Ffion Robinson, Headteacher at Churcher?s College Junior School and Nursery, shares why children should continue to read over the school holidays
No sooner has one school holiday ended then another is upon us.  Half term has been put to bed but before you know it, Christmas break will be here.  School holidays are a time of the year where relaxation finds respectability.
Anyone working in a school will be ready to step back from the front of the classroom to regenerate, whilst parents will be anticipating the school holiday weeks with mixed feelings.
For those who work, how to sort out the juggling act of childcare and parenting; for those who are able to do the childcare, enjoy the freedom to step off the term time treadmill.
Either way, the thought of time spent with your children reading, exploring, playing, cooking or simply talking at home enables all routines to be relaxed and family time is wholeheartedly cherished by all. We all love school holidays for these reasons but I’ve been thinking about how we use this time productively and for the benefit of everyone – child, parent and school.

As a school, we have relaxed our homework expectations during holiday periods but should your child really do nothing for school holiday weeks"!  Some downtime is essential but some ticking over is useful too.
As usual, it?s all about balance: keep some learning going but give children time to regroup. I certainly don?t advocate parents transforming into boot c...