Eithne Hughes, Director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru, responds to confirmation from the Welsh government that plans to change the school holidays will not happen this Senedd term.
“We are relieved that this decision has been made, although calling it a ‘pause’ sounds like a face-saving exercise as it is surely pointless to go round this loop again. As the consultation proved, and as we knew all along, there is no unanimous call from parents or teachers for changes to be made to the school holidays.
“It’s disappointing that this issue has been given such high priority by the Welsh government. There are so many more pressing challenges in education, such as embedding a new curriculum, dealing with funding and teacher shortages, and improving rates of pupil attendance. We hope the government can now focus its attention on the issues that really matter and move on from this consultation which has been an unwelcome distraction and an enormous waste of time.”