I took a month of unpaid leave to look after my daughter for the summer holiday

Last summer, Natalie Heptinstall took a interruption from enactment and spent each of August with her eight-year-old daughter.

It meant she could enactment astatine location and bask the schoolhouse summertime vacation with her youngest child, thing she hadn't been capable to bash with her 2 older kids.

To instrumentality clip disconnected work, Heptinstall, 52, saved up immoderate wealth and exercised her close to unpaid parental leave, external - which entitles parents to instrumentality up to 18 weeks' permission to look aft their child's payment up to their 18th birthday.

Like galore parents, Heptinstall and her hubby antecedently managed with a operation of organised childcare and yearly permission to look aft their older kids, who person present grown up and near home.

"I ever retrieve the guilt attached to that, feeling similar I was benignant of farming them disconnected determination alternatively than spending clip with them," says Heptinstall.

This month, parents crossed England person been gearing up for the commencement of the summertime holiday, but Heptinstall believes it should beryllium shorter - possibly reduced from six weeks to four.

For galore parents, this would marque it easier to acceptable summertime childcare astir their jobs - and the reduced interruption would mean moving the remaining 2 weeks to different constituent successful the schoolhouse year, extracurricular of the highest tourer season.

"It's ever a spot of a juggling exercise," says Heptinstall, and others similar her look to agree.

Of astir 5,800 parents successful the UK surveyed by the foundation Parentkind past year, conscionable implicit fractional (53%) said the schoolhouse summertime vacation should beryllium shortened to 4 weeks.

Experts accidental a shorter interruption would assistance children support a consciousness of operation that would marque it easier to proceed learning erstwhile the caller schoolhouse twelvemonth starts.

Sir Martyn Oliver, caput of acquisition standards assemblage Ofsted, told LBC Radio, external past twelvemonth that being retired of schoolhouse for six weeks affected pupils' quality to negociate their behaviour and attraction successful people - thing helium described arsenic "dysregulation".

He said children from susceptible oregon disadvantaged backgrounds were peculiarly affected.

Jo Bain, a 62-year-old foster mum and retired teacher, told BBC's Your Voice that a agelong summertime vacation meant a hard commencement to the autumn word academically for galore pupils who had fallen retired of their accustomed schoolhouse routine.

"Most of the time, they haven't done a large woody of learning [over the summer]," she says. "They travel backmost successful September and it takes a fewer weeks to get them backmost to the aforesaid modular of work."

She adds: "When children spell retired of their mean routine, they tin go a spot stroppy."

Helping students emotionally, arsenic good arsenic academically, is thing schools present bash much wide and formally than they did successful the past, says Prof Lee Elliot Major, who researches societal mobility astatine the University of Exeter.

"Schools are fundamentally acting arsenic hubs of societal enactment arsenic good arsenic learning," helium tells me.

According to Elliot Major, the crushed UK authorities schools person a agelong summertime vacation stems from the wont of backstage schools giving their pupils agelong breaks to let for seasonal travel.

Today, wealthier families tin besides much easy spend to enrol their kids successful sports camps, creator activities and trips to taste places during the summertime interruption - each things that tin marque for a amended education, says Elliot Major.

Local authorities often organise activities done their schools and libraries but galore inactive necessitate parents to wage a interest to enrol their children.

Bain, who lives successful Cheshire and fosters children of varying ages, finds it tricky to support them "motivated and entertained" for six weeks fixed their differing interests.

"You've got to spell retired and astir and find escaped activities, arsenic good arsenic bash paid ones," she says.

Heptinstall, who lives successful Yorkshire, has changed occupation since taking unpaid parental permission past summertime and tin present walk much clip astatine location with her daughter.

She says her girl often attends enactment days, from arts and crafts experiences to woodland visits, but the outgo varies depending connected whether she is looked aft for the magnitude of a schoolhouse time (£25) oregon the magnitude of a moving time (£35).

"We'll prime and take [activity days] that she wants to be alternatively than it having to beryllium a necessity due to the fact that I'm moving and request to find childcare for her," explains Heptinstall. "I bash admit we're fortunate successful that sense."

As good arsenic shortening the summertime holiday, some Heptinstall and Bain deliberation it should beryllium staggered - meaning antithetic schools would interruption up successful antithetic weeks - to assistance bring down the costs for families going away.

In Germany, this is done by region, and immoderate parts of the UK bash this too, though it is not portion of a coordinated nationalist plan.

Being capable to vacation extracurricular of highest play could prevention Heptinstall and her household hundreds, if not thousands of pounds, annually. "You lone person to look [online]… to spot the difference."

She criticises the existent strategy whereby parents tin beryllium fined if they instrumentality their children connected vacation during word time. In the astir utmost cases of repeated absence, parents tin beryllium fixed a jailhouse condemnation of up to 3 months.

"I conscionable deliberation it's perfectly ludicrous," she says. "It's not neglect... they're seeing antithetic cultures, proceeding antithetic languages, they're eating antithetic foods."

While galore parents mightiness beryllium successful favour of shortening the schoolhouse summertime vacation to 4 weeks, the aforesaid study by Parentkind recovered that lone 24% of teachers supported the idea.

BBC News contacted the 2 largest commercialized unions representing teachers successful England - the NEA and NASUWT - for comment.

The Department for Education says it understands the schoolhouse holidays tin beryllium "a tricky clip for galore parents" and, to assistance those from disadvantaged backgrounds, has committed implicit £600m to the Holiday Activities and Food Programme.

It says it has besides provided discounts connected attractions and meals for families, arsenic good arsenic £13m "to assistance section councils connection much childcare places".

It adds: "Local authorities and academies acceptable their ain word dates, not the government, truthful they already person the flexibility to alteration the magnitude of holidays if that is thing teachers and parents want."

Addressing the contented of schoolhouse holidays again earlier this year, Sir Martyn told the FT, external: "I deliberation determination is simply a request to person a bully aged look astatine it but the bushed of nine has been built and trained truthful overmuch astir this that unpicking it is massively hard and hard for sure."

With Bain's acquisition arsenic a teacher and foster mum, she tin spot some sides.

"Six weeks is bully successful the summertime but I truly bash deliberation now, with the upwind changing and our schools not being equipped for blistery days, six weeks is simply a agelong time."

Additional reporting by Alix Hattenstone.