Secondary school holidays

allyatsea

I find this thread quite interesting.
In a previous note, people were asking what the timetable is in other European countries. I went to school in France from 4 to 18, and the school year is as follows:

- Year starts beginning of september
- 10 days holidays end of october
- 2 weeks holidays for christmas
- 2 weeks holidays in february
- 2 weeks holidays at Easter
- Year ends on 30th of june or early July
- 2 months holidays in summer

The school day is as follows:

in Primary: 8.30 to 4.30 with 1 hour 30 min lunch break on monday, tuesday, thursday, friday, 8.30 to 12 on wednesday and saturday

In secondary it is similar except the day would usually start at 8 and finish at 4 or 5, and the lunch break is 2 hours.
Saturday morning was for exams and was usually 2 or 4 hours.

I am not a teacher so this is just an innocent comment, but I do think that by lenghtening the standard school year until the end of june (for the non-exam years) it would allow more time to teach and prepare the students. 2 months holidays in the summer would be more than enough.

I often hear the phrase "we don't have enough time to cover all the material" from teachers, so this would be a good way to solve the problem.

2011abc

allyatsea wrote: »

I am not a teacher so this is just an innocent comment, but I do think that by lenghtening the standard school year until the end of june (for the non-exam years) it would allow more time to teach and prepare the students. 2 months holidays in the summer would be more than enough.

No it wouldnt ...Their lunch break is obviously ridiculously long too...and our hols are creeping further into June and August every year .Not to mention that the 'extra hour' a week is about a weeks extra work we're forced to do for free...So no thanks to reducing our Summer holidays by a third .

Janet Daly

I think 3 months holidays is far too long. The Danish system must do 200 days schooling in a year. All pupils start the summer break in late June and start the new school year around the 17th of August. 6 weeks is ample for a summer break. The curriculum could be spread out over the longer school year and not crammed into the existing school year.A more even spread of schooling and homework over a longer school year would be less stressful for all. No wonder children and teachers are under so much pressure. I cannot understand the logic of periods of intense schooling and mountains of homework crammed into the present Irish school year and then 3 months of idleness. Also school starts at 8am in Denmark and finishes at 2.00pm or 3.00pm and they have less holidays at Xmas and Easter. Research shows that children perform better and are more productive in the morning time. I have subbed and worked as a special needs assistant at primary level and very little formal teaching takes place after big lunch. I know teaching is a difficult profession but quite honestly the teachers were not forced into it. It was their choice. It seems to me the present school year, especially the secondary school year only serves the interests of one group. I have been through the Irish School system and frankly by the time August came round my friends and I were looking forward to September so we would have something to do. I'm sick of hearing the old chestnuts trotted out by the teachers unions. Teachers in other countries work longer school years and seem to survive. The pupils seem to adequately get by on six weeks summer holidays as well. Whats so special about teachers in Ireland?

RealJohn

You said the work should be spread out in order to reduce pressure on students but then you seem to be complaining that less work gets done after lunch in primary school (where they only have two months holidays), presumably because they're under less pressure to get their content covered. Am I reading that right?

Edit - what did you spend your summers doing by the way? I always seemed to find my summers quite full when I was in school.

therunaround

The kids below 6th year in my school wouldn't know "pressure" if it hit them across the head with a hurl! Get over it.let them have their holidays what harm is it for them. They're only going to be young once. This argument has been done to death.

Powerhouse

First ever post and you dredge up a year old thread on school holidays - which - shocker - "I think are are too long"...?

Odd that you should have put that of all things into 'search'.

Presumably we'll get to the 'teachers should get a paycut' & 'my teacher played on the computer all day you know' bit later!

vamos!

Janet Daly wrote: »

I think 3 months holidays is far too long. The Danish system must do 200 days schooling in a year. All pupils start the summer break in late June and start the new school year around the 17th of August. 6 weeks is ample for a summer break. The curriculum could be spread out over the longer school year and not crammed into the existing school year.A more even spread of schooling and homework over a longer school year would be less stressful for all. No wonder children and teachers are under so much pressure. I cannot understand the logic of periods of intense schooling and mountains of homework crammed into the present Irish school year and then 3 months of idleness. Also school starts at 8am in Denmark and finishes at 2.00pm or 3.00pm and they have less holidays at Xmas and Easter. Research shows that children perform better and are more productive in the morning time. I have subbed and worked as a special needs assistant at primary level and very little formal teaching takes place after big lunch. I know teaching is a difficult profession but quite honestly the teachers were not forced into it. It was their choice. It seems to me the present school year, especially the secondary school year only serves the interests of one group. I have been through the Irish School system and frankly by the time August came round my friends and I were looking forward to September so we would have something to do. I'm sick of hearing the old chestnuts trotted out by the teachers unions. Teachers in other countries work longer school years and seem to survive. The pupils seem to adequately get by on six weeks summer holidays as well. Whats so special about teachers in Ireland?

How would you spread the work more evenly? How long do you think it would take for parents to accept a longer school year and take more expensive holidays during a six-week period? I see the point about 3 months being excessive but most schools come back in August now and the teachers return even earlier. I am not too sure about your point regarding the lack of formal teaching in the afternoon. Should we send the children home earlier and open the school on more days? How would that work with childcare and the likes? I am also confused as to what 'old chestnuts' the teaching unions trot out? I think you have tried to frame your points well but they seem to be lost within the insinuations that the holidays are only there to suit the teachers.

Oh and what's so special about teachers in Ireland? Not much really, we try to keep our extra eyes and arms to ourselves. On a more serious note though we do an awful lot of extracurricular activities.

vamos!

allyatsea wrote: »

I often hear the phrase "we don't have enough time to cover all the material" from teachers, so this would be a good way to solve the problem.

