This executive decision meeting of Waltham Forest Council was scheduled to address school term dates for the academic years 2026-27 and 2027-28. Councillor Kizzy Gardiner, Portfolio Lead Member for Children and Young People, was expected to make the decision on the recommendations outlined in the report. The meeting was held without public access, in accordance with The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

School Term Dates 2026-27 and 2027-28

The main item for consideration was the setting of school term dates for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years. The council has a statutory duty to set these dates for community, voluntary controlled, community special schools and maintained nurseries, as per Section 32 of the Education Act 2002.

The report pack included a recommendation for Councillor Kizzy Gardiner to agree on the school year dates for the academic year 2026/27, as detailed in Appendix A - Term Dates 2026-27. These dates are:

• Autumn Term: Wednesday 2 September 2026 to Friday 18 December 2026, with a half-term holiday from Monday 26 October 2026 to Friday 30 October 2026.
• Spring Term: Monday 4 January 2027 to Thursday 25 March 2027, with a half-term holiday from Monday 15 February 2027 to Friday 19 February 2027.
• Summer Term: Monday 12 April 2027 to Thursday 22 July 2027, with a half-term holiday from Tuesday 1 June 2027 to Friday 4 June 2027.

The report pack also recommended agreeing that the proposed calendar of 195 days includes a maximum of 5 INSET days¹ which can be set and deducted by individual schools, to ensure they meet their statutory obligation to be open for 190 pupil days. The school year dates do not include any fixed closure days for INSET days, which are to be set by individual schools.

The report pack included a recommendation to agree, in principle, the term dates for 2027/28, as indicated in Appendix B - Term Dates 2027-28, with the understanding that these dates would be consulted upon again in May 2026 and set in July 2026. These dates are:

• Autumn Term: Wednesday 1 September 2027 to Friday 17 December 2027, with a half-term holiday from Monday 25 October 2027 to Friday 29 October 2027.
• Spring Term: Tuesday 4 January 2028 to Friday 31 March 2028, with a half-term holiday from Monday 14 February 2028 to Friday 18 February 2028.
• Summer Term: Tuesday 18 April 2028 to Friday 21 July 2028, with a half-term holiday from Tuesday 30 May 2028 to Friday 2 June 2028.

The report pack also recommended that the council, in partnership with SACRE², continues to issue guidance to governing bodies on consulting with their school communities on religious holidays, and on how best to teach pupils about the significance of particular religious festivals, within the schools that choose to remain open during a religious festival.

The Consultation Report within the report pack, detailed that schools were consulted between 2 June 2025 and 13 July 2025 on term dates for 2026/27 and 2027/28. Views were sought via Microsoft Forms and directly from Secondary Heads, Primary Heads, Governor services, Trade Unions, and others. There were eight responses via Microsoft Forms, of which the majority confirmed they would be following the term dates consulted on. One school indicated they would have a slight variation around October half-term.

The consultation asked responders to answer Yes or No to the following statement:

Our school intends to follow the school holiday patterns recommended by Waltham Forest Council for the academic years of 2026/27 and 2027/28

The report pack stated that it is hoped that all Governing Bodies of maintained schools, voluntary aided schools and academies, community and voluntary controlled schools in the London Borough of Waltham Forest will agree to follow the same holiday pattern for 2026/27 and 2027/28.

The recommendation of a shared academic year is made to:

• Ensure that families come first in school term planning and avoid the potential disruption and attendance issues that are likely to arise for families if local schools use differing school calendars;
• Enable holistic service planning across council services and local schools;
• Reduce the burden on individual schools to set their own holiday patterns.

The report pack included an Equalities Analysis screening, Appendix E - EA Screening, which determined that there would be no negative impact on any protected groups as a result of the proposed term dates.