Shorter summer break could ease school fatigue for pupils and teachers – expert
Paper recommends four-term year with two-week break in October because current system does not ‘serve modern society’
The current school year layout is causing “fatigue for both children and school staff” in Scotland, an education expert has said as she proposed changes including shortening the summer break.
Independent think tank Enlighten has published a paper by former teacher and education leader Gillian Hunt.
She is calling for all schools to have a four-term year as she said the current system does not “serve modern society”.
Ms Hunt recommends an October break of two weeks for all children, reducing the summer holiday to five weeks, and having a week-long break in February.
She said: “The current pattern of the school year in Scotland no longer meets the needs of children, families or our education system. The school year and pattern of holidays have remained unchanged for over a century, shaped by agriculture and religion and do not serve modern society.
“There are several issues associated with the current pattern. Currently there are three long, uneven terms. This results in fatigue for both children and school staff, and challenges curricular planning.”
The paper finds that the long break in summer leads to a loss of learning, is expensive for working parents and creates fatigue for teachers and pupils in the long run.
The paper specifies that children who are in poverty are the worst affected by the long break due to financial constraints at home.
Ms Hunt said: “The long summer holiday creates a number of difficulties such as loss of learning, holiday hunger, loneliness and maintaining contact with children who require safeguarding. This is particularly significant and damaging for children living in poverty.
“Changing the pattern of the school year is a low-cost educational reform with demonstrable benefits for children, families and the teaching profession, and one which reflects and supports modern life in Scotland.”
Keir Bloomer, chairman of the Commission on School Reform, said the proposed changes may save families money.
He said: “Not all educational reform needs to be costly. In this case, Gillian Hunt’s proposals may even save families money, as well as improving educational outcomes overall.
“If we are to recover Scotland’s reputation as an educational power then we should start with the basics. Getting the school year right seems about as basic as it gets, and Gillian’s proposals are worthy of consideration by the Scottish Government.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Ministers will consider this report’s findings with interest as part of wider work to improve school-aged education for pupils, teachers and staff, although currently there are no plans to change the school holiday calendar.
“We understand the cost of living crisis has put pressure on families’ budgets, and are funding initiatives to alleviate pressures on family budgets during school holidays. This includes almost £22 million to provide holiday free school meals alternatives for eligible families and £5 million for the Extra Time programme to provide up to 5,000 free places for children in low income families at breakfast, after school and holiday clubs. An additional £1 million has been invested this year to support and enhance the delivery of holiday activities services for disabled children across all council areas.
“We are working closely with teaching unions and COSLA to agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time at pace Ministers have been clear that reducing class contact will help support the time and space necessary for teachers, to allow them to drive improvement and reform in our schools and improve outcomes for their pupils.”
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