Prep school opens 48 weeks a year, with holidays any time

A PREP school has decided to open for 48 weeks a year, with parents able to take their children away on holiday at any time.

In an attempt to attract parents to register their children, Shrewsbury Prepatoria, a small school in Shropshire for children aged four to seven, is scrapping the traditional school term and opening virtually all year round.

The school said the three-term structure was “no longer necessary” as it “doesn’t fit in with family life”. Teaching would take place at a slower rate, with topics revisited at various points so if children are on holiday they will not miss out.

“Family holidays taken outside of school terms are expensive so we’ve arranged for our families to take up to nine weeks annual leave without penalty at any time of the year,” the school says on its website, adding: “Imagine the savings you could make”.

Shrewsbury Prepatoria goes on to say that parents “can forget about the need for expensive holiday clubs”, adding that school fees of £6,540 a year will save parents thousands in child care. Taking term-time holidays is illegal at state schools, and parents can be fined by local authorities for “unauthorised” absences.

However, families with children at private schools can go on holiday during term time without fear of fines.

Jane Smalley, the school’s founder and head teacher, told The Times: “Who realistically – except for teachers – actually receives 13 weeks holiday

‘We’ve arranged for families to take up to nine weeks annual leave – imagine the savings you could make’

per year? Certainly not our parents. We knew that there were strong levels of parental demand for an alternative approach to schooling in the local area.

“What parents coming to us have so strongly embraced is a combination of the educational philosophy that we offer, the family-centric ethos of the school, the quality of our teaching and, of course, the flexibility to holiday as a family at a time to suit them.”