie. capable of getting better jobs, and also the short term benefit would be more parents in full time work paying taxes (and therefore paying for the increase in the education bill).

Reform the welfare state, spend the money and invest in Britain's future.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Could you explain why we would need more classrooms built? We will have the same number of students, in the same schools - just there for long. The money, at least in my eyes, would be a worthy investment. In the long term you end up with more properly educated students (ie. capable of getting better jobs, and also the short term benefit would be more parents in full time work paying taxes (and therefore paying for the increase in the education bill).

Because in relation to A Levels which are now being made compulsory (another idiotic decision by this government), students would be in school for a longer period of time. At the moment A Level students have many less lessons than main school do, and this keeps classrooms free - make school compulsory until 18 AND keep them in for longer and your going to run out of space.


Reform the welfare state, spend the money and invest in Britain's future.

We had enough 'investment' aka waste during the previous Labour government, yet standards continue to slip.

Maybe we need to start thinking less about throwing money and hours at the problem and start thinking radically on whats wrong with education as I suggested in my post regarding the three points I made. After all, if the system is fundementally rotten then it doesn't matter how many shiny new buildings you 'invest' in or how many hours you make pupils attend school for - they're still getting the same poor education.

[AgnesIO]

Because in relation to A Levels which are now being made compulsory (another idiotic decision by this government), students would be in school for a longer period of time. At the moment A Level students have many less lessons than main school do, and this keeps classrooms free - make school compulsory until 18 AND keep them in for longer and your going to run out of space.



We had enough 'investment' aka waste during the previous Labour government, yet standards continue to slip.

Maybe we need to start thinking less about throwing money and hours at the problem and start thinking radically on whats wrong with education as I suggested in my post regarding the three points I made. After all, if the system is fundementally rotten then it doesn't matter how many shiny new buildings you 'invest' in or how many hours you make pupils attend school for - they're still getting the same poor education.

I would be all up for reforming the education system too (ie. bring back discipline, teach the "real" subjects).

Also, to my understanding A Levels are not compulsory, education until age 18 is. This could include joining the army, or going to a college for a diploma. I cannot speak about the Sixth Form issue, as mine is not attached to a school - thus removing any issues.

[Gina]

lmao i love my school holidays :(
im alright with my school day aswell
junior school was erm mon-thurs 8:10 - 3:10 and friday was 8:10 - 2:15
and now its er 8:30 - 3:00 lmao

[Shannon]

Gove, wants to change everything, its getting pathetic now, first change BTEC and the leaving age, now move on to longer days, lol, would like to see him attend a working class comprehensive for a day, then he can see how private and comprehensive vary, urg, why do they always hit w/c worse! Urg. Not fair! He needs to see reality and what the poeple want not the minority! Open your eyes Gove! Rant Over!

[AgnesIO]

Gove, wants to change everything, its getting pathetic now, first change BTEC and the leaving age, now move on to longer days, lol, would like to see him attend a working class comprehensive for a day, then he can see how private and comprehensive vary, urg, why do they always hit w/c worse! Urg. Not fair! He needs to see reality and what the poeple want not the minority! Open your eyes Gove! Rant Over!

By, the, looks, of, it, people, need, longer, school, hours, so, they, understand, when, to, use, a, comma, :L

[Shannon]

By, the, looks, of, it, people, need, longer, school, hours, so, they, understand, when, to, use, a, comma, :L

i have a really bad comma addiction, maybe i should to be honest