SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

That this House notes that across the country, parents will be preparing for the long summer school holiday by arranging and paying for additional childcare required as a result of having a long holiday block between July and September; further notes that the timing of this and some other school holidays is based on centuries-old traditions rather than the needs of children and their parents in modern Britain; further notes that children in receipt of free school meals and from other low-income households have been proven to fall behind their peers during the long summer school holiday, exacerbating the disadvantage they already experience; and therefore calls for the calendar of school holidays to be examined with a view to being amended to better serve children, young people and families.