Wakefield schools term times 2023/2024: Here's when kids go back and all next year's school holiday dates

It’s around three weeks until the school summer holidays are over and with children heading back to school, parents are often eager to make a start on planning their upcoming breaks and holidays.

And that starts with knowing when term times start and end.

So, here are the next batch of school holidays across the city, which include Easter, October half-term and Christmas.

With more bank holidays in store this year, it would be good to know when you can bring your children for a getaway.

What are school term times in Wakefield this year? When do kids go back and when do they break up?

Wakefield Council is responsible for setting the term dates for the schools.

However, academies and free schools have the authority to determine their own schedules and it is best for you to contact them directly for information on their term dates.

Below are the term breaks for 2023/2024 in full.

End of summer holiday

Back to school - Monday, September 4, 2023

Autumn half term

Holiday starts - Monday, October 30, 2023

Back to school - Monday, November 6, 2023

Christmas

Holiday starts - Monday, December 25, 2023

Back to school - Monday, January 8, 2024

Spring half term

Holiday starts - Monday, February 12, 2024

Back to school - Monday, February 19, 2024

Easter

Holiday starts - Monday, March 25, 2024

Back to school - Monday, April 8, 2024

Summer half term

Holiday starts - Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Back to school - Monday, June 3, 2024

Summer holiday

Holiday starts Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Bank holidays 2023/24

Good Friday - Friday, March 29, 2024

Easter Monday - Monday, April 1, 2024

May Day - Monday, May 6, 2024

Spring Bank Holiday - Monday, May 27, 2024

Can we take a family holiday during term time?

Schools will not normally give a family permission to take pupils out of school for holidays during term-time. This means that if your child is off school because you are away on holiday the school will record this as an unauthorised absence.

The decision about the penalties to be applied in the event of an unauthorised absence rests with the educational authorities. However, there are circumstances where permission might be given for a holiday during term-time, including:

- A family needs time together to recover from distress.

- A family holiday is restricted to term-time because of the parent’s job (for example a parent is in the armed services or emergency services).

- There are other circumstances considered to be exceptional.

Department for Education figures show that in Wakefield, 6.2% of sessions were missed by primary school pupils and 9.1% by those in secondary schools.

Across the country, the overall absence rate remained unchanged from the previous academic year – 7.5% on average for all types of schools.

Secondary school children had the highest unauthorised absence of 3.6% sessions missed.