Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. In the light of responses to consultation, this report seeks a decision on the pattern of school terms and holiday dates in 2010/2011.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. The proposed pattern of school terms and holiday dates in 2010/2011 to be followed by Hampshire's community and voluntary controlled schools.

2.2. The outcomes of the consultation carried out with schools is summarised.

3) Recommendations:

3.1. That the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) considers the summary of the consultation responses and approves the school term and holiday dates as set out in Appendix 2, for the school year 2010/2011.

MAIN REPORT

1) Purpose of the Report:

1.1. To inform the Executive Lead Member on the consultation carried out with schools regarding the pattern of term and holiday dates for the school year 2010/2011and to seek his decision on which of the proposed models should be adopted in Hampshire's community and voluntary controlled schools.

2) Background:

2.1. 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.

2.2. 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.

2.3. 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.

2.4. Hampshire teachers' professional associations, represented by the Conditions of Service Working Party (CoSWoP), 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.

2.5. 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.

2.6. 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) Outline of Proposals being Consulted Upon:

3.1. That the Executive Lead Member approve the school year model approved by HCC and CoSWoP (as in Appendix 2). This model received majority support during the consultation process.

4) The Current Position:

4.1. Unlike in previous years, HCC and CoSWoP representatives felt unable to recommend emulating the pattern of term and holiday dates for 2010/2011 recommended by the LGA. The LGA Standing Committee on the School Year recommended a schedule of term and holiday dates which is contrary to one of the main principles agreed between the County Council and CoSWoP, namely the provision of two full weeks holiday at Christmas. The LGA proposal is included as Appendix 1. (Please note that the proposal schedules 195 days; each school can identify five days from within those to use for in service training).

4.2. CoSWoP and the County Council have been keen to agree dates on which to consult schools that follow the nationally approved pattern. This is to avoid establishing a preference for dates which do not comply either with County Council policy or with the recommendations of teacher professional associations. However, as the LGA 2010/2011 proposal did not have the agreement of one of the main teacher professional associations, it was considered appropriate for HCC and CoSWoP to propose an alternative schedule.

4.3. Any proposal of term and holiday dates, either by LGA or HCC, may not be the same as in neighbouring authorities who might also choose to disregard the recommendations of the LGA. Discussions with neighbouring authorities are ongoing.

4.4. The Hampshire CoSWoP proposes another pattern of dates, presented in Appendix 2, that offers two full weeks at Christmas. The key features of each of the models are:

· The LGA model proposes a 12 day (inc. two weekends) Christmas break starting on Thursday 23 December. The last school day in the summer term is 22 July.

· The HCC/CoSWoP model proposes two full weeks (16 days inc three weekends) Christmas break beginning Saturday 18 December. The last school day in the summer term is 27 July.

It is perhaps helpful to note that Monday 3 January is a bank holiday as New Year's Day is a Saturday; both proposals start the Spring term on 4 January.

4.5. 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 consultations in recent years have 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.

5) Response to Consultation and Reasoning:

5.1. The two proposed patterns of term and holiday dates were sent to schools on 9 September 2008 with responses due by 8 December 2008. Schools were invited to comment on the proposals pattern of term and holiday dates and to identify their school's preferred model.

5.2. Out of 530 schools, 234 responded to the consultation, just less than 47%. Two colleges and seven independent schools also responded to the consultation, eight of this latter nine organisations preferred the HCC/CoSWoP proposed model.

5.3. Of the 207 primary schools responses, 157 (76%) agreed with the Hampshire model. Twenty seven secondary schools responded of which 22 were in favour of the HCC/CoSWoP model. Seven special schools responded to the consultation, six of which approved the Hampshire pattern of term and holiday dates.

5.4. Comments, both supporting and opposing the proposed dates, were received from 12 of the respondents comprising 10 primary schools, one special school and one secondary school. These are summarised in Appendix 3.

5.5. In summary, of 234 Hampshire school replies received, 178 (76%) were in favour of the HCC/CoSWoP model of term and holiday dates for 2010/2011. The most frequent comment (three respondents) related to the need to achieve conformity of dates across local authority borders.

5.6. Neighbouring authorities are also consulting on their school year and are aware of the Hampshire consultation process. Different timescales apply across the various authorities.

6) Impact Issues:

The following issues have been identified as potential impact issues the County Council would need to be aware of if it were asked to implement the proposals in this paper:

6.1. 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.

7) Risk Issues:

The following have been identified as possible risk issues for the County Council to consider if it were asked to implement the proposals in this paper:

8) Conclusions:

8.1. The pattern of the terms for the school year 2010/2011 is more straightforward than in previous years but the length of the Christmas break caused this unusual departure from recent practise of HCC recommending the LGA proposal. The consultation with schools asked them to identify their preferred model; the response rate of 47% (234 schools) showed 76% (176 schools) of respondents preferred the HCC/CoSWoP proposal as presented in appendix 2.

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.

9) Summary Recommendations:

9.1. That the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services (Education) considers the summary of the consultation responses and approves the school term and holiday dates as set out in Appendix 2, for the school year 2010/2011.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION: