Consultation on school year (term and holiday dates) and school week
Tuesday, January 22 2008
Scottish Borders Council has launched a consultation on possible changes to the pattern of the school year and of the school week, inviting responses from parents, staff, pupils, businesses and local communities.
When the education department consulted on this in 2006, a number of parents and one of the teaching unions asked the Council to consider more radical changes to the school year, such as longer winter holidays and a shorter summer break. Three options have now been put forward for consideration, but the Council would be happy to hear other ideas.
The Council is also taking the opportunity to seek views on changes to the school week – possibly moving to a four and a half day week. To ensure pupils do not lose out on teaching time, schools could open for 30 minutes longer Monday to Thursday and take a slightly shorter lunch break, finishing at lunchtime on Fridays.
There are some advantages in this type of week. It would cut down on the number of times primary teachers in particular have to leave their class for training and meetings. Most training and management meetings for teaching staff would be undertaken on Friday afternoons. However, for families where both parents are working, arranging childcare might be difficult.
Executive Member for Education, Councillor Catriona Bhatia, said: “We will not make changes for the sake of change but it is important to look at radical change from time to time to see whether we can make improvements to way we deliver education in the Borders. We will listen to all the views we receive and discuss our final proposals with parent councils before we make any recommendations. I urge anyone who has an interest in this to pick up a copy of the consultation document and respond.”
The consultation document will be in schools and libraries by the end of the week. To request a copy, call 01835 826592 or online . It can also be downloaded at www.scotborders.gov.uk/life/educationandlearning/schools
The closing date for responses is 14 April 2008.
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