By the time you read this, the summer holidays should be under way for all school pupils across Scotland. My own son finished up last week and is enjoying his break so far, as well as the added bonus of a World Cup to watch.

But it is at this stage that the annual hand-wringing over the length of the summer holidays takes place, so before I’m asked to go on the radio to talk about it – and say the same things I say each time – let’s have a look at the situation and think about whether we need to change the status quo.

There are a few, often interconnected, arguments for changing (which almost always means cutting) the school summer holidays.

This article appears as part of the Lessons to Learn newsletter.

The most common complaint, even if it is not always expressed in explicit terms, is that the holidays put too much pressure on parents, especially those with younger children.

Some people focus more on something called ‘learning loss’, which just relates to whether or not pupils retain absolutely everything about their prior learning when returning after a break.

And others seem to be of the (often unshakeable and largely unevidenced) opinion that the holidays are simply too long and that children should be spending much more time in classrooms.

A thank you to the school that gave my son much more than an education

The additional support needs crisis risks creating a lost generation of children

Why is Qualifications........

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