School Term and Holiday Dates 2007/08

The school term and holiday dates for the 2007/08 school year are now published and can be accessed by clicking here.

The dates have been set following discussions with other eastern region LAs, the JCC Teachers' Panel, the Service Improvement Group and the Diocesan Boards of Education.

The dates are very similar to those adopted by most of the other eastern region LAs. For example, the dates of the Christmas, Easter and the half-term holiday periods are the same as those adopted by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.

The first day of the Autumn, and Summer terms are identified as set training days. The third training day which has previously been set as the first day of the Spring term, is to be set locally by clusters of schools or in localities. Consideration must be given to the implications for school transport arrangements when setting the third training day. The intention is that this will help towards problems previously experienced by schools in getting trainers on the fixed training days. The two remaining staff development days are to be set by the school as disaggregated, equivalent amount of time in after-school sessions or set during pupils' holiday periods.

The advantages and disadvantages of this pattern have been considered and it has been concluded that on the whole the pattern has worked well. It was felt that 'twilight sessions' give teachers opportunities for self-managed development and also provide the opportunity for training to be targeted at individuals, meaning that all staff do not have to be present at the same time. It was also felt that the arrangement provided more certainty for parents about holiday dates and was particularly helpful to parents with children at different schools and for school staff with childcare responsibilities.