I have said this on more than one occasion and in my first year or so of teaching I really thought we should be teaching in June. Now I have come to the conclusion that high rates of absence (even short term absences), students deciding to get their hair done on a Wednesday afternoon because they only have Religion, PE and my subject and the likes hinder the work being covered in a logical and methodological way. The growing trend of some parents excusing their children from homework because their children had visitors or were at the Beyonce gig also doesn't help. I know children are children and there is more to life than school and homework but there is barely a day when at least one of my students doesn't have a note to leave early or excuse them from something. Lack of interest and consequences have caused a lot of damage and I don't see how lengthening the school year will address the issues.

Miss Lockhart

Janet Daly wrote: »

Also school starts at 8am in Denmark and finishes at 2.00pm or 3.00pm and they have less holidays at Xmas and Easter. Research shows that children perform better and are more productive in the morning time.

This has no bearing on second level and teenagers. Research shows that teens do not function well in the morning - and it is not their fault. It is due to their maturing endocrine system and their melatonin release patterns. In fact, there's quite a significant movement worldwide to have teens start school later in the day to improve their academic performance. Please don't post about what you know nothing about.

It seems to me that you are just fed up with your own kids bored at home and decided to search for "holidays too long" in your frustration and have a rant. Fair enough - but don't try and dress it up as concern for doing what's best for the students.

I'd also agree with vamos - I would have absolutely no problem finishing the course if student attendance was not so unbelievably poor. Parents letting kids off to buy their christmas clothes or to get into the pit at Rhianna is the real problem.

jane1234

As a teacher myself I cannot believe the amount of animosity out there towards us. Most people who bash us are just jealous of our job as they still think that it is a 'handy number'. Im so bored of this attitude I am yet to be paid anything over any holday and I've been teaching 3 years. The Irish public's view of our profession is damning and shocking. We need to be careful of our moan about everything nature as our country is changing and we need to keep the education standards up there!!

gaeilgebeo

Janet Daly wrote: »

I think 3 months holidays is far too long. The Danish system must do 200 days schooling in a year. All pupils start the summer break in late June and start the new school year around the 17th of August. 6 weeks is ample for a summer break. The curriculum could be spread out over the longer school year and not crammed into the existing school year.A more even spread of schooling and homework over a longer school year would be less stressful for all. No wonder children and teachers are under so much pressure. I cannot understand the logic of periods of intense schooling and mountains of homework crammed into the present Irish school year and then 3 months of idleness. Also school starts at 8am in Denmark and finishes at 2.00pm or 3.00pm and they have less holidays at Xmas and Easter. Research shows that children perform better and are more productive in the morning time. I have subbed and worked as a special needs assistant at primary level and very little formal teaching takes place after big lunch. I know teaching is a difficult profession but quite honestly the teachers were not forced into it. It was their choice. It seems to me the present school year, especially the secondary school year only serves the interests of one group. I have been through the Irish School system and frankly by the time August came round my friends and I were looking forward to September so we would have something to do. I'm sick of hearing the old chestnuts trotted out by the teachers unions. Teachers in other countries work longer school years and seem to survive. The pupils seem to adequately get by on six weeks summer holidays as well. Whats so special about teachers in Ireland?

Why thank you. We are quite special, all in our own unique ways.

bdoo

Janet Daly wrote: »

I think 3 months holidays is far too long. The Danish system must do 200 days schooling in a year. All pupils start the summer break in late June and start the new school year around the 17th of August. 6 weeks is ample for a summer break. The curriculum could be spread out over the longer school year and not crammed into the existing school year.A more even spread of schooling and homework over a longer school year would be less stressful for all. No wonder children and teachers are under so much pressure. I cannot understand the logic of periods of intense schooling and mountains of homework crammed into the present Irish school year and then 3 months of idleness. Also school starts at 8am in Denmark and finishes at 2.00pm or 3.00pm and they have less holidays at Xmas and Easter. Research shows that children perform better and are more productive in the morning time. I have subbed and worked as a special needs assistant at primary level and very little formal teaching takes place after big lunch. I know teaching is a difficult profession but quite honestly the teachers were not forced into it. It was their choice. It seems to me the present school year, especially the secondary school year only serves the interests of one group. I have been through the Irish School system and frankly by the time August came round my friends and I were looking forward to September so we would have something to do. I'm sick of hearing the old chestnuts trotted out by the teachers unions. Teachers in other countries work longer school years and seem to survive. The pupils seem to adequately get by on six weeks summer holidays as well. Whats so special about teachers in Ireland?

Slow news day?

Has anyone got anything new to post about?

seavill

Has anybody here ever heard the phrase "don't feed the troll":rolleyes:

bdoo

seavill wrote: »

Has anybody here ever heard the phrase "don't feed the troll":rolleyes:

3 months holidays, gotta do something!

seavill

There's no answering that;)

Seanchai

I think we should get at least all of December or January off. It's unfair that I have to visit Argentinia or Brazil around then in order to get the good weather. And don't get me started on it being rainy season in Thailand at the moment....

bdoo

Seanchai wrote: »

I think we should get at least all of December or January off. It's unfair that I have to visit Argentinia or Brazil around then in order to get the good weather. And don't get me started on it being rainy season in Thailand at the moment....

People outside of teaching just dont understand.

vamos!

Seanchai wrote: »

I think we should get at least all of December or January off. It's unfair that I have to visit Argentinia or Brazil around then in order to get the good weather. And don't get me started on it being rainy season in Thailand at the moment....

Use all of your sick days at the same time. You should get a nice long break then. Or leave one of the big boys to sit at the top of the room and tell the little ones to be quiet and keep reading. No one one will even know that you're gone.