Nursery World - Six-term school year endorsed by Clarke

The six-term school year appeared to have come a step closer to reality last week after it was endorsed by the education secretary. In a letter to the Local Government Association, which has been lobbying for such a move for several years, Charles Clarke said, 'I very much welcome the work that the LGA has carried out and the debate you have stimulated on this important issue.

In a letter to the Local Government Association, which has been lobbying for such a move for several years, Charles Clarke said, 'I very much welcome the work that the LGA has carried out and the debate you have stimulated on this important issue.

'We see positive merit in the proposals, and would want to lend our support to the debate. I hope that the continuing discussions among your members will take the debate forward.'

However, the prime minister's official spokesman said that even though Mr Clarke had told local education authorities they could go ahead with introducing the six-term year, 'this did not automatically mean all schools across the country would suddenly switch to six terms'. When asked if the Government would like to see the scheme operate nationally, he said it believed that while it was important to extend choice, local decision-making was 'obviously essential in such matters'.

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