Talks to start on making up lost school days

THE question of how schools should make up time lost due to closures during the recent bad weather spells will be discussed by unions and school managers with the Department of Education in January.

With some primary schools claiming to have lost more than 12 days since the first freeze last month, the department has advised schools which have been significantly disrupted to make their own decisions on whether to shorten holidays. This included the possible resumption of classes before the agreed start date of the second term on Monday, January 10, which is part of a standardised school year agreed a number of years ago with unions and management bodies.

But these questions are now to be negotiated early in the new year, with the main focus on school-specific responses, given how the impact of the weather has varied between and within different regions of the country.