Parents hope term change can make getaways cheaper

Parents have spoken of their hopes that plans to bring forward the school summer holidays will make summer getaways cheaper.

Reform UK-run Essex County Council is looking into bringing forward school summer holidays by one week in July, from 2029.

James Paley, 47, a restaurant manager from Southend-on-Sea, said: "It's a marvellous idea especially when you've got kids and you are looking to go away."

The father-of-eight been fined for taking his children out of school in the past to go on holiday but he said the holiday during term time was cheaper by about £2,500.

"The prices are just night and day so it can make a big difference to a lot of families," he said.

Sam Journet, the cabinet member for education at the council, told a meeting on Tuesday that the move could mean cheaper holidays for some families.

The county council can set the holiday dates for 127 out of the 552 schools in Essex - because most of them are run as academies.

Schoolchildren would still have six weeks off in the summer and would return to class the last week of August, Journet explained.

Parents who take their children out of school unauthorised for holidays face fines of at least £80. Repeated absence can lead to prosecution.

Rebecca Allerton, 33, from Castle Point, has taken her sons on holiday during term previously and said she had saved thousands of pounds, despite being fined.

"In principle it is a lovely idea," she said.

"But then I also think private schools have already been off by a week; it might not make much of a difference."

Tina Rayment, a travel firm manager in Wickford, said it could help families save up to £1,000.

"It is going to allow some parents to take their children away because holiday prices will be cheaper going a week earlier," she said.

In Essex - including the boroughs of Southend and Thurrock - 15,856 fines were issued in 2024-25, a drop of 1,664 compared with the previous academic year.

According to government figures, fines for unauthorised family holiday absences in England rose by 16,000 from the year before, with 459,288 fines issued for the 2024-25 academic year.

All schools nationally must consider issuing a penalty if a child has missed five whole days of education for unauthorised reasons within a rolling 10-week period of school time.

Mick Davison, 81, a teacher at Sweyne Park School in Rayleigh, said: "I can't see it working because travel companies will just bring their prices forward to match the situation.

"Parents can't win, whatever they choose."

Davison, who has been teaching since 1965, said that it was not common to go on holiday abroad in the 1960s.

"It affects teachers too because teachers are also parents. It is a bit of a conundrum," he said.

Kevin Camfield, 66, who is managing director of a travel company in Leigh-on-Sea, has been running his business since 1983.

He said: "I doubt it will change the pricing structure.

"Whenever the kids are on holiday that is when the tour operator will make the most money."

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: "Local authorities and academies set their own term dates, not the government, so they already have the flexibility to change the length of holidays if that is something teachers and parents want."

Schools must provide at least 190 days of education out of 365 days in a year, added the spokesperson.

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School summer holidays could start one week earlier