Gwynedd to re-open for only three weeks before summer holidays, council confirms

Pupils in Gwynedd will return to their classrooms for only three weeks before the summer holidays, the local authority has confirmed.

The Welsh Government had planned for all Welsh schools to resume for four weeks following their partial reopening on June 29, by extending the summer term by a week.

But, after unions raised concerns that a July 27 finish would cause issues with staff contracts, the Welsh Government confirmed that this would be a decision for individual councils.

With schools in neighbouring Anglesey not opening at all due to an outbreak at Llangefni’s 2 Sisters poultry plant, Gwynedd Council has today revealed that schools will open for three rather than four weeks, meaning that the school year would finish as planned on July 17.

A Gwynedd Council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “As a council, we are grateful to our school staff for their hard work and dedication throughout the Coronavirus lockdown as well as for their work in preparing for the ‘check in, catch up and prepare’ phase of reopening schools from June 29.

“When making the initial announcement on June 3, the Welsh Government noted that schools would open for a period of four weeks. This meant an additional week to the regular school term.

“However, we understand that the Welsh Government and the trade unions have not yet been able to reach a common position on the fourth week as a voluntary exercise despite protracted discussions.

“For our part, Gwynedd Council does not intend to ask teaching and other school staff to volunteer for this additional fourth week and therefore schools will close for the summer holidays on July 17 as they would have done originally.

“We believe that providing this clarity for parents, pupils and schools at this stage is a sensible approach and allows families time to prepare for the three week period of the school term.

“We will be writing to parents and pupils directly in the coming days to update them regarding the ‘check in, catch up and prepare’ phase of reopening schools.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “While we continue to recommend four weeks of check in, catch up and prepare, we acknowledge that ultimately this is a decision for local authorities, who are the employers of school staff.”

By Gareth Williams – Local Democracy Reporter