School holidays: Could Wales’ summer break be cut to four weeks?

School summer holidays in Wales could be reduced to just four weeks as part of a restructuring of school schedules.

The Welsh Government’s Education Secretary Jeremy Miles has ruled out reducing the break to two or three weeks or having fewer holidays.

One union said there were “many more pressing issues that need attention”.

Mr Miles said public inquiries had shown that while there was “reasonable satisfaction” with the timetable there, there was “openness” to change.

A public consultation on whether to shorten the summer holidays is due to start next academic year.

It will likely present different options for changing school attendance patterns.

A report by Beaufort Research for the government found three:

Overall, people are satisfied with the current six-week summer vacation with two weeks at Christmas, two at Easter and three-week half-time vacation, the report says.

Mr Miles said the research showed people were open to looking at how the holidays were distributed and terms were more consistent.

“Investigating opportunities for change can allow us to support curriculum planning and delivery, address disadvantage and educational inequalities, and promote learner and staff well-being,” he said.

“We now have the opportunity to examine these issues in the context of whether the current structure is truly the best system to meet these shared priorities.”

There were fears that disadvantaged students in particular would lose progress during the long summer break.

Some have argued that adding bank holidays at other times of the year would help refresh staff and students.

The report for the government showed that students preferred the longer break, and the researchers said more work was needed on the impact of changing exam schedules.

Concerns in the tourism industry that shortening the summer break would have “serious consequences” for an important sector of the economy should also be dispelled, it said.

Headmaster representatives ask why the minister wants to push reforms in the face of research that shows “no great appetite” for change.

Eithne Hughes, director of the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru, said there were “many more pressing issues” such as funding the teacher shortage, post-pandemic education recovery and the rollout of a new curriculum.

“There would need to be very clear pedagogical merits to justify such a major upheaval and such a large amount of time and energy, and it is imperative that detailed evidence is presented along with all proposals,” she said.

Welcoming the consultation, Clive Williams, headmaster at Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth in Ceredigion, said long school holidays could present a challenge for some parents and children.

“Having this long summer break of six or possibly seven weeks can be a very difficult situation for some of them,” he said.

“I think there’s a general consensus that some kids would be safer and feel more supported in school.”

He said there seemed to be a consensus among some of his staff on an extended summer break, although some had suggested taking a week out of the summer break and inserting it into the autumn break.

Dollie, a Ysgol Gymraeg 6th grade student, said: “I like long holidays but sometimes it’s difficult because you don’t see your friends during the holidays and sometimes you want to be at school.”

Her classmate Gruffydd added: “I think it’s working well at the moment. There is enough time in the summer to do what you want, but it would be nice to get more holiday time at Christmas.”

Cymru director of school leaders’ union NAHT Laura Doel questioned the transparency of the report, claiming the questions would advance a Welsh Government agenda.

She said: “Those who identified the current arrangements as their preference were presented with a range of alternative options, with no choice to maintain the status quo. The key question is how changing term times would improve student outcomes. This remains unanswered.”

Ms Doel said the evidence available showed that countries with longer summer breaks than Wales had higher levels of performance.

NEW Cymru said the majority of its members are concerned about the plans.

Welsh Secretary David Evans said: “We believe it is really important for the Welsh Government to speak to education staff about their concerns.

“This is an extremely challenging time for everyone in education – we are still on a Covid hiatus, we have the new curriculum from September and the first exams in three years are just finishing. Now seems like a very strange time to add more educational changes.”

The pledge to look into reform of the school year was part of an agreement with Plaid Cymru in the Senedd.

Meanwhile, a pilot project to extend the school day was carried out earlier this year.

Mother-of-two Amrita Chouhan, of Porthcawl, Bridgend County, believed a six-week vacation was in order.

She said: “Children should have a break from academic life. They must enjoy the school holidays and spend time with the grandparents.

“This is the perfect time to visit family and it can be a productive time.”

Porthcawl’s Piccolo Bar and Cafe owner Louisa Verderame said the holiday trade was important.

“Providing the bank holidays would move to Easter time when there’s nice weather when people can still go on vacation and people can provide us with trade, that would suit us,” she said.

“The problem is when you completely cancel two weeks of summer vacation and don’t replace it with nice weather.”

Grandmother Linda Mitchell of Treorchy, who owns a caravan in Porthcawl, thought six weeks was a long break.

She said: “My grandkids are bored because they haven’t been to school for so long and I think they lose a lot if they don’t do anything but play, then they have to go back and some kids don’t want to go back.

“You also lose continuity.”

Welsh Conservatives education spokesperson Laura Anne Jones said: “I really cannot believe that at a time when children are not getting the educational support they need after so much disruption, on top of that our young people are not having the mental health and wellbeing getting support they need at school or even getting back to school, the Labor government has decided to make this a priority.

“The Labor Government also shows utter contempt for the far-reaching implications of such decisions, such as the adverse impact that shorter summer holidays could have on our tourism industry here in Wales.”