How many weeks is october half term?

[Rebecca899]

How many weeks is october half term at your kids school? We will only get 1 week

Ours is this week

We're in Scotland and off this week. Also last Friday was a day off for the kids but not teachers. We also had a Friday/Monday holiday in September.

Halfway through the first week of the 2 weeks of tattie holidays here in NE Scotland.

We get 6 weeks in summer (7 weeks every 7 years), 2 days in September (local holiday), 2 weeks in October, 1 day in November occasional day I think), 2 weeks at Christmas, 3 days in Feb (1 day is half term and the others are inservice and an occasional day), 2 weeks in March/April (not actually always at Easter - it’s spring break, not Easter holidays) and 1 day in May.

I definitely wouldn’t want less than 6 weeks in the summer, and I would actually prefer 7 every year and just a week in October.

This first term we’ve just finished is a weird one - 8 weeks long but with a long weekend 5/6 weeks in resulting in 2 x 4-day weeks. It’s very “bitty” and it often takes the new p1s until after the tattie holidays to really settle as a result

One in West Midlands

Week after next

Scotland and we're on 2nd week of our holidays. Back to school on Monday

1 week (next week). State primary, London

State school, 1 week.

Ds has 1 week and a Monday inset day in Edinburgh, colleagues have kids getting two weeks.

@FrogsSpawnofSanta my Dad's from Aberdeen and grew up knowing October break as "tawttie howkin'" - potato digging for non-Scots, his understanding was that the purpose of the break was for children to help with the harvest.

Schools can all set their own holidays now.

No they can't. Academies, free schools and foundation schools can. LA maintained schools in England cant.

The deregulation act of 2015 was not passed.

Yes, they can!

2 weeks West Midlands shorter summer holiday. I break up tomorrow I'm really looking forward to a week where mine are in school to get stuff done.

Yes, they can!

No they can't! Only free, academy, foundation and VA can, as I said earlier.

Maintained and VC cant.

DfE- School attendance Guidance for maintained schools, academies, independent schools and local authorities
September 2018

Page 15

Setting school term dates and holidays
School employers are required to set the term dates of their school year. Employers are: the local authority in community, voluntary controlled and community special schools and maintained nursery schools; the governing body in foundation and voluntary aided schools; the academy trust in academies and Free Schools.

School day and school year
The law regulating the school day and school year applies only to schools maintained by a local authority and special schools not maintained by a local authority. This law does not apply to academies and Free Schools.

I don't know the legal position but the schools local to me don't all have the same holidays so I assume they do set their own, in fact where I used to live it said on the council website to check holidays with the school could choose different dates to the set ones and this was before there were many academies so I don't think it was to do wth that.

They can chose their own training days- 5 a year but cannot set their own term dates. That is why it says to check.