School Terms and Holidays 2027/28 and 2028/29
Perth and Kinross Council · 16 September 2026
Back to Learning and Families Committee — 16 September 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Our vision is a Perth and Kinross where everyone can live life well, free from poverty and inequalities ___________________________________________________________________ Committee or Board: Learning and Families Committee Date of Meeting: 16 September 2026 Report Title: School Terms and Holiday Dates 2027/28 and 2028/29 Report Number: 26/248 Report Author: Karen Robertson, Service Manager (Business Services) (FBSCommittee@pkc.gov.uk) Organisational Lead: David Macluskey, Strategic Lead – Education and Learning ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this report is to set out the future school terms and holiday dates for all schools in Perth and Kinross for school sessions 2027/28 and 2028/29. This report outlines the considerations in determining these dates and consultation which has been undertaken prior to consideration by Committee. 1.2 Sections 1. Purpose 2. Recommendations 3. Background/Main Issues 4. Additional Closure Days 5. Proposals 6. Impact and Value Assessment 7. Appendices 2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Committee: 2.1 Approves the proposed schemes, as attached, as the dates for school terms and holidays for sessions 2027/28 and 2028/29. 2.2 Approves the proposals for school closure days for In-Service and Occasional Holidays.
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2.3 Notes the arrangements for additional closure days for schools, where necessary. 3. Background/Main Issues 3.1 The scheme of dates for School Terms and Holidays must comply with the statutory requirement of 190 school days for pupils and 195 school days for teaching staff. 3.2 In line with guidance from the Scottish Government, consultation was previously undertaken with local authorities with the intention of trying to bring the holiday patterns of neighbouring Councils closer together. However, preferred local patterns and local decision-making means that complete uniformity has rarely been achieved. 3.3 Prior to 2007, it had been determined the scheme of holiday dates ensured that both Good Friday and Easter Monday fell within the spring break. As Easter dates vary, this resulted in the spring break being taken at differing dates between mid-March and mid-April. 3.4 In a bid to standardise this break, other local authorities had taken decisions to ensure the spring break commences on the first Monday in April in each school session. Perth and Kinross Council Lifelong Learning Committee agreed in 2007 (Report No. 07/530 refers) that the same approach was to be adopted in Perth and Kinross from 2007 onwards. 3.5 As both Good Friday and Easter Monday are recognised public holidays for many parents and for Perth and Kinross Council staff, it was agreed that all future proposed draft schemes should continue to allow both Good Friday and Easter Monday to be school holiday dates wherever they do not fall into the standard spring break. Not all local authorities continue to allow both Good Friday and Easter Monday to be school holiday dates where they fall outwith the spring break. However, it should be noted that where it has been the case that Good Friday and Easter Monday has fallen outwith the spring break, it has not been positively received by many parents and staff to split these as separate holidays. 3.6 The Committee will wish to note that both Good Friday and Easter Monday in 2028 and 2029 fall within the proposed spring break each year and will be designated school holidays. 3.7 As a result of further consultation undertaken in 2008, it was agreed that from 2010, the October break should commence the 2nd week in October. Perth and Kinross Council Lifelong Learning Committee subsequently agreed this pattern of dates for the October break to be effective from October 2010 onwards (Report No. 08/401 refers). This provided Perth and Kinross with a standard pattern of dates each year.
