The council share this latest news. Ed
Approval was last night (Thursday) given to a major consultation into school term dates on the Island.
Islanders will be asked their views on options for the future, taking into account key issues such as school attendance, attainment – and the cost of family holidays.
The consultation was given the go ahead by the council’s Cabinet – and will begin on 24 November.
Change length of school holidays
Views on plans to cut the summer holidays by one or two weeks and bring in longer half terms in the autumn, spring, or both will be looked at in the review. Islanders may, however, decide they want to keep the six-week summer holiday as it is.
Cllr Paul Brading, Cabinet member for Children’s Services, said,
“This consultation will be about taking all the key issues into account and framing school term dates that really work for the Island. We understand how important it is for families to spend quality time together at the right time for them.
“It was our pledge to examine options to give families more choice over when they take their holidays, while at the same time making term lengths more even. Our unwavering aim is to further improve attendance which will then drive up educational standards so we have all our schools rated ‘good’ or better by Ofsted.
“We are committed to looking very carefully at this issue and want to hear the views of people with or without children of school age, as well as teachers, governors and others working within schools – and the tourism and wider business sectors.”
The consultation will be launched on the council’s website (from 24 November) and will run for seven weeks.
Image: Simon Haytack under CC BY 2.0
