Contact: Melanie Saunders, Extended Learning Manager, 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 2008/2009.

2 Recommendations

2.1 That the school term and holiday dates as set out in Appendix 1, be approved for the school year 2008/2009.

3 Reason

3.1 Establishing more balanced term lengths with regular breaks supports Aim 1 of the corporate strategy, maximising wellbeing, by helping schools and families to plan learning more effectively. Aim 2, Hampshire, safer and more secure for all, 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.

3.2 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.

4 Background

4.1 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.

4.2 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.

4.3 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.

4.4 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.

5 The current position

5.1 The attached pattern of term and holiday dates for 2008/2009 (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.

5.2 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.

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

5.4 The school year 2008/2009 is a relatively straightforward year to schedule as the position of Easter in mid April does not generate the extremes of term length which a very early or very late Easter causes with the attendant planning difficulties for schools. It is therefore unnecessary to separate the Easter weekend from the two week spring holiday as is the case in the 2007/2008 scheduling.

5.5 The position of the late May bank-holiday continues to be an impediment to balanced term lengths and again results in a long final session to the year. A number of respondents to the consultation commented upon the desirability of moving this bank holiday to early June as in the Jubilee year, 2002. Hampshire County Council has raised this with the LGA on a number of occasions but unilateral movement of the May half-term break is not a possibility due to the scheduling of public examinations.

6 Other options

6.1 Two other options were considered.

(i) To finish the school year earlier in the week beginning 20 July 2009 by starting on 1 September 2008. This was not in line with the agreed principles for setting the school year which recommend that in any split week, the larger part is in school to reduce the risk of truancy.

(ii) To schedule a more radical pattern in which the weekend of the Whitsun bank holiday (25 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 Consultation

7.1 The pattern of term and holiday dates in Appendix 1 was sent to schools on 30 October 2006 with responses due by 19 January 2007. The Hampshire model of term and holiday dates is the same as the 190 day LGA recommended model, except that it schedules five of the days identified for local flexibility as part of the 195 day school year for Hampshire.

7.2 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.

7.3 Out of 527 schools, 100 responded to the consultation, just under 19%. Of these, 85 (85%), were in support of the move towards a national agreement and the Hampshire model which represents that. Three colleges also responded to the consultation in favour of the suggested model.

7.4 Of the 86 primary schools which responded, 75 agreed with the Hampshire model. Eight secondary schools responded of which five were in favour of the Hampshire model. Six special schools responded to the consultation, five of which approved the Hampshire pattern of term and holiday dates. Comments were received from 25 of the respondents of which 11 primary schools, one special school and 2 secondary schools did not approve of the Hampshire model and suggested the move of May half term to the first week of June. One secondary school suggested a radical re-think of term and holiday dates and a move towards a five-term year.

7.5 In summary, of 103 replies received, 88 (85%) were in favour of the Hampshire model and did not comment, 15 raised objections to the proposal through commenting.

8 Legal implications

8.1 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.

9 Financial Implications

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

10 Personnel implications

10.1 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.

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 Crime prevention issues

12.1 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.

13 Views of the local County Councillor

13.1 The views of County Councillors have not been sought.

14 Conclusion

14.1 The school year 2008/2009 is less contentious than previous years due to the occurrence of Easter in the middle of April which means that the County Council commitment to establish regular term lengths can be delivered without the separation of the Easter weekend. In addition, the early publication of a recommended national pattern makes this a more straightforward consultation process which seeks agreement on a proposed model. The response rate from schools was slightly higher this year and approval of the model by 85% of respondents represents a clear endorsement of this scheduling pattern for 2008/2009.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

List documents here or type `none'.

None.