Schools in Wales consider halving the summer break

As reported by the BBC News, new plans by the Welsh government will reduce the summer holidays to three weeks

The government in Wales is trialling a reduction of the traditional summer holidays from three weeks to six.

The changes would not reduce the overall number of holidays but instead spread it out over the year, as part of a greater modernisation and “radical policy shift” in the Welsh school system.

A pilot study has now been rolled out across 14 schools, which is also experimenting with extending the school day by adding up to five extra hours to the week.

Experts have suggested a shorter summer holiday could help pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and those in need of catching up on missed class time after the pandemic.

The reaction from parents and children

For parents, shortening the summer holidays would take time to get used to. Charlotte, a mother-of-two from Rhondda Valley, commented “I find it quite hard getting them back into the school mode, so if they were shorter then it wouldn’t be so much of a shock the system.”

Ethan, Charlotte’s nine-year-old son, believes reducing the summer holidays would help break up the school year and help him in class.

“When the teacher says about stuff we learned before the summer holidays, I just don’t remember – it’s confusing,” he said.

“Half-term feels like something they just randomly do for fun, so two weeks would feel like something special is actually happening” he added.

The reaction from teachers

Headteacher at Monmouth Comprehensive School, Hugo Hutchison, has critiqued the proposed changes.

“If you look at the research, actually, there isn’t any compelling evidence that this would have any advantage for any of our Welsh students, and that seems to be such a poor basis to make such as change” he said.

Hutchison is also worried about the impact on his staff. “If we have a shorter summer holiday, something that is seen as a disadvantage in the terms of employment, then staff can very easily go a mile of two over the border and find another job,” he said.

The national official for Wales for teaching union NASUWT, Neil Butler agrees with Hutchison’s concerns over teacher retention, he said “if the six weeks were reduced, you’d see a mass exodus from the profession in Wales.”

Butler also pointed to the lack of consultation with the union, calling on the government to “pause” the idea until that takes place.

The changes are not yet confirmed, in a statement, the Welsh government reiterated “these are at early stages, and we will be carefully considering feedback and the results of surveys, interviews and focus groups which will feed into any options for potentially reforming the school calendar which, of course, would then be subject to a formal consultation.”

“We want to look at whether we can design a school year that better supports learner and staff wellbeing, tackles inequality and is more aligned to modern family and working lives.

“This isn’t about reducing or increasing the total amount of holidays for learners and teaching staff, but rather the impact of different options in relation to redistributing the holiday periods and term lengths.”