Are school summer holidays too long? - WIN HXSS POINTS!

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If you’re still in school, you might be taking this opportunity to play as much HxSS as you can. If however, like me, you are out of education and in work, you don’t get this privilege :(. Currently, schools in the UK get roughly 6 weeks of summer. However, this generous holiday has been criticized and heavily debated on whether it is of benefit to school children or not. I know that I certainly didn’t use my holidays for researching/homework when I should have been, even with my 3 months of summer at University!

As with my other debates, I will present you with arguments of both sides of the debate.

Firstly, arguments that summer holidays are too long may include:

- Parents cannot afford to take too much time off work to look after their children, costing parents money for childcare or to send them to relatives/summer camps. Furthermore, children will be more unsupervised than usual, thus it may lead to them getting into more trouble.
- Too much time spent away from education may cause abilities to drop, particularly in homes where children do not have access to educational resources. Rather, holidays have been suggested to be sprinkled across the year to ensure children remain in learning mode.

On the contrary, others argue summer time is not too long because;
- The long holiday encourages families to go out more, which means business is booming, I stay in a job and get more tips, yay!
- It gives children a chance and time to find new interests and gain new knowledge which may help them in their education and future career.
- It gives overworked teachers a break, so they can be refreshed and more able to provide the knowledge children need.
- It gives children a chance to visit family around the world without any worries of school commitments which other holidays such as Easter, when exams are looming, may involve.
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For this debate, three of the top contributors will win HxSS points and their contributions will be counted towards Debater of the Month. The following points will be allocated for each winner;
First: 100 points
Second: 65 points
Third: 35 points.
Happy debating and PLEASE REMEMBER TO POST YOUR TEAM AFTER AT LEAST YOUR FIRST POST IF YOU WISH TO WIN HXSS POINTS:)

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Please note this debate will finish on the 20th of August at 12pm. So get your posts in for a chance to win points!

yes they are way too long! especially for gcse/a-lvl students who finish school after exams! they are soOOOOOOOOOO boring and the days become repetitive

i have been off since mid june and won't be starting uni until start of october and been playing habbo every day it's boring

also after long time out of school my handwriting becomes really crap (horrific effort when writing my brother a bday card)

i think summer hols should be shorter but perhaps spread the weeks more throughout the year so families can go on a nice holiday in a month apart from august

School holidays are too long for children at any age. Even with the challenges of A-levels I never used my summer effectively. I would cram for the last week before going back to make sure I could remember my stuff.

I can't comment as a parent but as a teacher the summer hasn't been long enough. I was lucky enough to go on vacation for 26 days in the USA, and travelling is no relaxing holiday- I got back completely exhausted. And yes, of course I understand it was my decision to go, but it has taken me 6 days to sort out my jet lag and get to a position where I'm feeling human, I wouldn't say relaxed but certainly not stressed like when I'm at work. I now have to get a ridiculous amount of stuff ready for school starting with a brand new curriculum and new classes in just over a week. I can safely say my vacations in the future are going to be a week or two relaxing on a beach or cruise ship to recharge and then getting some proper work done before term starts! :P

No, they should be longer and 12 months long. I mean have you seen the roads?! They are empty in the mornings, there are less female drivers so road is safer, and because of less traffic we burn less fuel, which is so much better for our health and environment. This means there are less chances of cancer and health problems. This means less trip to the doctors which is better for the NHS. This means it is better for the government when they do their budgets. This means it is better for us because if government needs less money, that means we pay less taxes. That means we get more money in our pockets to spend or save for when we get old. That means more money which we can spend. That is better for businesses. That leads to more employment because if businesses get busier, they might hire more people. That means government has to fork out less in job seekers allowance. That means the government again has more money. That means hopefully lower taxes and more money for the public to spend. See the cycle? Give kids a 12 month holiday.

imo primary school children and high school children who get these long summer holidays don't deserve it. the people that deserve it are the people who have been sitting exams and working hard all year. fair enough everyone deserves long holidays but primary kids dont need as many as older people do. as i know from previous experience the long summer holidays when you've been sitting exams are worth it as its time for you to relax and chill out for 6 weeks or whatever! from a teachers point of view i can see why some of them wouldn't like it as some stuff is taught before the summer and then is forgotten over the long period of the summer as most kids dont look at it which means they have to spend more time teaching it again.

Regarding taking time off to watch their children, this would happen whenever the holiday was (since most people suggest splitting the 6 weeks up not outright removing them). I would agree with splitting it up, 6 weeks in a row just gets very boring. I would still put all of the holiday around the summer period though.

The holiday lengths as you get older (GCSE/A level/University) are fine since a lot of people will use the opportunity to work and pay for the next year.

