In a spin over the long school holiday

It is disappointing that the Guardian repeats the dubious assertions of Nottingham council's consultation on school terms and holidays ( Editorial , 26 July). "Cheaper holidays" is Nottingham council's populist headline, repeated four times in a two-page leaflet and reinforced with a jolly seaside theme (buckets, spades, flip-flops etc). Their spin fails to recognise the market pricing of holidays – peak periods are largely peak because they are school holidays. The council's bold assertion that this will reduce absences as fewer parents will take term-time holidays seems flawed. Hard evidence about the educational benefits to tackle a real problem in deprived areas are lost in this speculation. Does the research point to meaningful differences between a six- and four-week break? No evidence is provided within the consultation. Your reference to those "last term-time weeks when younger children are too exhausted to learn" omits the fact that the proposals mean losing half-term breaks, creating longer periods with no break. Easier child care is casually introduced as a benefit – odd given there is no change to the overall number of holiday days. Dan King Nottingham • The origin of the long summer holiday is mistakenly attributed to agrarian society. Education for all is relatively recent, so a "custom" it is definitely not, much less medieval. The long summer holiday – a worldwide occurrence – stemmed from urban society. As any teacher or pupil will confirm, the lack of air-conditioning in school buildings is not conducive to learning. Jenny Page Newton Poppleford, Devon