Cheshire schoolchilden to share holidays (From Winsford Guardian)

Cheshire schoolchilden to share holidays

1:30pm Thursday 26th July 2012 in News By Gina Bebbington

SCHOOLS across west Cheshire will all share the same holiday times from September next year.

The area’s term dates will also be aligned with neighbouring boroughs, including east Cheshire, Wirral, Halton and Warrington.

The move comes after 2,000 people joined in a public consultation and 77 per cent said community and voluntary controlled schools should adopt a standardised holiday pattern.

Clr Mark Stocks, Cheshire West and Chester Council’s executive member for children and families, said: “Although we were aware of the difficulties differing term dates were causing, it was essential that schools, families and the wider community had their say before a decision was taken to adopt a standardised pattern.

“The response showedoverwhelming support for the proposal, with many commenting that it would help schools and families to plan ahead.

“We are sharing the feedback with neighbouring authorities so that we can explore ways to further develop the standardised pattern.”

Under the changes, October half term will fall in the last full week of the month and February half term will be the third week in February.

Easter break will be replaced with a fixed holiday at the beginning of April and known as spring break, with Easter continuing to be observed through the Good Friday and Easter Monday bank holidays.

The Whitsun half term break, which some primary schools extend to two weeks if Easter falls early, will be fixed at one week.

Where a school is open for part of a week for any reason, this will be for a minimum of three days to encourage good attendance.

Although not required to follow term dates set by the authority, foundation, voluntary aided schools and academies will be encouraged to follow the new calendar where possible.