The case for longer school Summer holidays

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Many parents complain the the school Summer holidays are already too long - they get fed up with children under their feet for six weeks, and the children themselves can get bored.  And schools say that children take a long time to 'get back into learning mode' after the Summer break.  So how can a longer Summer holiday be a good thing?

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Well, here's an idea.  At the end of the Summer term, instead of a six-week holiday period, you have a ten-week holiday period, but with a catch.  Children have to go back to school for four weeks within the ten-week period, at times of their own choosing.

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Firstly, let's consider the  obvious advantages.  Families with children could book their holidays within a ten-week window instead of the current six, flattening out the Summer peak prices.  Teachers would also benefit from this.  Schools with building projects would have longer to complete their work.  There would be more time to complete the behind-the-scenes work of marking end-of-year exams, choosing subjects for the following year based on the marks, and preparing a timetable for the new year.  The Autumn term, already recognised as a long drag for both staff and children, would be a little shorter.

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Next, let's consider the obvious disadvantages.  It would be harder to coordinate school transport, and small schools in particular would struggle to operate efficiently at half capacity.  Costs would rise.  Because term lengths would be shortened to accommodate the long Summer break, the time that children spend in a conventional learning environment would be reduced.

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Now, let's look at non-obvious advantages.  Firstly, Summer school would not be the same as term-time school.  Children would be able to opt for specific courses, to give them a chance to do more of what they love doing, or to try out a subject before committing to it, say, as an A-level subject.  Indeed, some subjects (like languages) are best learned with intensive, single-minded teaching instead of being taught a few hours a week.  Secondly, many schools have valuable specialist equipment that they have to ration because so many children want to use it - the rationing is much less of a problem when there are only half the number of children in school.  Also, because key people would be taking holidays while the school is running, it provides opportunities for staff to 'step up' and try out new roles for a meaningful period - the most obvious example is a deputy head becoming acting head during the head's Summer break.  Thinking outside the box, a partially-open school can easily close off some buildings to allow building work to be carried out, and small schools could club together to provide an improved, shared, Summer school offering.  And with proper organisation and supervision, children could even engage in work experience outside school altogether.  Or go to a neighbouring school if their own school can't offer the course they want.  With a bit of imagination, all the problems of partially-opening a school can become opportunities - opportunities to 'do something different' and make school a bit more fun.  The learning and enthusiasm generated by Summer schools could easily outweigh the lost conventional time.

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What do you think?  Please comment here