Wiltshire Council director Laurie Bell has defended a consultation on proposals to change school holiday dates.

The council posted on its website on December 10 proposals to change the holidays in 2011/12 but, based on a straw poll of parents by the Gazette, the majority are unaware of the consultation.

The deadline for responses is tomorrow.

The council also sent details of the proposals to schools as part of its consultation with staff and also expected them to inform parents, but not all schools have done so.

The Gazette became aware of the proposals on Monday after being contacted by a parent who saw them on the council’s website.

Mrs Bell, service director for policy and communications, said the proposals to change the school terms and holiday dates for 2011/12 were put forward by the Wiltshire teachers joint consultative committee.

The main change proposed is to increase the October half term from five to seven days and another option could see the summer break increased to six weeks.

She said: “Schools are encouraged to consult widely on the proposals and to make parents and local organisations aware by including details in school newsletters and/or by drawing attention to the details on the website.

“We have received a good response so far and many of these have been from parents.

“However, we are open to suggestion about how we could improve the effectiveness of the consultation.”

When the Gazette approached parents collecting their children from Southbroom Junior School in Devizes on Tuesday afternoon, none of them had heard about the proposals.

Mrs Bell promised to check on the number of responses received so far. She said: “The last thing we want is parents and schools not aware of it.”

Martin Watson, headteacher of Lavington School and vice chairman of the Schools Forum, said the consultation had not gone through the forum although he said the forum tends to talk about school budget issues.

He said he had consulted with staff at his school about the proposals and would be putting in details in the next school newsletter but admitted he had not noticed the deadline for responses.

He said that schools often get sent details of consultations from Wiltshire Council and these are usually to consult with governors. He thought it possible that schools had thought this was the same situation.

Wansdyke Primary School headteacher Charlotte Robinson said she had consulted with staff about the proposals. She wasn’t aware she had to consult with parents but was happy to do so.

Responses are mixed

An item on Wiltshire Council's website says it is consulting on changes to school holidays and says the deadline for responses is tomorrow but none of the parents we spoke to were aware of the proposed changes, which would mean a longer October break and a shorter summer holiday.

Sarah Berry, 43, Kingsley Gardens, Devizes said: “It probably would be better to knock down the summer holiday as children tend to get bored. I have moved from Manchester where they have six weeks and, in some cases, seven weeks holiday during the summer.”

John Barlow, grandparent, 57, of Longcroft Avenue, Devizes: “I think there are too many holidays already. They have more holidays than when I was at school. I think they should keep the summer holiday as it is and leave the October half term at five days.”

Ruth Camacho, 47, of Forty Acres Road, Devizes, a key worker at Devizes Pre-school: “I think there should be more holidays. Instead of two weeks at Christmas there should be three weeks.”

Maria Revening, 39, housewife, Bishops Cannings: “I think two extra days holiday in October would be good but I think increasing the summer holiday would be too much because children tend to get a bit bored.”

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