Approval has tonight (Thursday) been given to a major consultation into school term dates on the Island
From 24th November Islanders will be asked their views on options for the future of term dates, taking into account key issues such as school attendance, attainment – and the cost of family holidays.
Views on plans to cut the summer holidays by 1 or 2 weeks and bring in longer half terms in the autumn, spring, or both will be looked at in the review, as previously reported by Island Echo. Islanders may, however, decide they want to keep the 6-week summer holiday as it is.
Councillor Paul Brading, Cabinet member for Children’s Services has 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 24th November) and will run for 7 weeks at https://www.iwight.com/consultations/.
