Snow! School holidays!

 This morning we woke to blue sky and sunshine … and snow on the ground, on the pavements, still at the edge of the roads. Not deep snow but more than enough for the last day of November. Even before I got up and looked out of the window, I had received a message from Granddaughter Number Two with a video of snow falling in York. She was inordinately excited at the prospect of walking through the snow to her first lecture of the day. This was not really a surprise as we already know she revels in old weather and finds any temperature over 20° as excessive.

She has always been that way. Even as a very small child she would begin peeling layers off as soon as we entered a shop. Strange girl! It’s not that she goes out underdressed for the cold but rather that she likes to be well wrapped up. And she made one concession to this morning’s cold weather: she was taking her hot water bottle, Dan (so called because the case has a picture of a Dachshund on it), with her to place on her knee during seminars in order to keep her hands warm. Strange girl, indeed!

She has been complaining that the university has changed the pattern of the year, moving from terms to semesters. It shouldn’t affect the amount of studying she does or doesn’t do but might mean that her time off doesn’t coincide with her mother’s holidays from the school where she works, nor with her smaller siblings holidays from school. 

Of course, all that might change as once again they are talking about changing the structure of the school year. Apparently the long summer break is disruptive to learning and they want to even out the time spent in the classroom through the year. Goodness knows how schools in France and Spain and possibly Italy, manage as they have almost three months off in the summer. 

Here are some comments from letters to The Guardian on that subject:

“As teachers, we know the pressures facing families in 2023 and in recent years. We see first-hand the impacts of government cuts to social services and youth mental health support, and the impact of cruel employment regulations such as zero-hours contracts. We know that for many young people and their carers, the six-week holiday is an unpleasant time. Because of this, I worry that any discussions regarding changes to the school calendar in England will be dominated by issues surrounding childcare. This is a legitimate concern, but is the problem caused by the length of the school holidays, or one created by crumbling support networks for families and carers?”

Some people point out the advantages of long summer holidays from school:

“There’s a model where our school holidays can be seen as an opportunity for young people to spread their wings and explore a world beyond being sat behind a desk. If you shorten the summer holiday, you might get less of a break in learning, but at what cost?”

“School holidays need to be seen in a wider context than educational attainment: time outdoors in parks, gardens and the countryside in summer means vitamin D, mental wellbeing and engaging with nature. Holidays abroad in October may be warm and cheaper, but they are only accessible to families with higher incomes, and encourage air travel, which contributes to climate change.”

Of course there are childcare problems but in an ideal world there would be a way round that … although as always it comes down to funding!

Personally, when I was a teacher I always enjoyed reuniting with students after the summer break, seeing how they had changed and evolved. This was especially true when working in sixth form colleges. Students left the first year of the course, still very much like top secondary school pupils and returned for the second year as young adults, ready to move on to the next stage. Education is not just about imparting knowledge; it’s also about helping the young develop as people.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!