Decision details

To agree the School Term and Holiday Dates for the 2015-16 Academic Year

(1) To NOTE that the majority of local schools and academies can already set their own term and holiday dates, by virtue of being an Academy, Voluntary Aided or Foundation School and that the Deregulation Bill currently before parliament proposes to allow every school to set their own dates;

(2) To RECOMMEND the Council’s preferred calendar of School Term and Holiday dates for the academic year 2015-16 based on a 190 day calendar (as set out in Appendix A) to all schools and academies in order to maximise consistency of dates for the benefit of children and their parents;

(3) To RECOMMEND to all school and academy governing bodies that good practice would be to consult parents and take account of their views in the event that they propose any variation from the recommended calendar; and

(4) To RECOMMEND, since a number of schools and academies have already indicated that they may still prefer to set a 195 day calendar, that in this event such schools adopt the 195 day calendar (at Appendix B), which most logically fits with the Council’s recommended 190 day calendar.

The two sets of dates recommended in this report ensure where possible terms are of equal length which improves learning opportunities for children and young people.

To set a 190 and 195 day calendar where the two week holiday at the end of Term 4 follows on immediately from the Easter Monday holiday. This however would lead to terms 4 and 5 being of unequal length.