Early Easter causes school holiday “chaos”
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Big variations in holiday dates are causing problems for families with children at different schools this Easter.
Parents have told Newsbeat they can’t afford to pay for two lots of childcare. Others want to take their whole family away, but that’s impossible without taking some children out of lessons. Changing Easter dates There are often slight differences in holiday dates, but it’s much worse this year because it’s the earliest Easter since 1913. Why is Easter so early?
Some local authorities have asked schools to start the break this week. Others are waiting, because they didn’t want such a short half term. Madeleine Jarrett’s family live on the border of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire.
She said: "It’s an absolute nightmare because we can’t take a family holiday unless we take some of the children out of school, which we don’t agree with." Her step-children Jake, 13, and Amber, 10, break up for a fortnight today. But her children Owen, 11, and Darcy, 4, don’t get a long break for another few weeks. "My husband works shifts, so planning leave is already difficult. "Now he’s got to take a few days off when two of the children are on holiday, and a few days off later for the others. It makes life very complicated," she said. A change in the law? In 2005 the government recommended a move to a standard school year to allow all pupils across England and Wales to take the same weeks off, but only around two-thirds have adopted it.
The Local Government Association reckons nine million families could save up to £500 a year on emergency childcare and playschemes if all schools switched to uniform holidays. Local Authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland tend to pick more similar dates already, but there is still some variation. The National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations wants a change in the law to make all schools across the UK adopt the same holidays. Spokeswoman Laura Warren said: "School holidays are times for families to get together. "Guidance on dates isn’t enough. We need a formal structure that isn’t influenced by when Easter falls. At the moment some parents are having to spend hundreds more on childcare." The government says it does want schools to match up term times with their neighbours to reduce disruption for parents. But it has no plans to impose a standard school year at national level. It says it’s up to local authorities to decide which dates to chose.
Private schools already choose their holidays separately. Cheap breaks away If your family has managed to get the same time off this spring, there is a chance you could save money on a holiday though. The Association of British Travel Agents says because of the normal two-week Easter break, demand is spread over four weeks. Not all companies are charging as much as usual. So if you shop around, you could get a good last-minute deal. That’s not much use for Madeleine’s family though. "We’re in a situation where we’re lucky if we even get a few days together. "We spend time at home, but going away is special, and we’re in a situation now where we can’t do that," she said.
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My husband works shifts, so planning leave is already difficult. 
