[user104658]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I never got bored on my holidays

My 5 year old did get pretty bored last summer to be honest, 7 weeks is a bit too long we that age, I remember it when I was young - the last couple of weeks used to drag so badly .

I wouldn't give less holidays though, I'd take 2 weeks off of the summer and add one at easter and one in October.

As for the thread topic - from what I've heard from most of my teacher friends, working a 70-hour week can be pretty standard, and whilst I know that's also true of many "high powered" careers, the pay given to teachers certainly doesn't reflect those sorts of hours. So if you take those worked hours in lieu, their holidays are probably reasonable.

I get 6 weeks holiday a year but I can bank overtime in this way "officially" and take the hours as holiday rather than take it paid. Two weeks of moderate overtime can bag me an extra week off. All things considered, I probably take 8 full weeks and a couple of 5-day stretches through the year.

Wanting people to work like they're on community service just because they get more holidays than you do sounds like a firm case of the jealous jessies to me .