Mother calls for long school holidays to be cancelled so schools operate like workplace

Mumsnet user SkaPunkPrincess says that school holidays should be removed entirely and staff and pupils should be given a four week holiday allowance. Photo / Getty Images

Taking children out of school during term time is always a hotly debated issue, and now one mother believes she's come up with the perfect solution to the problem.

A British Mumsnet user took to the parenting forum to explain her theory that the long break should be cancelled altogether, in favour of opening schools 52 weeks a year like any other workplace.

She suggested that teachers and students could have a four-week holiday allowance per year, allowing both parties to have time off whenever they wanted, reports Daily Mail.

And she argued it would allow teaching to take place at a more "realistic page", adding: "Am I missing why this isn't a genius idea?"

She said that her "genius" idea would allow staff to be more flexible and to teach children at a more realistic pace. Photo / Mumsnet

However, her idea was widely slammed by fellow users, who said her idea would leave children exhausted, burned out and unable to learn properly.

One responded, saying: "It's a terrible idea because children need time away from school to pursue their own interests, to develop socially, to rest and relax."

Other users pointed out the problems that could arise if teachers and students could take separate holidays whenever they wanted to.

One user said: "I fancy taking my holidays in the run up to GCSE. Your kid is in Year 11. Still keen on the idea?"

And multiple users argued that it would be impossible to maintain continuity of teaching and learning if children and teachers were absent at varying points.

Although the plan was heavily criticised, some users did agree that the school holiday system needs to be altered.

One user said: "I actually think you're right in that we should have schools operate in such a way that children and teachers aren't utterly exhausted at the end of term. There's also a lot of evidence that the long summer holiday is detrimental."

Another user agreed and said: "I would be in favour of shortening the summer break and distributing those weeks elsewhere in the year.

"The "summer dip" is well-documented and disproportionately affects disadvantaged pupils."