School support staff have warned they will quit their jobs if Welsh government plans to shake-up the school year go ahead. The Welsh government is consulting on proposals to change the school year dates by cutting the six week summer holiday and having longer breaks at other times.

But a survey of 3,000 school support staff by public workers’ union Unison Cymru/Wales, showed more than one in four would leave if the changes are made. They said they want ministers to prioritise dealing with staff shortages, low pay and increased workloads instead.

The survey found 27% said they would consider looking for a different job if the summer holiday was reduced in schools in Wales. Half of the support staff (50%) who have a second job in the summer said it would be harder to find other employment if the six week holiday was cut. The survey comes after all teaching unions in Wales wrote to Education Minister Jeremy Miles opposing the plans and you can read more about that here.

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The six week summer holiday would be cut to five or four weeks under Welsh Government proposals out for consultation, which ends on February 12. If they go ahead school year dates in Wales will change as early as October 2025. Try WalesOnline Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features

The shorter school summer holiday proposals
  • Two options have been put out for consultation since November- to cut the break to five weeks and possibly to four.
  • The Welsh Government is proposing to take one week off the start of the summer holidays and adding it to the October half term break.
  • These changes would be made from September 2025, meaning schools would get a two week break in October 2025 half term and a five week, rather than six week summer holiday in 2026.

  • Consultation on school year dates in Wales, which ends on February 12, will also look at additional changes proposed for after 2025. These include cutting the summer holidays to just four weeks by moving a second week from the summer break and adding it to the Whitsun holiday.

The Welsh Government has said changing the holiday dates is "an opportunity to design a school calendar that works better for teachers, staff and, most importantly, learners - providing everyone with the best conditions in which to thrive."

Arguments for having a five or four week summer holiday include safeguarding for vulnerable children, making it less likely children will forget what they have learned and having a longer half term instead in the very long winter term.

But almost half (44%) of school staff who are also parents said they would be hit with higher heating and entertainment costs if their children were off school for the extra week in October, when it tends to be colder and wetter than in the summer.

When asked about what they thought were the main issues affecting schools, they listed increased workloads, budget cuts and staff shortages as their top three priorities. When asked what would improve staff wellbeing in schools, they called for better pay, staff to be paid all year round and the recruitment of more staff.

Unison Cymru/Wales school support staff forum chair Sara Allen said: “School support workers care passionately about helping children and making sure their time at school is a successful and enjoyable one. They certainly aren’t in it for the money.

“Support staff are feeling the pressure because they have too few colleagues and an impossible workload. They need the longer summer holiday to recover from such a demanding job.

“Moving a holiday week to October will increase the financial burden for staff and is likely to mean many teaching assistants decide to quit.”

UNISON Cymru Wales lead officer for schools Rosie Lewis said: “The school workforce is still feeling bruised from Covid and is already under enormous pressure dealing with the changes to the curriculum for Wales.

“Staff haven’t received an above-inflation pay rise for 15 years and have been badly affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

“We call upon the Welsh government to scrap its proposals to change the structure of the school year and to work with UNISON to tackle the urgent issues that matter to the whole education workforce.”

UNISON surveyed member staff between November 30 and December 15 2023. The union received 2,824 responses.