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Good Morning,

With state schools across England about to be given the freedom to dictate the shape of the academic year, it looks as if the traditional six-week summer holiday is going to be shortened. Some educationalists believe that the progress of children is being hampered by a 19th century timetable. Long summer holidays, they argue, can lead to a dip in pupils’ performance and increase the chances of them forgetting what they’ve learned.

I spoke to a teacher yesterday and asked how their pupils would feel about having a shorter summer holiday. Here are some of their answers: ‘It’s important to relax as well as work; we’re already over-examined; the holiday is a chance to see family; it’s good for our mental health; we need to get away from friends and being around hundreds of people every day; we definitely need a proper break.’ When asked if their parents would prefer them to have shorter holidays, they said they’d rather have them bored at home than stressed at school. For these pupils the summer holiday could never be too long or come soon enough.

For some parents, faced with the prospect of providing entertainment or care through a long holiday, a shorter break might prove welcome. It’s around about this time of year that many parents start to busy themselves looking for activities and clubs to fill the long days; anything to avoid hearing those words: ‘Mum, Dad, I’m really bored’.

However, there is a school of thought that suggests boredom is an essential part of a child’s well-being and that not doing very much can lead to creativity. Indeed, many of the writers that children study at school concur: here’s Robert Louis Stevenson: ‘Extreme busyness is a symptom of deficient vitality, and a faculty for idleness implies a strong sense of personal identity...’

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