SCHOOL HOLIDAY DATES 2026-2029 Appendix 2 - Consultation responses v2
Argyll and Bute Council · 12 December 2024
Back to Community Services Committee — 12 December 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 Appendix 2 Argyll and Bute – Education Service School Holiday Dates 2026-2029 – Consultation Responses Overview The Education Service contacted schools, trade unions and parent councils1 to request views on the proposed school holiday dates for sessions 2026-27, 2027-29 and 2028-29. During the consultation period, schools were asked to arrange a time to consult with staff and the Pupil Council and submitted a collated response for each group. Parent Councils were asked to submit a response on behalf of the parent forum for their school. The consultation period covered 38 school days and ran from 12th August 2024 to 4th October 2024. Consultees were provided with the following points that need to be taken into consideration by the Council when setting school holidays: • 365 days from the start of one session to the start of the next session • 190 attendance days for pupils • 195 attendance days for staff • October break in the 42nd week • Spring break the first 2 weeks of April • The same school holidays across all Argyll and Bute schools 1 ‘Respondent groups’ cited within this overview report refers to Parent Councils, school staff, Pupil Councils and Trade Unions.
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2 Consultation Response Data There were 112 responses to the School Holiday Consultation, these represented collated views from school staff, Parent Councils, pupil councils and Trade Unions. All geographic areas of the Council were represented in the responses gathered. Views from island communities were also identified (percentages are based on the total number of respondents from islands). Islay Jura Seil Bute Coll Easdale Gigha
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3 Respondent groups were asked if they thought the pattern of holidays that have been in place for the last three years should continue. A significant number of responses, particularly those representing Parent Councils, indicated a satisfaction with the current holiday pattern and advocate for its continuation. A majority of responses (56.3%) agreed that this pattern of holidays should continue. The breakdown of responses by consultee group: Parent Council – 17 yes, 11 no Pupil Council - 15 yes, 12 no School Staff – 29 yes, 25 no Trade Union – 2 yes, 1 no
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4 Respondent groups, that answered ‘no’, they did not agree that the pattern of school holiday arrangements should continue, were asked to indicate which particular breaks they felt should be changed. Some school staff and Pupil Council responses suggested changes such as longer Christmas and summer breaks. Reasons for this included challenges with transport and family logistics during the festive season and aligning the start of the session with local events such as regional shows. Some respondent groups, in this ‘no’ category, indicated having shorter breaks in October and/or February could allow for the redistribution of holiday days to extend the December break or summer holiday. 43.9% indicated there should be a longer break in December, 21.1% indicated a shorter break in October and 17.5% indicated a shorter break in February.
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5 Additional feedback from consultation respondent groups fell into categories relating to; session start/end dates, December break and alternative holiday options. These responses are detailed below: Session start/end dates Respondents said: • We like that we finish the academic year in June. • Not starting the children back on a Friday or Monday. Friday doesn't give the children time to settle into school (especially children starting school) as it is the weekend after only one day so getting P1 children back into school on the Monday can be difficult without a few days run at it the week before. Also Monday start for young children is a very hard way to begin the school year, again for the young children starting P.1. It's a long and tiring week for them. Another point is working right on until 1st July. This does not reflect the majority of the other council areas who finish in June. July is very late to finish when we are back so early nowadays in August. • The inservice days in August seem to be examples of the three most unhelpful suggestions ever. I feel they should always be Monday/Tuesday or Tuesday/Wednesday allowing for a shorter in school week for pupils and a full break including a full weekend for staff • Summer starting on 1st July is too late. • Islay show is always on the second Thursday of August - avoid returning by then. • Islay, Jura and Colonsay Annual Agricultural show clashes with the inservice days in 2026 and 2027 . This will impact on staffing as the majority of people attend. • Reopening on a Friday after summer break seems illogical - consensus with parents is that due to travel logistics, children are more likely to be kept off school that day and families return home over the weekend. • Avoid children starting back on a Monday after summer holidays. • Add days to end of summer to accommodate Regional Shows, 2nd week in August • Working in July is disappointing. Could this not be reviewed. • longer summer break, 2026/27 - alter Friday return for children/young people in August 2026 (implications for islands/hostels) • reconsider Friday 11th August and Monday 14th August 2028 In-service Days as this breaks up two weeks for staff;
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6 December break Respondents said: • We would also prefer the December break to finish on a Friday and come back on a Monday. • Finishing on the 21st December. • Change Christmas so that there are two full weeks off, Mon - Fri, which gives 3 weekends rather than 2. • Close for Christmas one or two days earlier and return one or two days earlier afterwards. Closing on 23rd makes it very difficult for families to get away - we have two ferries to contend with in winter weather, and travelling on Christmas Eve is never recommended. As a result, children often don't attend the last day or two and teachers can not get away to visit family. • Some consideration given to the last day at December/Jan holiday being 23rd December. Many of our island staff visit family on the mainland via ferry or flight. This will cause disruption with many staff having to travel on Christmas eve. Staff suggestion to finish on Tues 22nd and return a day earlier. • Finish a few days earlier at Christmas. • Longer break in December/January. • closing on the 23rd December in 2026/27 and 2027/28 is too close to Christmas • alter Christmas Holidays in 2028/29 as Thursday 4th January 2029 is too early for return to work • Ensure terms end on Fridays and start back on Mondays as far as possible – especially after Christmas where proposal shows they’re due to start back on Wed/Thurs/Fri. Could take some days from the Feb half term (turning the half term into a long weekend) to enable this if necessary (e.g. when Christmas holiday has to start on a Thurs/Fri). Alternative holiday options Respondents said: • Spring break and Easter in 2026/27 should be together. Spring break should be earlier to accommodate this year's early Easter. • We would prefer the February holiday to be later in the month, to break up the term. • shorter break in October • Having only one week in October would eliminate the later finish in July and also reinstate the early September weekend and the May day holiday.
