Parents have spoken of their frustration at changes to next year’s Easter holiday dates in Fife which could leave them out of pocket.
Jenny McKinlay was among those who had already booked a family holiday for the second week, when children will now be back at school.
Next year’s Easter break in the Kingdom was initially meant to run from Friday April 7 to Friday April 21. These dates were published on Fife Council’s website.
However, due to a potential clash with the start of the exam diet, this has been brought forward a week. This means the break will instead run from Friday March 31 to Friday April 14 2023.
These changes also bring the Easter holidays in Fife in line with schools in Tayside, all of which are off from Monday April 3 to April 14.
Parents were informed of the changes in a letter from Carrie Lindsay, executive director of education and children’s services for Fife Council, sent out this week.
“We are going to keep our booking”
Mum-of-two Jenny, from Dunfermline, had already booked a trip away for the original dates and voiced frustration at the change.
She said: “We’ve booked a week at Center Parcs for the week beginning the 17th of April which was originally the second week of the Easter holidays.
“We are going to keep our booking and still go because looking at the prices for the new dates, it will be more than double of what we paid.
“I also feel that ten months notice is not early enough attention as school holidays are available on Fife Council website for four years in advance.”
Another parent, who wished to remain anonymous, added: “It’s so frustrating getting this letter at this stage as we’d actually got a great deal for a holiday next April so we checked the calendar and booked it making sure we wouldn’t be having to take the kids out of class.
“Now we either have to change the booking and pay double the price to suit the new holiday dates, or we keep the kids off school for the week.
“I know of dozens of families in the same situation as us, and teachers too. For a lot of people it’s not just the cost of rebooking a holiday, they may now also have to pay for additional childcare thanks to the new dates as not all employers can be flexible with leave.”
Council “sorry for any inconvenience”
Head of education and children’s services Shelagh McLean said: “Our Easter holidays have had to change next year to avoid a potential clash with the start of the SQA exams for senior pupils.
“We are responding to the specific dates which are published by the SQA a year in advance of the exams.
“We’re sorry for any inconvenience this might cause but we hope that people understand the need for the change, and that we’ve let families know as early as possible.
“We’d like to reassure parents that their school will work with them on alternative arrangements if holidays are already booked and can’t be changed.”
Conversation