PLANS to move away from the traditional idea of schools basing their spring holidays around the Easter period have been greeted with approval by headteachers in Basingstoke.

Hampshire County Council is currently consulting with schools on a plan to begin the 2008 spring break two weeks after the Easter weekend in order to even out the length of half terms.

If the break was based around the 2008 Easter weekend, which falls on March 21 to 24, it would leave schools with just three weeks in the second half of the spring term and a massive eight weeks in the first half of the summer term.

To prevent this, the county council has put forward a plan to have a two-week break starting on April 4, with the children going back to school on April 21, making the surrounding half-terms six and five weeks.

Simon Cushing, who is the headteacher at Great Binfields Primary School and has chaired Basingstoke primary school headteachers' meetings, said that his staff are behind the plan.

"We notice towards the end of every half-term, that the children find it hard to keep the pace going," he said. "It does make a lot of sense to keep the children focused and fresh, especially with Easter falling so early."

Ann Morrison, headteacher at Cranbourne Business and Enterprise College, said: "I welcome the county council's consultation and will be responding positively to the suggestion of even terms.

"We feel that children and staff work better in short, more even half-terms. A fixed spring break not linked to Easter is preferable as we could prepare in the same way each year. It is a sensible solution."

The plan, which is in line with a decision taken by the county council in 2002 to separate Easter and the spring break when the holiday weekend falls very early or late, already has the support of Hampshire teachers' professional associations.

First published: Wednesday, November 16, 2005