Opposition to plan for shorter school summer holidays
EDUCATION unions in Wales, representing tens of thousands of school staff, have launched a petition with the Senedd demanding the Welsh Government withdraws plans to shorten summer holidays.
They say proposals to change the school year dates “are not, and should not be, a priority for the education system in Wales”.
A consultation on the proposal has ended with a decision set to be announced.
Launching the petition, the NEU Cymru, NASUWT Cymru, Unison Cymru, NAHT Cymru, UCAC and ASCL Cymru – the largest education unions in Wales – said there was no research showing that changing the school calendar and cutting summer holidays to five or four weeks would have a positive impact on children’s academic attainment.
They said it was a “dangerous distraction” when schools were facing huge financial pressure, as well as mounting problems with behaviour and staff retention.
Speaking about the proposals, Emma Forrest, NEU’s assistant general secretary responsible for Wales said: “NEU Cymru is clear: funding of our schools, and support for our education workforce are the priorities for our members in Wales.
“With the new curriculum, additional learning needs reform, behaviour and attendance challenges, Welsh Government need to be supporting schools and making sure families have accessible holiday activities and free school meals, not changing the structure of the school year.”
Every education union in Wales is opposed to the plan to change the school year.
The six-week summer holiday would be cut to five or four weeks under the Welsh Government proposals.
If approved, school year dates will change as early as October 2025.
Support staff have already said they would quit their jobs if the plans go ahead.
The petition says: “The Welsh Government’s evidence base is not sufficiently robust to justify the changes, which will cause significant disruption in our schools, and across the agricultural and tourism sectors in Wales.
“We believe that now is not the time to change the structure of the school year, and remove time from the summer holidays.
“The education sector in Wales has seen significant changes, which have caused substantial impacts in terms of workload and well-being for our workforce.
“We already have amongst the shortest summer holidays in Europe.
“Primary and secondary school students in Italy, Portugal and Spain benefit from lengthy summer holidays of 12 to 13 weeks. In Sweden, it’s 10 weeks, France and Norway eight weeks, Germany seven weeks.
“All these countries performed better than Wales in the latest Pisa results.
“Further still, the plans do not replace sufficient support for disadvantaged children and their families, such as opportunities to access free school meals during the holidays, and funded sporting and creative activities.”
Outside the unions’ opposition, teachers have raised concerns about how exam year pupils would have less time to prepare if the autumn term was shorter and the time taken back in the summer term.
There are also questions around whether the exam timetables would have to be altered and results days changed.
Almost half (44%) of school staff who are also parents have told unions they would be hit with higher heating and entertainment costs if their children were off school for the extra week in October, when it tended to be colder and wetter than in the summer.
The Welsh Government has said changing the holiday dates is “an opportunity to design a school calendar that works better for teachers, staff and, most importantly, learners – providing everyone with the best conditions in which to thrive”.
Arguments for having a five or fourweek summer holiday include safeguarding for vulnerable children, making it less likely children will forget what they have learned, and having a longer half term instead in the very long winter term.
Responding to the petition, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “This is an opportunity to design a school calendar that works better for teachers, staff and, most importantly, learners – providing everyone with the best conditions in which to thrive.
“Our public consultation received a large number of responses with a range of views, which we are now considering.”
Eithne Hughes, Director of ASCL Cymru said: “There are many issues which need to be addressed in our schools - lack of sufficient funding, teacher shortages, high levels of pupil absence, a rising tide of mental health concerns, and unsustainable workloads.
“The school calendar, however, is not one of those issues.”
All petitions with more than 250 signatures will be discussed by the Senedd Petitions Committee.
Petitions with more than 10,000 signatures will be considered for a debate in the Senedd.