MADAM, Exhausted at the end of the long school break? Well, make the most of this past school year.

For those who haven't seen the holiday schedules for this coming year, the October half term increases from one week to an inexplicable one week and two days.

And for those who thought this summer was a long ordeal trying to keep the kids occupied, summer 2004 holiday period runs for 51 days, up six days on this year.

Why 2003/4 has been such a problem to schedule is not clear, but at a time when we are supposed to be considering shorter, more frequent holiday breaks, this step in the opposite direction seems very strange.

In creating these schedules, it would be very interesting to understand the reasoning behind the school holiday decisions and to what extent consideration is given to the parents/carers who have to make provision (often at some considerable cost) for the care of the children, especially given the limitations imposed by work commitments.

How do the authorities expect the 51 days holiday of summer 2004 to be catered for?

It does appear that year 2004/5 does return to a slightly more predictable schedule.

ROBERT LEIVERS,

Yarpole, Leominster.