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

Image source, Natalie Heptinstall Image caption, Mum Natalie thinks a shorter school summer holiday would help parents save money By George Sandeman Published 2 minutes ago Last summer, Natalie Heptinstall took a break from work and spent all of August with her eight-year-old daughter. It meant she could stay at home and enjoy the school summer holiday with her youngest child, something she hadn't been able to do with her two older kids. To take time off work, Heptinstall, 52, saved up some money and exercised her right to unpaid parental leave , external - which entitles parents to take up to 18 weeks' leave to look after their child's welfare up to their 18th birthday. Like many parents, Heptinstall and her husband previously managed with a combination of organised childcare and annual leave to look after their older kids, who have now grown up and left home. "I always remember the guilt attached to that, feeling like I was sort of farming them off somewhere rather than spending time with them," says Heptinstall. 'It's a juggling exercise' This month, parents across England have been gearing up for the start of the summer holiday, but Heptinstall believes it should be shorter - perhaps reduced from six weeks to four. For many parents, this would make it easier to fit summer childcare around their jobs - and the reduced break would mean moving the remaining two weeks to another point in the school year, outside of the peak tourist season. "It's always a bit of a juggling exercise," says Heptinstall, and others like her appear to agree. Of about 5,800 parents in the UK surveyed by the charity Parentkind last year, just over half (53%) said the school summer holiday should be shortened to four weeks. Experts say a shorter break would help children maintain a sense of structure that would make it easier to continue learning once the new school year starts. Sir Martyn Oliver, head of education standards body Ofsted, told LBC Radio , external last year that being out of school for six weeks affected pupils' ability to manage their behaviour and attention in class - something he described as "dysregulation". He said children from vulnerable or disadvantaged backgrounds were particularly affected. Image source, Jo Bain Image caption, Foster mum and retired teacher Jo says children can become stroppy when they get out of the school routine Jo Bain, a 62-year-old foster mum and retired teacher, told BBC's Your Voice that a long summer holiday meant a difficult start to the autumn term academically for many pupils who had fallen out of their usual school routine. "Most of the time, they haven't done a great deal of learning [over the summer]," she says. "They come back in September and it takes a few weeks to get them back to the same standard of work." She adds: "When children go out of their normal routine, they can become a bit stroppy." Helping students emotionally, as well as academically, is something schools now do more widely and formally than the