Agenda item

Report of the Group Director of People.

The Cabinet Member with the Children and Young People Portfolio introduced the report of the Group Director of People (previously circulated) requesting that consideration be given to setting school term date arrangements (also previously circulated) for Darlington maintained schools for the Academic Year 2025/26 and to publishing those arrangements by the end of September 2023.

The submitted report stated that following the circulation of the consultation papers to schools and governors and consultation with officers from Local Authorities across the North East and Yorkshire regions, a preferred term date model for the Academic Year 2025/26 was drafted; local authorities set the term dates for maintained schools and nurseries; the majority of academies and voluntary aided schools continued to follow the local authority published dates; 42 schools within Darlington, including academies and free schools, and their respective Governing Bodies, were consulted on the proposed school term dates; and that 33 responses were received to that consultation, all of which expressed their preference for the dates in the model calendar.

RESOLVED – That the proposed school term dates for Darlington maintained schools for the Academic Year 2025/26, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the submitted report, be agreed for publication.

REASON - The draft dates are the ones preferred by the majority of schools and Governing Bodies that responded to the consultation, which ended on 7 July 2023.