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3.8 The established pattern of dates provides operational and logistical benefits in addition to better balancing the Autumn and Winter terms. The consultation undertaken had identified concerns from headteachers regarding the previous patterns of dates with the impact on the interruption to pupils’ learning with the October break taking place so close to the schools returning in August and the Autumn and Winter terms being unevenly balanced. 3.9 The previous pattern of In-Service days which had operated for a number of years provided no In-Service day in Term 4, thus not providing an In-Service day between February and August. Following feedback from headteachers, it was agreed in 2022 to amend the pattern of In-Service days to ensure an In-Service day takes place in Term 4. Feedback on the proposed dates for 2027/28 and 2028/29 has indicated a strong preference to revert to having two In-Service days in August. The pattern of In-Service days for 2027/28 and 2028/29 reflects this and will operate with two In-Service days in Term 1 and one In-Service day in Term 2, Term 3 and Term 4. 3.10 There are several challenges and considerations which require to be addressed in the setting of the In-Service day in Term 4. Whilst many schools prefer this to be taken at the end of the Easter holidays, this causes difficulties for secondary school staff in respect of Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) examination preparations. Additionally, serious consideration requires to be given to the timing of the SQA timetable and the requirement for pupils to be able to attend schools for examinations, as school transport does not operate on In-Service days. Therefore, the pattern of In-Service days for 2027/28 and 2028/29 reflects this. 3.11 The historical lunchtime finish at Christmas and Summer has been raised as an issue in other local authorities as this does not fulfil the statutory requirement for pupils to have 190 full days in school or for teachers to fulfil their contractual 195 full days where schools close at lunchtime on a full school day. Other local authorities have resolved this matter by bringing an end to the lunchtime closure. The consultation sought views on allowing the lunchtime closure to continue whilst still ensuring our statutory requirements where the lunchtime closure could be continued by these being counted as half days and not full days. The feedback on the proposed dates indicated a strong preference to end the lunchtime closures, thus ensuring that an additional day was not removed from the Summer break to accommodate two half days. 3.12 In response to feedback regarding the length of the Spring Term and the impact that has on pupils, it is proposed to extend the Mid-Term break from 3 days to a full week for pupils. This was generally positively received during the consultation. However, feedback from staff was that this should also be a full week for staff, where possible, but this should not result in a reduction to the Summer break which should continue to provide 6 full weeks holiday. Therefore, the Mid-Term break will operate as one In-Service day and 4 holiday days. To facilitate this without impacting the Summer break, the May Day public holiday will no longer be taken as a school holiday.
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3.13 In the past, significant issues have arisen for parents and staff where there was no commonality or any overlap between neighbouring local authorities in setting the holiday dates. This had resulted in teaching staff living and working in different authority areas having completely different holidays to their own children and the same for parents who live and work in different authorities. A number of children attend schools in neighbouring authorities, particularly at secondary school, which left parents having primary and secondary children with different holiday dates depending on where they attended school. This presented both parents and staff with significant childcare issues in addition to the difficulties of organising family holidays. Operationally, shared school transport and school day only service buses can also be affected by different authority holiday dates. 3.14 The proposed scheme of dates for sessions 2027/28 and 2028/29 continues to reflect and address these issues as best they can and these are shown as Appendix 1 and Appendix 2. Attached at Appendix 3 and Appendix 4 is the comparison of holiday dates for all neighbouring local authorities, where these are known. 3.15 Perth and Kinross Council’s pattern of holiday dates provides a level of commonality with our neighbouring Councils, in particular Dundee, Angus and Fife which provides operational and logistical benefits, and certainty for parents and staff regarding the timing of the school terms and holiday dates. 4. Additional Closure Days 4.1 The Committee should note that it may be necessary to include additional closure days for additional In-Service days or additional Public Holidays instructed by the Scottish Government. It may also be necessary to include additional closure days in particular schools to facilitate school moves and decant arrangements. These are organised on an individual basis dependant on the needs of the school(s) involved. 4.2 Additional closure days may be organised in accordance with the terms of the powers available under section 133 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, where Scottish Ministers are content to allow exceptional school closures. The Strategic Lead - Education and Learning will seek approval from the Scottish Government on a case by case basis as required and notify parents etc as appropriate. All other appropriate management arrangements will be considered prior to seeking Scottish Government approval for additional closure days. 5. Proposals 5.1 The scheme of dates for School Terms and Holidays is considered by the Learning and Families Committee following consultation with Perth and Kinross Council Education and Learning Senior Management Team, Trade Unions, Headteachers and Business Managers. The draft proposals have also been considered by the Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff (JNCT).
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5.2 It is proposed to agree the school terms and holidays for 2027/28 and 2028/29. This allows notification of school terms and holidays to assist in forward planning of family holidays for parents and staff. This proposal also assists in the forward planning and notification of In-Service Training days to staff and parents. 5.3 The Perth and Kinross Council Education and Learning service will provide schools with guidance and clarity regarding the purpose and content of the 5 In-Service days, ensuring that schools are aware of the expectations of how these days are to be planned and will be used. 6. Impact and Value Assessment 6.1 This report has been classified as being an operational report and as such does not require a further full Impact Value Assessment. 7. Appendices 7.1 Appendix 1 - School Terms and Holidays 2027/28 7.2 Appendix 2 - School Terms and Holidays 2028/29 7.3 Appendix 3 - Holiday Dates Across Local Authorities 2027/28 7.4 Appendix 4 - Holiday Dates Across Local Authorities 2028/29