What every Welsh council says about closing schools early before Christmas and delaying pupils’ return in January

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With concern about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus escalating across Wales, some schools have already announced plans to close early for Christmas.

On Monday night, First Minister Mark Drakeford announced that all adults in Wales will receive a booster vaccination before the end of the month, and warned that new restrictions could come into effect in the coming days and weeks.

With that in mind, there is some uncertainty as to whether more schools in Wales will end face-to-face learning earlier than planned.

Read more: You can find more of our educational stories here.

So far, four county councils have made the decision to close schools early. Denbyshire Council announced Monday that students in the county will finish face-to-face lessons on Friday (December 17) and learn from home until the term officially ends on December 21. This came after a similar decision was made in Anglesey, where most pupils were to learn from home after Friday. Wrexham has now followed suit, with on-site learning ending Friday.

For other regions of Wales, we asked each council about the state of play as the term drew to a close. See below the plans currently in place where you live. The list will be updated when local authorities across Wales respond to our inquiries.

Anglesey

Schools will close for most pupils on Friday, and blended learning will take place on the last three days of the term (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday).

Currently, the next semester will start on Thursday, January 6th.

Plainow Joint

The last day of school term in Blaenau Gwent is Friday, December 17, although at some schools a few days are planned for Friday.

Schools are not required to return to distance learning before the end of the semester. “If conditions arise in individual schools such as staff, all schools are well equipped to move to distance learning if necessary,” said a spokesperson for Blaenau Gwent Council.

As it stands, pupils will return to school as planned in January.

Bridgend

Schools in Bridgend will be closed as planned on Friday, December 17.

Bridgend Council said there were no plans to return to distance learning before then, but that “schools are closely monitoring the situation and will follow national guidelines on the matter.”

The council confirmed that there are no current plans to delay learning, and schools will reopen on January 4.

Cardiff

Schools in Cardiff will be closed as planned and pupils will not be required to return to home learning.

The council also confirmed that schools will reopen in the new year as usual.

Carmarthenshire

The term is set to end next Tuesday (December 21), and there are no plans to change that date “unless case numbers rise significantly over the next few days”.

There are also no plans to introduce distance learning before next Tuesday, while the Spring Semester 2022, as planned, is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, January 4.

Conwy

Conwy Council said “there are no plans at the moment to change the end-of-term date (12/22-2021) for Conwy schools,” but added that they “will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

The next term is due to start on January 6, but the board said this may vary from school to school.

Denbyshire

Face-to-face learning will stop in Denbyshire on Friday, and pupils will learn from home next Monday and Tuesday.

Currently, the next semester will start on Thursday, January 6th.

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Flintshire

The council confirmed that schools will close on Friday, with co-education starting on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays when the semester officially ends.

Some schools in the district have used the Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday internship days to end on Tuesday, and others end on Wednesday, but in both cases home learning will be in effect after Friday.

The spring semester is scheduled to begin on January 6.

Many of the councils that decided to close early said that children of key workers and vulnerable children would be allowed to go to school during the last few days of term if no alternative arrangements were made.

Parents of students to whom this applies should contact their child’s school to confirm arrangements.

Gwenned

The council has confirmed that schools in Gwinaid will remain open until December 22. However, there are arrangements to introduce blended learning if an individual school reaches a certain threshold in terms of the number of cases and/or staffing levels.

As it stands, the next semester will begin on January 6th.

Monmouthshire

Schools in Monmouthshire will close on Friday, 17 December. There are no plans before then and schools will return either on January 4 or 5, depending on the day’s internal decision.

Neath Port Talbot

The last day of class at Neath Port Talbot is Friday, as originally planned, and there are no plans for any distance learning before that.

Regarding the next term, it is currently scheduled to start on January 4, but the board said: “We are awaiting an announcement from the WG to see what arrangements will be in January, so cannot comment on that yet.”

Newport

The last day of the Newport school term is Friday, December 17th.

The council does not intend to ask schools to return to distance learning before that, and stressed that “there are no plans to postpone the return to school in January, which will be from 4”.

Pembrokeshire

Schools will close on Tuesday, December 21, according to Pembrokeshire Council, “Schools are prepared to undertake blended learning opportunities if there is an outbreak of Covid-19 or staff shortages but there are no plans to return to blended learning”.

As it stands, pupils will return at the start of the next semester on January 4.

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Rhonda Sinon Tough

The Board has confirmed that the last day for pupils at RCT is Friday 17th December. “We are not asking our schools to conduct any distance education before Christmas,” he said.

They also emphasized that the new plans would “comply with any upward direction of the Welsh Government”. So far, they have not received any information about the changes at the beginning of the semester.

Swansea

Schools will remain open until the last day of term Friday, and there are no plans to require pupils to participate in distance learning before that date.

When asked if there could be a delay in pupils returning to school in January, Swansea Council said they would “continue to follow the Welsh government’s guidance”.

torvine

Schools in Torfaen will close on Friday as planned, and there will be no distance education in the last week of term.

There are currently no plans to postpone the return to school in the new year, with pupils expected to return on January 4, as planned.

Wrexham

Schools in Wrexham will close earlier than planned on Friday, as pupils learn from home until the official end of the term on Wednesday.

Currently, the next semester will start on Thursday, January 6th.

Glamorgan Valley

The last day for pupils at the Vale of Glamorgan will be Friday 17th December as planned.

The council has confirmed that there are no plans for distance learning before this date, and pupils will return on Tuesday, 4 January, unless the Welsh government tells otherwise.

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