Four term school year for all

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 623, 13 February 1996, Page 6

Four term school year for all

All of New Zealand's state primary and secondary school pupils will have four school holidays from this year. This follows official approval by the Minister of Education for all 2,800 state primary and secondary schools to break the school year into four terms instead of three. The school year won't be any longer - it will still be 394 half-days for primary schools and 380 for secondary. Some schools had approval to make the change a year earlier, and a number of others had participated in a trial for several years before that. Feedback to the Ministry of Education from those schools is that the change has produced a better learning environment. While the Ministry itself takes an impartial stance on the issue, it says schools which have already introduced a four-term year have reported significant benefits. These include: The smaller units of learning time (91 1 weeks) are more manageable for pupils ; Both staff and students are less tired or stressed; Student concentration is better (it is easier to concentrate for 10 weeks than 13); Teachers say student interest levels remain higher

over the whole of each term (and there is no significant wind-down as the holidays draw near); Staff are less exhausted at the end of term and are more likely to use the holidays to attend courses. Schools say teachers have had to re-examine their curriculum planning to'fit in with the four terms. This year, three-quarters of all state schools will follow the dates for a four-term year which have been prescribed by the Minister of Education. Others have had approval to vary the dates to meet local needs. The dates prescribed by the Minister for 1996 are: Primary schools: Term 1 29 January - 29 March (88 half-days); Term 2 15 April - 28 June (106 half-days); Term 3 15 July - 13 September (90 half-days); Term 4 30 September - 16 December (110 half-days). Secondary schools - 380 half-days: Term 1 29 January - 29 March (88 half-days); Term 2 15 April - 28 June (106 half-days); Term 3 15 July - 13 September (90 half-days) or 15 July - 6 September (80 half-days); Term 4 30 September - 5 December (96 half-days) or 30 September - 1 2 December (106 half-days). These dates were

recommended to the Minister by the Education Accord Group, comprising a wide range of educationalist groups. The Accord Group recommended that the same pattern (term one 9 weeks; Term Two 1 1 weeks; Term Three 9 weeks; and Term Four 11 weeks) should continue for five years. It intends to review the impact of the four term year and this particular model after it has been in place for a few years.