It’s such a tough time of year, this winter school term in England (Picture: Sarah Whiteley)
Walking into my six-year-old son Theo’s bedroom, I gently shook his shoulder.
‘Time to get ready for school,’ I said, my voice a stage whisper. But as he cracked open an eye, he shook his head. ‘It’s still dark outside,’ he muttered sleepily, before burrowing further under his duvet.
I sighed. I could hardly blame him for wanting to stay in bed. It had been a hard enough struggle to get myself up this morning.
It’s such a tough time of year, this winter school term in England. You’re getting up to a cold, dark house, the weather is miserable, the weeks stretching out endlessly ahead of us.
The festive break – the only light at the end of the tunnel – only comes after the stress of squeezing in present shopping after crazy-busy days at work as everyone runs themselves ragged and finishing off projects before the end of the year.
Right now, Christmas itself still seems ages away.
It’s no wonder we’re all shattered.
There is a solution, though. I’m not sure Theo would be particularly happy with me, but I’d be all for getting rid of the six weeks’ summer holidays.
Well, not quite. Just hear me out.
Rather than having six weeks off over July and August, I reckon it would be better to reduce that summer break down to four weeks and spread the rest of the holidays more evenly over the whole year.
So the children would still go to school for 39 weeks and have around 13 off. But maybe the Christmas and Easter breaks could be three weeks rather than two, to give them – and us, their parents – regular, longer rests throughout the year.
Surely it would be better to spend those wet and wild wintery days cosy at home (Picture: Sarah Whiteley)
It’s similar to what the Welsh government are currently proposing in their education system. They believe that taking a week off the long summer break and adding it onto the October half-term would help both children and parents.
‘Families struggle to find childcare over the six weeks, and others struggle with the additional costs long summers bring,’ said the minister for education and Welsh language, Jeremy Miles.
He added: ‘We know our most disadvantaged learners suffer the most learning loss from a long summer’, and that, ‘We want to make sure education works best for pupils, teachers, and families.’
Hear, hear!
Theo just finished reception this July and, having gone to nursery all year round, we had our first official six weeks’ holidays this summer.
Although I loved having such an extended break with him, there were difficulties – first, the practical logistics of who was going to look after him.
Thankfully, I have two wonderful parents, who have looked after Theo and his little sister, Immy, four, regularly since they started nursery, so they went to their house one day a week.
There is nothing worse than trudging out in the slush, dropping your child off at school dripping wet or with freezing hands
My husband Tom then took another day off every week.
And we decided that, as I am a freelancer and my work was more flexible, I would work those two days and look after him for the remaining three days.
Don’t get me wrong, we were lucky to be able to do this and avoid the cost of holiday clubs. But, no matter how many evenings and weekends I worked, taking so much time off obviously impacted how much I earned.
Whereas if it was a shorter break and the holidays were more spread out, equally the impact on my – and every other parent’s – finances would also be more evenly distributed.
Then there was the question of finding something to do every day.
We live next to a large park and I’d imagined spending our days wandering round the lake, having picnics and arranging to meet friends, broken up with the occasional trip to the cinema or museum.
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But it rained pretty much every day. Even when it wasn’t wet, it wasn’t particularly warm enough to spend a full day outdoors.
With Tom working from home, I found myself paying for us to go somewhere most days.
Even when I did take us to free museums, I still had to pay to get there – and usually for lunch and drinks too.
Whenever I did meet up with other parents, everyone said the same thing. ‘I’ve just spent so much money!’
And even when the summers are lovely, I do believe it might be better for the summer break to be shorter and have longer holidays in the colder seasons.
There is literally nothing worse than trudging out in the sleet or slush, dropping your child off dripping wet or with freezing hands and nose for a full day at school.
Instead, surely it would be better to spend those wet and wild wintery days cosy at home, and take them out to school when the weather is better, lighter and everyone has more of a spring in their step?
And, as the wise Mr Miles has pointed out, shortening the long summer holidays means that the children have less of a break from learning and socialising, making it less of a pressure and worry when they return each September.
Then of course, there are the benefits for children living in poverty, whose only hot meal may be their school dinner.
So yes, I’ve convinced myself. Let’s get rid of the six weeks’ holidays – for the sake of parents, and, no matter how much they may dislike the idea, for kids too!
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The Christmas and Easter breaks could be three weeks rather than two, for regular, longer rests throughout the year.
