Is anyone else fed up with the “feast or famine” nature of a school year? Do you feel burnt out each term trying to make it to the next set of holidays?

For many teachers, the long summer holidays are king and completely non-negotiable - but who are they good for? By the time we get to them, as most teachers in Scotland will this week, people are worn out, sick or stressing out about how to fill them in a meaningful way.

There’s always the argument that the holidays benefit young people. Do they, though? Now that more and more children sit indoors for huge amounts of time stuck to their phones and games consoles, are we really doing right by them giving them weeks on end to do it?

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And the long holidays don’t benefit the majority of working parents either. Whether teachers like it or not, childcare is a real issue these days. Many parents have to juggle their own holidays just to get through a long summer stretch. I know lots of teachers will say that it’s not their problem, but I have never felt comfortable with this. I’d prefer to work in harmony with others in society, not be at odds with them.

So, wouldn’t it be better to have shorter terms with shorter, more frequent breaks? This would surely make the uphill battle of a long term more manageable and give people that all-important work-life balance that we all crave?

I’m not necessarily advocating a reduction in the holiday time either, just a reimagining of that time for everyone’s long-term benefit. We could do four to six weeks with a week to 10 days in between, and then maybe a few weeks down time in the summer rather than six or seven, as we tend to have in Scotland. I’ll lay my cards on the table here and say that I am also an advocate of a four-day week for everyone in society, so I am not some sort of workaholic who resents people having their well-earned rest.

I also think that by making terms shorter, we could make meaningful changes to the assessment system: no more cramming for months with a soul-crushing diet of exams at the end. Assessment could be little and often with far lower stakes attached to each one - taking a marathon rather than a sprint approach would contribute to everyone’s health and wellbeing, surely?

Many would agree that “boom and bust” is no way to run an economy, so why organise our school calendars like that? Maybe it’s time to try a different way.

Sammy McHugh is a teacher of English who works in Scotland. She tweets @MsSammyMcHugh.