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7 • February break only 4 weeks after January start is too soon • Shorter break in February • Move the February break to be equidistant from Dec/Jan and April breaks. • Move Feb break to split the term more evenly. • Bring pupils back earlier from the Spring Break so they still only get the same number of days. • On years where extra days are needed to ensure schools don't start back on a Thurs/Fri, move days from Feb half term • Island-specific holidays need to be reinstated to an extent: our children are involved in the Jura Music Festival at the end of September, and are all really tired on the Monday afterwards. Please consider taking a day from the summer holiday (or elsewhere) and moving it to the last Monday in September. • September weekend, early May holiday and an earlier finish for Summer reinstated. • Some pupils suggest a longer summer and a shorter October break • Add extra days to the May long weekend and make a whole week Recommendation The feedback from the consultation highlights a majority view of respondent groups reporting a satisfaction with the current school holiday pattern. Further to this, the diverse views and feedback provided through the consultation was considered along with the points that must be taken into consideration when setting school holiday dates; • 365 days from the start of one session to the start of the next session • 190 attendance days for pupils • 195 attendance days for staff • October break in the 42nd week • Spring break the first 2 weeks of April • The same school holidays across all Argyll and Bute schools
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8 The variety of views represented within the consultation have been collected and analysed but making any significant changes to the suggested school holiday dates, as consulted on, would be inconsistent with the majority of respondents’ views of satisfaction with the current pattern of school holidays. The Education Service working in collaboration with the EIS union, which represents over 800 teachers across Argyll and Bute, agreed to some amendments to the school holiday dates as consulted on. The EIS proposed a small number of changes to teacher in-service dates and pupil holiday dates for session 2026/2027 these are detailed below. It was agreed that further changes to in- service and holiday dates were limited due to the way calendar dates fell on particular years and the specific requirements the Education Service needs to adhere to (as detailed above). Additionally, the Education Service had proposed changes to the December break in 2026 and 2027, recognising the views from our island communities regarding travel constraints at this time of year, which was agreed to by the EIS. The suggested changes proposed by the EIS are: 1. Change to the teacher in-service dates and school opening date for August 2026. This change was proposed by the EIS to address the fact that pupils would be returning to begin the school session on a Friday. It was noted that a Friday return makes travel challenging for those pupils travelling from islands. The EIS felt that it was important that the start date of the school session was not a barrier to pupils attending in person at school. In order to change to the start date of the school term it makes it necessary to add a day to the end of the school term to stay within the thresholds of 190 days of pupil attendance and 195 days of staff attendance. The EIS has noted that staff prefer to end a session in June but it was felt the balance of views of members was to have a change to the beginning of the term with the trade-off of a July 2nd closure date. The proposed changes are identified in yellow in the table below:
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9 Teacher in-service dates and school opening/closing 2026/2027 Dates identified in the school holiday date consultation Proposed dates Teacher in-service days Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th August 2026 Teacher in-service days Thursday 13th August and Friday 14th August 2026 Schools open Friday 14th August Schools open Monday 17th August Schools close Thursday 1st July Schools close Friday 2nd July 2. Change to December break in 2026 and 2027. The EIS was in support of the proposed changes by the Education Service to the dates of the December break in 2026 and 2027, recognising the feedback from our island communities regarding travel at this time of year. There was a request by the EIS that schools did not return earlier than January 5th. The proposed changes are identified in yellow in the table below: Dates identified in the school holiday date consultation Proposed dates December break 2026 Close Wed 23rd December Open Wed 6th January Close Tues 22nd December open Tues 5th January December break 2027 Close Thursday 23rd December Open Thursday 6th January close Wednesday 22nd December open Wednesday 5th January S. McAdam November 2024