Also, red.

I personally think it depends on the age of the child. I don't think children who are in primary school really need the full six weeks off and I remember from when I was in primary school those six weeks were just a huge inconvenience for my parents and they dreaded the summer holidays trying to juggle who would take time off to look after me and my brother. Primary school isn't even serious so they're only getting a holiday from seeing their friends and stuff. It might be ok for stay-at-home parents as it's something for them to do but younger kids just get bored quicker and you have to constantly keep them occupied and stop them from fighting - which costs money, time and effort.

In terms of High/Secondary Schoolers, I do actually think the holidays are well deserved (maybe not in the earlier years of high school but it depends on the school I guess). I know once I got to High School I really needed those holidays to spend time doing things I wanted and just have some time out. Speaking from someone who is in a place that can get to 45 degrees, it's near enough impossible to focus in that temperature so it makes so much sense to allow us a holiday when it's like that. 6ish weeks generally covers the hottest part of summer so if it were shortened I think people would just get fed up and lose motivation even quicker than normal. Plus high schoolers are generally at an age where they don't need parents at home with them.

6 weeks isn't even that long. I now get 3 months off Uni for Summer and to be perfectly honest, it would've dragged on and on if we didn't fly overseas for 3 weeks. If children were getting 3 months off then I'd agree it's far far too long. University is different as at this age we can work, do things productive and do things independently on our own (if we choose).

~black

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Originally Posted by Matt

I personally think it depends on the age of the child. I don't think children who are in primary school really need the full six weeks off and I remember from when I was in primary school those six weeks were just a huge inconvenience for my parents and they dreaded the summer holidays trying to juggle who would take time off to look after me and my brother. Primary school isn't even serious so they're only getting a holiday from seeing their friends and stuff. It might be ok for stay-at-home parents as it's something for them to do but younger kids just get bored quicker and you have to constantly keep them occupied and stop them from fighting - which costs money, time and effort.

In terms of High/Secondary Schoolers, I do actually think the holidays are well deserved (maybe not in the earlier years of high school but it depends on the school I guess). I know once I got to High School I really needed those holidays to spend time doing things I wanted and just have some time out. Speaking from someone who is in a place that can get to 45 degrees, it's near enough impossible to focus in that temperature so it makes so much sense to allow us a holiday when it's like that. 6ish weeks generally covers the hottest part of summer so if it were shortened I think people would just get fed up and lose motivation even quicker than normal. Plus high schoolers are generally at an age where they don't need parents at home with them.

6 weeks isn't even that long. I now get 3 months off Uni for Summer and to be perfectly honest, it would've dragged on and on if we didn't fly overseas for 3 weeks. If children were getting 3 months off then I'd agree it's far far too long. University is different as at this age we can work, do things productive and do things independently on our own (if we choose).

~black

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Surely younger kids will suffer from concentration issues too?

Personally from my point of view as a student who has just left high school I do believe holidays in the summer should be cut down to at most 3 weeks. I normally get to week 2 and get very bored. Younger students tend to miss there friends and find it difficult to settle back into school after spending so much time with there family. Older students tend to sleep all day and play habbo ;) so the holiday give not a great deal of benefit. Parents do struggle to afford time of work and normally end up hiring a babysitter or put the child in daycare if needs be. 3 weeks would be long enough, 1 week to rest at home and 2 to go on holiday or the other way round. The other 3 weeks could be spread out over the year to give the teachers the break they "need" however I do think teachers should be given the same holidays as anyone else employed gets in other jobs. Overall if summer holidays were lowered I do think exam results would improve as there is that extra help and extra learning time. All this does come from experience as a younger child and as a student who has just finished year 11.

Green team


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Originally Posted by !:random!:!

Personally from my point of view as a student who has just left high school I do believe holidays in the summer should be cut down to at most 3 weeks. I normally get to week 2 and get very bored. Younger students tend to miss there friends and find it difficult to settle back into school after spending so much time with there family. Older students tend to sleep all day and play habbo ;) so the holiday give not a great deal of benefit. Parents do struggle to afford time of work and normally end up hiring a babysitter or put the child in daycare if needs be. 3 weeks would be long enough, 1 week to rest at home and 2 to go on holiday or the other way round. The other 3 weeks could be spread out over the year to give the teachers the break they "need" however I do think teachers should be given the same holidays as anyone else employed gets in other jobs. Overall if summer holidays were lowered I do think exam results would improve as there is that extra help and extra learning time. All this does come from experience as a younger child and as a student who has just finished year 11.

