Council proposes to standardise school holidays

Cllr Hilda Gaddum

Cheshire East Council are holding a public consultation as they consider standardising school term dates.

The Council are proposing that in future all terms will start on a Monday (or Tuesday if a Bank Holiday precedes this date) and where a school is only open for part of a week this will be for a minimum of three school days, to encourage attendance.

They are also proposing that the October half term will always be the last full week of that month, February half-term will always be the third full week in that month and the Whitsun half term break will be one week.

At the moment primary schools have the option of having an additional week's holiday at Whitsun and this year 35 out of 123 primary schools in Cheshire East have exercised that option.

In addition the Easter Break, renamed Spring break, will always be in the first two full weeks of April, with the Good Friday and Easter Monday Bank Holidays remaining, and the Christmas and New Year break will continue to be the same.

The Council are recommending that these proposals are introduced for the academic year 2012/13 to provide a more even pattern of teaching and learning throughout the year, to assist in improving patterns of attendance and to improve consistency with schools in neighbouring authorities.

Cheshire East Council is responsible for setting school term dates for the majority of schools in the area but can only recommend them for Foundation, Aided and Academy schools.

Councillor Gaddum, Cabinet member for children and families, said "This authority is aware that differing school term dates cause all manner of problems for parents, teachers and the wider community.

"The consultation is proposing we bring transparency and clarity to the school term dates. Cheshire East's school term dates are somewhat different to that of neighbouring authorities – we are proposing a standardised holiday pattern to avoid frustration and annoyance in the future.

"The consultation into standardising school term dates is proposing the alignment of school term dates across Cheshire East and with other authorities in the Learn Together Partnership (LTP)."

The LPT is made up of Cheshire East Council, Cheshire West and Chester Council, Wirral Council, Liverpool City Council, Sefton Council, Knowlsley Council, St Helens Council, Warrington Borough Council and Halton Borough Council.

Councillor Gaddum added: "Adopting the principles of the LTP would include the removal of the current two-week break for Whitsun. I am aware this would have an impact on some parents and I am interested to hear their views on this proposal."

The consultation will run from March 25th to May 20th, at the same time as a public consultation on changes to home to school transport and complex and special needs transport, to give parents and interested parties the opportunity to comment on all the proposals at the same time.

Anyone who is interested in these issues is encouraged to attend one of the four drop-in events that are being organised. Residents can attend at any point during the session and Council staff will be on hand to answer questions and record feedback on both topics.

The drop-in events are as follows:

  • Tuesday, April 5 – Assembly Room, Macclesfield Town Hall – 2pm to 4pm and 5pm to 8pm
  • Thursday, April 7 – Alexandra Suite, Crewe Alexandra FC – 2pm to 4pm and 5pm to 8pm
  • Wednesday, April 13 – Middlewich Community Church – 2pm to 4pm and 5pm to 8pm
  • Thursday, April 14 – Main Hall, New Life Church Congleton – 4pm to 7pm.

Director of children and family services Lorraine Butcher said: "I would encourage as many people as possible to attend these drop-in events to ask questions and make their feelings known.

"These proposals will affect a lot of people and it is important to stress that no decisions have yet been made and any final outcomes will only come as a result of the feedback we receive during these consultations."

More information on the two consultations, and an online questionnaire that can be submitted as part of each consultation, is available at www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/schools.

Photo: Councillor Hilda Gaddum.

Tags:
Cheshire East Council, Education
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