The purpose of this circular is to advise managerial authorities of the agreement that has been reached between the parties to the Teachers’ Conciliation Council in relation to the standardisation of the breaks at Christmas, Easter and mid-term in the first and second terms for the school years 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29. The circular also provides guidance for school authorities on the need to provide for contingency arrangements to deal with prolonged unforeseen school closures.

To: The Managerial Authorities of Recognised Primary, Post-Primary Community and Comprehensive Schools

and

Chief Executives of Education and Training Boards.

Standardisation of the School Year in respect of Primary & Post-Primary Schools for the years 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26.

1.      Introduction

 The purpose of this circular is to advise managerial authorities of the agreement that has been reached between the parties to the Teachers' Conciliation Council in relation to the standardisation of the breaks at Christmas, Easter and mid-term in the first and second terms for the school years 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26.

2.      Factors taken into account

In reaching agreement the parties took account of a number of relevant factors:

• the objective of avoiding problems for families which can be caused by variation in closure arrangements where children are attending different schools

• the requirement for a school to be open for a minimum of 166 days at post-primary level and 182 days at primary level as set out in Circular 0008/2022 'New Public Holiday from 2022'

• the date of the bank holiday in June and in consequence the effective end of the school year and commencement date of the Certificate Examinations

• the difference in the length of the school year at primary and post- primary level and the potential for a lengthy final term in the primary sector depending on when Easter falls

• the timing of the bank holiday in October
• the desirability of having a reasonable interval between the end of first term and Christmas

• the need to provide for contingency arrangements to deal with extensive or prolonged unforeseen school closures e.g. due to weather, etc.

3.      General

The agreement reached covers the arrangements that will apply in all schools from the start of the 2023/24 school year and covers three school years. The parties will review the operation of the arrangements not later than the autumn of 2025 for the purpose of agreeing the arrangements that will apply subsequently and have agreed that in the event that any unforeseen difficulty arises in relation to the operation of the arrangements now agreed, the matter can be raised at the Teachers’ Conciliation Council.

Schools are required to be open to receive all pupils/students on the weekday immediately preceding and immediately following each break period covered by this agreement.

Primary schools and special schools must be open for tuition for all pupils for a minimum of 182 school days. The practice of sending children in junior infants home early from school at the commencement of the school year for a period in excess of two weeks is not permitted.

Post-primary schools must be open for tuition for all students for a minimum of 166 school days. Where there are arrangements in place to stagger the commencement of the school year, the requirement for a minimum of 166 school days must be met for all students.

The arrangements for 2023/24 onwards are set out in Appendix A of this circular.

In this circular “school authority” refers to the relevant managerial authority for the school concerned i.e. the relevant ETB in the case of ETB schools and board of management/manager in the case of all other schools.

4.      Contingency arrangements in the event of unforeseen school closures

The parties have recognised that there is a need to include flexibility and to provide for contingency arrangements within the standardised school year to deal with unforeseen school closures.

Guidance for schools in relation to making up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures is included at Appendix B of this circular. This guidance sets out a structured approach to determining the measures to be put in place to make up for time lost. The guidance provides that subject to consensus at local level, any changes to normal practice that can be made to address the shortfalls should be put in place. Examples of how this might be achieved include:

• prioritising tuition over other non-tuition activities
• reducing where possible the length of mock/house examinations
• consideration of whether learning in the classroom should be prioritised over school tours, etc.
• in the case of second level schools ensuring examination classes attend all classes to the end of May.

If necessary, the school authority should then identify any available discretionary days that the school had planned to close that could be made available to make up for time lost.

Where the above measures are not considered adequate, contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to extensive or prolonged unforeseen school closures may now also include either or both of the following:

• The February mid-term break may be reduced by up to three days subject to the requirement that all schools must be closed on the Thursday and Friday of the week in which this break falls.

• The Easter break may be reduced by up to three days by the school remaining open up to and including the Wednesday immediately preceding the Easter weekend. All schools must be closed on the Thursday and Friday immediately preceding the Easter weekend and remain closed for the remainder of the Easter break as set out in Appendix A of this circular.

The contingency arrangements within the standardised school year to deal with unforeseen school closures do not provide for remote teaching and learning.

The school authority must also take into account the need to provide adequate notice of any changes to the school calendar to pupils/students, parents and staff. Each school authority shall also provide to parents, at the beginning of each year, a calendar which includes details of school closures. It should be made clear that the calendar could be subject to change as part of contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures.

5.      Religious observance and standardisation

The above arrangements are agreed without prejudice to closure on specific days, subject to the overall requirement of 166 days at post-primary level and 182 days at primary level, dictated by religious observance that is required in schools under the patronage of different denominations or faiths.

6.      Extent of flexibility outside of the standardised breaks

It is not a requirement of this agreement that the commencement or end of the school year either at primary or post-primary level should be standardised.

However while schools may use their discretionary days, where available, to determine the precise start and end of the school year, it is recognised the commencement of Certificate Examinations will mean that post-primary schools will not be open for tuition beyond the Friday preceding the June bank holiday in any year. The expectation is that the school year will normally commence during the week in which the 1st September falls. However, a school year may commence in the week prior to that in which 1st September falls in circumstances where otherwise it would not be practicable for the school to meet the overall requirement of a minimum of 166 at post-primary level or 182 days at primary level and in such a case, the school should ensure that the date of commencement is as close as possible to the 1st of September. Schools are reminded that any day on which a school completes less than a full school day’s tuition shall not be counted as a full school day for the purposes of meeting the overall requirements of 166 days at post-primary or 182 days at primary level.

