September 1st 2024.
I personally believe that the idea of giving kids a six-week break from school is completely unnecessary. Every year, my husband and I have to sit down with all our devices and calendars to figure out how to handle the summer holidays with our two lovely children. It's always a stressful time leading up to their break, as all I can think about is how we're going to manage the six-week gap.
It's definitely not a fun activity, and it involves so many different elements that it gives me a headache just thinking about it. This is one of the reasons why I strongly feel that kids having six weeks off school is just not necessary. On a regular week, I work 38 hours spread across weekdays, utilizing the school's breakfast club and an after-school club that ends at 4:30pm. This gives me an extra two hours to work, which makes a huge difference in my productivity.
I also have an arrangement with a friend to trade after-school child care. I take care of her two kids on Mondays and she does the same for me on Fridays. It may sound complicated, but it works well and saves us both money. However, once the school holidays start, this routine goes out the window for my seven and ten-year-old daughters. This summer, I've had to reduce my working hours to just three days a week. On Mondays and Fridays, I stay home with my kids, which is like having long weekends for six weeks straight. Sounds lovely, right? But as a self-employed person, I don't get paid for holidays, so when I don't work, I don't earn.
To make things more challenging, my girls will be attending a school holiday camp for three Tuesdays, which costs £25 per child, per day. Unfortunately, the camp is only running for three out of the six weeks, so that's £150 for just half of their break. If we book any additional activities during this time, I might end up losing money. So, I have to choose between working less and earning less or working more and spending all my earnings on childcare. And to make matters worse, there's no guarantee that I'll get paid on time.
Thankfully, my husband has taken some time off work on Wednesdays, and my father-in-law has agreed to look after our granddaughters on Thursdays. We've also managed to book a week off together, which leaves two weeks with no summer camps available. And honestly, I have no idea how we're going to keep the kids entertained during those two weeks. They miss their friends, the lack of routine makes them unsettled, and they get bored easily.
There are some local sports sessions available, but they're not very helpful in terms of working hours, and they come with a hefty price tag of £20 for a two-hour session. That means I'll be spending £40 for both my children, and I can't get much work done in just two hours. So, keeping the kids occupied and entertained for six whole weeks is definitely a challenge. Towards the end of the school term, you can tell that they're tired of their routine; they become cranky, less enthusiastic, and they definitely need a break. But too much of a break can also have a negative effect on them, as they start to miss their friends, the lack of structure can be unsettling, and they get bored easily.
This is why I believe that the summer holidays should be reduced to just four weeks. There are several reasons for this, including the lack of affordable childcare, the welfare of children from underprivileged backgrounds, and the negative impact of long breaks on learning. For me, the main issue is the cost. If the summer holidays were shorter, I wouldn't have to pay a large sum of money upfront for weeks and weeks of childcare. The summer camps in our area don't even offer payment plans; you have to pay the full amount when you book, and the spaces are limited, so you have to act fast.
The time spent away from school is also a concern, as many teachers have to spend the first few days or even weeks of the new autumn term re-teaching old lessons because the children have forgotten so much of what they learned at the end of the summer term. While I do consider myself lucky to be able to rearrange my work around my children's summer break, it still means that I have to work and look after them at the same time, which can be overwhelming.
The concept of a long summer holiday dates back to the Victorian era, when children would help their parents in the fields during the harvest season. But in today's world, it's just not a relevant policy. It's outdated and frankly, just archaic. And it's not just a problem for self-employed parents like myself, even parents who work full-time jobs face difficult choices and have to spend a large sum of money on childcare. Some of my friends have childcare options that cost them thousands of pounds.
Reducing my working hours to just three days a week costs me £800 over five weeks. And the holiday camps only run for five hours a day, so I'll be losing out on an additional £120 in lost working hours, bringing the total loss to £920. Add the cost of the holiday camp for just three weeks, and the grand total is a staggering £1,060. And that doesn't even include the increase in household bills and the cost of activities to keep the kids occupied.
Every year, I try to come up with a list of free things to do with my kids, but that's just not enough to fill up six weeks. And most of these activities are dependent on the unpredictable British summer weather. The summer holidays are a difficult balance of organization, lack of affordable childcare, and not enough paid leave, which should be better aligned with the needs of modern working parents and the learning needs of the children.
It's unfair to both parents and our children. A four-week holiday would not only minimize the astronomical costs of full-time childcare, but it would also help protect those who are in need and allow teachers to maximize new learning in the autumn term. Perhaps the reason why it has remained unchanged for so long is that we, as parents, have just accepted it as a financial and organizational nightmare. No one has made a strong enough argument to the government to bring about a change or even assess the current situation.
But now is the time for action. Parents and teachers should come together and push hard to bring attention to this issue and demand a solution. With a new government in place, this is the perfect opportunity to make our voices heard. I, for one, will be contacting the new Education Secretary to share my views on this matter. And as the long weeks of summer stretch ahead, I'm sure more and more parents will agree with me.
So, my dear children, I'm sorry to say this, but it's time to cut short the summer holidays. This article was first published on July 21, 2024. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Please get in touch by emailing Ross.email. And don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments below.
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