Green team


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As far as I can tell, teachers do, for the most part, get as much time off as anyone else. The 6 weeks summer holiday is probably the only time they actually get off, since they seem to prep/mark work in the smaller 1 or 2 week holidays (and probably do a bit in that 6 weeks to be fair). They also tend to work longer hours, especially when there's special events on like open days and parents evenings. I think you may be underestimating what a teacher does, but @Kardan; and @Charz777; might have better insight on this since what I said is pretty much speculation.

Personally I think six weeks is just right. I absolutely hated school and sixth form was only marginally better and looking forward to summer was the only thing that kept me going from the beginning of the spring term to the start of the summer holidays.

Plus, breaking the six weeks into three blocks of two or two blocks of three is worse for both students and teachers I think. Ever since Year 9 or so I've received work every single holiday and half term to do in my own time (which I think most people agree is fairly standard) and three extra holidays would just mean I'm suddenly getting three times the amount of work to do, and teachers are getting three times the amount of marking.

(Edit: Black team)

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Originally Posted by dbgtz

As far as I can tell, teachers do, for the most part, get as much time off as anyone else. The 6 weeks summer holiday is probably the only time they actually get off, since they seem to prep/mark work in the smaller 1 or 2 week holidays (and probably do a bit in that 6 weeks to be fair). They also tend to work longer hours, especially when there's special events on like open days and parents evenings. I think you may be underestimating what a teacher does, but @Kardan; and @Charz777; might have better insight on this since what I said is pretty much speculation.

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During this 'summer holiday' I need to plan the first months worth of lessons for all my classes, so this is definitely not time off.

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Originally Posted by dbgtz

As far as I can tell, teachers do, for the most part, get as much time off as anyone else. The 6 weeks summer holiday is probably the only time they actually get off, since they seem to prep/mark work in the smaller 1 or 2 week holidays (and probably do a bit in that 6 weeks to be fair). They also tend to work longer hours, especially when there's special events on like open days and parents evenings. I think you may be underestimating what a teacher does, but @Kardan; and @Charz777; might have better insight on this since what I said is pretty much speculation.

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During term time we work really long hours. I generally work 8am to 4pm, but can finish as late as 6 for meetings and 9 for parents' evenings and events. And 8-4 doesn't seem long hours to someone who does shift work (I used to, and that would be normal), but when I get home I will eat my dinner then spend until around 9 or 10pm every night doing prep as well as the majority of the weekend.

I'm starting to believe school holidays are for the teachers and not the kids, the kids don't need that long off. The only thing I can say from my own childhood was that having 6 weeks to pick from my parents were usually able to find 2 weeks that they could both get off work at the same time so we could go on holiday.

For myself and @Kardan; we are in the trickiest stage where prep takes up much more time as you are slow at first and have no resources to fall back on so with half-term weeks I will spend almost all of that planning. Christmas and Easter we get 2 weeks so I will try to give myself 5 days to a full week off if I can and this summer I went away so I've only been doing prep this last week. But the summer has been the only real stopping point I've had since September and I've really needed it.

We have to spend a couple of weeks getting ahead because 4-6 free hours a week is not enough to plan 20 lessons, if you don't get ahead you fall behind very easily because you simply have no free time.

It can be really horrible and frustrating but it's supposed to get easier :P

Back on topic, the holidays are too long for kids, probably too long for parents, but too short for teachers.

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Originally Posted by Charz777

School holidays are too long for children at any age. Even with the challenges of A-levels I never used my summer effectively. I would cram for the last week before going back to make sure I could remember my stuff.

I can't comment as a parent but as a teacher the summer hasn't been long enough. I was lucky enough to go on vacation for 26 days in the USA, and travelling is no relaxing holiday- I got back completely exhausted. And yes, of course I understand it was my decision to go, but it has taken me 6 days to sort out my jet lag and get to a position where I'm feeling human, I wouldn't say relaxed but certainly not stressed like when I'm at work. I now have to get a ridiculous amount of stuff ready for school starting with a brand new curriculum and new classes in just over a week. I can safely say my vacations in the future are going to be a week or two relaxing on a beach or cruise ship to recharge and then getting some proper work done before term starts! :P

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Most jobs can't get 32 days off in a row for a holiday, so yeah, you made the decision as you say - shouldn't then reference that as a need for six week holidays :P

I was always lucky to get to spend most of my summer holidays overseas, but yes, British summer holidays are too long (although other countries get considerably longer in some cases). I believe one month would be enough; other countries have long summer holidays due to the heat; we don't have that excuse.

Final results:

Third place with 35 points: @dbgtz; (red team)
Second place with 65 points: @!:random!:!; (green team)
First place with 100 points: @Matt; (black team)

I'll get your points sorted for you, thanks for contributing everyone :D