Contact: Melanie Saunders, Education Officer (Secondary/Post-16), telephone 01962 846364, e-mail: m[email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 In the light of responses to consultation, this report seeks a decision on the pattern of school terms and holiday dates in 2007/2008.

2 Reason

2.1 Establishing more balanced term lengths with regular breaks supports Aim 1 of the corporate strategy, maximising life opportunities, by helping schools and families to plan learning more effectively. Aim 4, building strong and safe communities, is supported by achieving agreement on dates across the county so that schools and their communities can work effectively together in school and out of school hours.

2.2 Achieving a proper structure to the school year contributes to all aspects of The Children Act 2004. Properly structured periods of learning and rest help children to remain healthy, enjoy their school time and achieve more. Children are safer in school and good attendance supports educational achievement laying the foundation for a positive contribution to society and economic well-being. The publication of dates well in advance enables families to plan holidays and arrange childcare so that school attendance need not be compromised.

3 Background

3.1 It is the responsibility of a local authority to schedule a school year which provides the statutory 190 pupil days and 195 teacher days. The structure for delivering this entitlement has been the subject of national and local debate in recent years.

3.2 The Local Government Association (LGA) National Standing Committee on the School Year has agreed on the implementation of a "Standard School Year" with six sessions of roughly equal length regardless of the position of Easter in the calendar.

3.3 Local authorities have always determined the dates of school terms and holidays independently and, despite attempts to secure national agreement, not all authorities have agreed to abide by the recommendations of the LGA. Liaison with neighbouring authorities is on-going and regular communication takes place on the setting of dates.

3.4 Hampshire teachers' professional associations, represented by the Conditions of Service Working Party (CoSWP), have worked closely with officers of the local authority over several years in order to secure an agreed approach to setting dates for the county's schools.

4 The current position

4.1 The attached pattern of term and holiday dates for 2007/2008 (Appendix 1) follows the pattern recommended by the LGA. The national recommendations do allow for a degree of local flexibility. Some authorities schedule the statutory 190 pupil days with schools expected to identify an additional five days from scheduled holidays for staff training. Other authorities, such as Hampshire, have agreed to schedule 195 days so that each school can identify five days from within those to use for training.

4.2 The Hampshire CoSWP supports the pattern of dates offered in Appendix 1 since it is in accordance with the dates agreed by the national executives of their professional associations as represented on the LGA standing committee. CoSWP are keen to agree dates with Hampshire County Council in order to avoid consultation which establishes a preference for dates which are unacceptable to either party.

4.3 The term and holiday dates suggested in Appendix 1 may not be the same as some neighbouring authorities who might chose to disregard the recommendations of the LGA. Discussions with neighbouring authorities are ongoing.

4.4 The school year 2007/2008 is the first year in which the Easter weekend will be separated from the two-week spring holiday. The purpose of this is to avoid the extremes of term length which a very early or very late Easter causes with the attendant planning difficulties for schools.

4.5 At the suggestion of teachers on the National Standing Committee, the LGA has chosen to separate Easter from the holiday by nearly two weeks to avoid the attendance issues predicted by a return to school of only four days between Easter Monday and the spring holiday.

5 Response to consultation with schools

5.1 The pattern of term and holiday dates in Appendix 1 was sent to schools on 6 October 2005 with responses due by 9 December 2005. The LGA 190 day model (Appendix 2) was also sent to schools to provide them with background information about the national agreement which underpins the Hampshire proposed pattern of dates. The LGA model is the same as the Hampshire model, except that it identifies five additional days as available for local flexibility rather than scheduling them as part of the 195 day school year.

5.2 Schools were invited to comment on the proposed pattern of term and holiday dates and on the move towards agreeing a national framework of dates with some local flexibility.

5.3 Out of 534 schools, 74 responded to the consultation, just under 14%. Of these, 51, just under 70%, expressed a preference for the Hampshire model. Two colleges and five other bodies also responded to the consultation.

5.4 Of the 63 primary schools which responded, 43 agreed with the Hampshire model, 11 responded by commenting and nine expressed a preference for the LGA 190 day example, although this had only been included for information. Seven secondary schools responded, of which five preferred the Hampshire model and two the LGA example. Four special schools responded of which two preferred the Hampshire model, one the LGA example and one responded with comments. The two colleges and five other organisations were all in support of the Hampshire model. The comments received either objected to the separation of Easter or felt that the Christmas holiday was too early and should be two complete weeks.

5.5 In summary, of 81 replies received, 57 (70%) were in favour of the Hampshire model and did not comment, 12 (15%) preferred the LGA example sent for information and 12 (15%) raised objections to the proposal through commenting.

6 Other options considered and rejected:

6.1 Two other options were considered.

(i) To disregard the recommendations of the LGA and schedule a traditional school year. In 2007/2008 this would result in a three week long first half to the spring term and a eight week second half. It would also disregard the in principle decision, taken in 2002 by the Cabinet of Hampshire County Council, to move to a school year based on a more even distribution of term and holiday dates, then referred to as "The Six Term Year," and previous agreements with CoSWP.

(ii) To schedule a more radical pattern in which the weekend of the Whitsun bank holiday (26 May) is separated from summer half term in addition to the separation of the Easter weekend. This would provide even better balance to the terms and create pressure for the suggested permanent move of the bank holiday to the first week in June, as in the Jubilee year. However, this does not accord with the recommendations of the LGA and would be unlikely to be replicated in our neighbouring authorities. The level of variation from previous years would be even greater and, without a nationally agreed change, this would not align with public examination dates.

7 Legal implications

7.1 All schools with the exception of foundation secondary and voluntary aided primary schools are bound to abide by local authority agreed term and holiday dates. They must provide 190 teaching days in each academic year and must select five out of the 195 days scheduled, during which they are closed to pupils for the purposes of staff training.

8 Financial Implications

8.1 There are no financial implications arising directly from this report.

9 Personnel implications

9.1 Extensive consultation with representatives of teacher professional associations has taken place. These have been with CoSWP which is part of Hampshire Teachers' Liaison Panel. Members of the national executives of these associations sit on the LGA National Standing Committee on the School Year. The pattern of term and holiday dates recommended in this report are in line with the agreement reached by the National Standing Committee and have the support of CoSWP.

10 Crime prevention issues

10.1 If the early publication of agreed term and holiday dates leads to a reduction in truancy then there the potential of a positive impact on crime and disorder. Otherwise, there are no direct implications from this report.

11 Impact Assessment

11.1 No adverse impact in regard to race, culture, gender or disability arising from this report has been identified. Parents have the right to withdraw their children from school in order to observe religious holidays. Christmas and Easter are statutory public holidays in Britain.

12 Views of the local County Councillor

12.1 The views of County Councillors have not been sought.

Recommendations

1 That the school term and holiday dates as set out in Appendix 1, be approved for the school year 2007/2008

Approved by: Date:

Councillor D A Kirk

Executive Member for Education