“The summer holiday is one of the worst innovations in the history of education. It is a pernicious beast that must be slain immediately.”
So thinks Conor Clark in the Guardian Education today. He argues that the long summer holiday cripples learning. The first few weeks of the new autumn term is spent going over what has been forgotten during the long six week break.
He also argues that it is unfair to the economically disadvantaged who can not participate in summer camps etc. Also research has shown that those children from poorer backgrounds actually decline in reading age during the holiday whilst their better off peers continue to improve.
He suggests redistributing holidays across the year to maximize learning potential.
Many teachers might agree from the learning point of view, but they do enjoy their long summer holiday as a means of recovery from the ‘front line’.