Nursery World - View Point (1)

By Anne Longfield, chief executive of Kids' Clubs Network As every working parent with school age children knows, the summer school holidays are almost upon us. Long able to instil a sense of fear and forboding, the summer break from school can often signify six weeks of juggling childcare and work, favours from relatives - and for some parents, worry.

As every working parent with school age children knows, the summer school holidays are almost upon us. Long able to instil a sense of fear and forboding, the summer break from school can often signify six weeks of juggling childcare and work, favours from relatives - and for some parents, worry.

The number of holiday playschemes has increased markedly over recent years as out-of-school provision has itself grown. Yet it is often not the first priority of the developing club which will often wait until its term-time provision is established before it is ready to take on the extension to full daycare during holidays. For this reason, there is still a huge excess of demand for holiday provision - and this year, again, many parents will be weaving together a complex patchwork of visits to friends and relatives.

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