10 year old wants to reduce time at dad's

[MsColouring]

Ex and I have a court order with contact every other weekend and half the holidays. In the summer holidays, the children usually have a two week block at their dad's. After last summer holidays, my dd who is 10 said she really missed me and would prefer only a week at her dad's. Where do I stand on this legally? She will 11 by next summer which is close to the age recognised by the courts for a child's wishes to be considered. I have a ds who is 7 also.

The best place to start would be mediation. Would she be happier with two blocks of one week?

There is no such age, every child's wishes are considered.

The older a child gets, the more weight will be given to those wishes, but 11 year olds aren't generally allowed to call the shots. I suspect that a judge faced with this situation might be inclined to say "tough" to her, after all, a year is a long time in her life, and a judge might expect that with time, and gentle encouragement, she'll come round by next summer.

If her dad will agree a change in mediation, well and good, but I'm not sure I'd advise you to take it back to ciurt (which you must do if there's no agreement.)