Changing the school year five terms can work
22 Mar
The issue of changing the school year is back in the news, with the threat of strike action by some teachers in Nottingham and the possibility of more widespread action.
Nottingham City Council wants to move schools away from the traditional three terms and long summer holiday to a five-term year with shorter summer holidays.
Nottingham City Council says that moving to a five-term year would be better for children academically, partly because the summer break would be shorter. It argues that pupils can forget some of what they have learned during the summer holidays.
It also thinks that the change would allow parents to book family holidays outside the expensive 'peak season'.
(We are still waiting since February for the "ban" on "term time holidays" that Education Secretary Michael Gove was to unveil "within days" or "by the end of the month", according to various media.)
Those opposed to the change argue the need to 'recharge the batteries' over six weeks and point to the longer summer holidays enjoyed in Scotland and other European countries.
Voice has for a long time been open-minded about the current school year. We always give consideration to proposals for varying the current terms and holidays provided that they meet children's educational and welfare needs and take into account the well-being of teachers that is crucial in order for them to do their job effectively.
We mustn't forget that children are required to work intensively during term and they also need holidays to recover and prepare for term time. However, five or six term models are not new and are operated successfully in a number of local authority areas.
It is essential, however, especially with the increase in the number of academies which can change the lengths of terms and school days independently from the surrounding local authority that there is proper consultation and co-ordination between schools across authorities, regions and even whole countries of the UK to avoid problems for parents and teachers with children at more than one school and for local businesses and services.
A local authority or academy going it alone will not be of benefit to anyone. The government should take the powers that it needs in order plan an ordered change across the country if there is evidence that a new pattern to the school year would be beneficial to pupils and staff.
Do let us know your views…
Voice's advice on strikes and industrial action by other unions
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To all whom it may concern
Many councils and certainly the govenment are always at pains to tell us that they are consulting with experts on a varitey of matters before moving to judgement or change.
However in the case of the 5 term year I fear that that is not the case. The experts in this field are classroom teachers but – certainly in Nottingham city – their views may have been sought initially, but then completely ignored because they went decisively against the council’s agenda. What is more appalling is the threat to sack all those who do not agree to sign the new contract. Far from a democratic process, is it not?
I believe that, for a greater understanding of the daily life of a teacher and a city teacher in particular, those councillors should spend a lengthy time in schools talking to teachers and discussing their workload. For example, many city schools have a greater percentage of special needs children to cater for as well as a growing number of EAL(English as an additional language) children – groups which require a much more intensive input. There is also a huge variety of extra-curricular activities that are organised and supervised by willing staff to ensure the development of the child as a complete individual.
Both children and staff are constantly trying to work together to create a positive atmosphere where children achieve their best results. This does not come easily and takes its toll on everyone’s energy levels. After six or seven weeks of constant hard work, everyone is extremely tired and needs to recoup.
I am sure I speak for the majority of teachers when I say that bringing in sets of 8 and possibly 9 week stretches will not be at all beneficial to either teachers or children in terms of health and academic achievement.
Yours sincerely,
Patricia Leigh
City Primary School Teacher with 30+ years of experience.
I have no personal experience of working a 5-term year in my 33 years of teaching and only ever worked the “traditional” school year. But I do know that in some years we worked a very short Spring term and a very long Summer term becuase Easter does not have a fixed date. I remember Summer terms with half terms of 7 or 8 weeks that were very tiring for both teachers and children.
As someone who negotiated term dates with the local authority I know what a thankless task it was for all concerned. You certainly couldn’t please everybody! Fitting in with the dates of all neighbouring local authorities was an impossibility as they all had variations on a theme.
In N.E.Lincs one primary school was allowed to trial a 5-term year for a couple of years. Despite objections from the unions that it would be out of step with all other schools and make difficulties for children, parents and staff the experiment went ahead. Staff actually found that they liked it and that the shorter terms with a two week break between allowed sufficient time for recovery without any learning loss. The staff were disappointed when the trial ended and they returned to the “traditional” pattern.