The arrangements may provide some limited flexibility to schools on certain other days outside of the defined periods. The scheduling of such days must not be used to extend or modify the periods set out in this circular in respect of mid-term, Christmas or Easter breaks save where religious observance requirements of a school under a particular patronage make this necessary.

7.      Public Service Agreements

The Public Service Agreements make provision for additional time of one hour per week. Any aggregation of these hours (subject to consensus among the school staff) into full school days will necessitate attendance by teaching staff on days outside of the 182 and 166 tuition days required at primary and post- primary respectively. Circular 0008/2011 provides that at primary level aggregation into full days is subject to a maximum aggregation of the equivalent of two full days.

The contingency arrangements for the February mid-term and Easter breaks do not preclude a school from identifying any of these days for the purposes of aggregation of hours. However, schools should ensure that an alternative arrangement for the use of the aggregated hours can be activated if changes are subsequently required as part of contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures.

8.      Queries in relation to this circular

Queries in relation to this circular should be emailed to:

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9.      Dissemination of circular

A copy of this circular should be provided to members of the board of management and the staff of the school. A copy should also be provided to the parents association. This circular may be accessed on www.gov.ie. An Irish version of this circular is also available on www.gov.ie

Paraic Joyce Principal Officer

School Governance Section 10 November 2022

Appendix A: Standardised school years 2023/24 onwards

The following are the agreed arrangements in respect of the standardisation of the breaks at Christmas, Easter and mid-term in the first and second terms for the school years 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26:

School Year 2023/24 October 2023 mid-term break

All schools will close from Monday 30th October 2023 to Friday 3rd November

2023 inclusive.

Christmas 2023

All schools will close on Friday 22nd December 2023, which will be the final day of the school term.

All schools will re-open on Monday 8th January 2024.

February 2024 mid-term break

All primary schools will close on Thursday 15th February 2024 and Friday 16th February 2024. (Primary schools may use 3 discretionary days to extend this break to an alternative option of a 5 day break for the period from Monday 12th February 2024 to Friday 16th February 2024 inclusive unless changes are required as part of contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures.)

Post-primary schools will close from Monday 12th February 2024 to Friday 16th February 2024 inclusive unless changes are required as part of contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures.

Where contingency arrangements are required a school authority may reduce the length of the February mid-term break by remaining open up to and including Wednesday 14th February 2024.

Easter 2024

All schools will close on Friday 22nd March 2024, which will be the final day of the school term, unless changes are required as part of contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures. Where contingency arrangements are required a school authority may reduce the length of the Easter break by remaining open up to and including Wednesday 27th March 2024. All schools will re-open on Monday 8th April 2024.

School Year 2024/25

October 2024 mid-term break

All schools will close from Monday 28th October 2024 to 1st November 2024

inclusive.

Christmas 2024

All schools will close on Friday 20th December 2024, which will be the final day of the school term.

All schools will re-open on Monday 6th January 2025.

February 2025 mid-term break

All primary schools will close on Thursday 20th February 2025 and Friday 21st February 2025. (Primary schools may use 3 discretionary days to extend this break to an alternative option of a 5 day break for the period from Monday 17th February 2025 to Friday 21st February 2025 inclusive unless changes are required as part of contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures.)

Post-primary schools will close from Monday 17th February 2025 to Friday 21st February 2025 inclusive unless changes are required as part of contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures.

Where contingency arrangements are required a school authority may reduce the length of the February mid-term break by remaining open up to and including Wednesday 19th February 2025.

Easter 2025

All schools will close on Friday 11th April 2025 which will be the final day of the school term, unless changes are required as part of contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures. Where contingency arrangements are required a school authority may reduce the length of the Easter break by remaining open up to and including Wednesday 16th April 2025.

All schools will re-open on Monday 28th April 2025.

School Year 2025/26

 February 2026 mid-term break

 All primary schools will close on Thursday 19th February 2026 and 20th February 2026 (Primary schools may use 3 discretionary days to extend this break to an alternative option of a 5 day break for the period from Monday 16th February 2026 to Friday 20th February 2026 inclusive unless changes are required as part of contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures.)

Post-primary schools will close from Monday 16th February 2026 to Friday 20th February 2026 inclusive unless changes are required as part of contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures.

Where contingency arrangements are required a school authority may reduce the length of the February mid-term break by remaining open up to and including Wednesday 18th February 2026.

Easter 2026

All schools will close on Friday 27th March 2026, which will be the final day of the school term, unless changes are required as part of contingency arrangements to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures. Where contingency arrangements are required a school authority may reduce the length of the Easter break by remaining open up to and including Wednesday 1st April 2026.

All schools will re-open on Monday 13th April 2026.

Appendix B: Guidance for schools in relation to making up for time lost due to unforeseen closures

1. The school authority should, in the first instance, quantify the number of school closures that have occurred.

2. The school authority should, in consultation with the principal and teachers, assess the effect of the loss of tuition and identify any shortfalls that have occurred as a result of the unforeseen closures.

3. The school authority should consult with the principal and teachers with a view to ensuring that the curriculum for each class/year group can be completed before year end. Subject to consensus at local level, any changes to normal practice that can be made to facilitate such work should be put in place. A non-exhaustive list of possible examples of how this might be achieved include:

• prioritising tuition over other non-tuition activities

• reducing where possible the length of mock/house examinations

• consideration of whether learning in the classroom should be prioritised over school tours, etc.

in the case of second level schools ensuring examination classes