School term and holiday dates are set by the Council following consultation with teachers. Dates for up to 3 years in advance are published once agreed. The Council also aims to publicise any changes to the scheduled dates or unexpected closures as soon as possible.

Current Term Dates

The term dates for the academic year 2012/2013 are as follows:

Summer Holiday - Thursday 5 July 2012 to Wednesday 22 August 2012
Staff return Tuesday 21 August 2012
Pupils return Thursday 23 August 2012

Term 1 (Thursday 23 August 2012 to Friday 12 October 2012)
Autumn Holiday - Monday 15 October 2012 to Friday 26 October 2012

Term 2 (Monday 29 October 2012 to Friday 21 December 2012)
Additional Inset (Secondary Only)** - Thursday 29 November 2012
St Andrew's Day Holiday - Friday 30 November 2012
Christmas Holiday - Monday 24 December 2012 to Friday 4 January 2013

Term 3 (Tuesday 8 January 2013 to Thursday 28 March 2013)
Mid-Term Holiday - Monday 11 February 2013
Inset* - Tuesday 12 February 2013
Additional inset (Secondary only) - Wednesday 13 February 2013
Spring Holiday - Friday 29 March 2013 to Friday 12 April 2013

Term 4 (Monday 15 April to Tuesday 2 July 2013)
May Day Holiday - Monday 6 May 2013
Inset* - Tuesday 7 May 2013

Summer Holiday - Wednesday 3 July to Monday 19 August 2013
Staff return - Friday 16 August 2013
Pupils return - Monday 19 August 2013

* Inset days are Professional learning days
** Additional CfE INSET days for secondary schools allocated by Scottish Government March 2012

You can also download copies of the current or future term and holiday dates:

•  School Holiday and Session Dates 2012-2013 [96kb] 
•  School Holiday and Session Dates 2013-2014 [67kb]
•  School Holiday and Session Dates 2014-2015 [89kb]
•  School Holiday and Session Dates 2015-2016 [65kb]

Unauthorised Absence

Family holidays during term times will be marked as an unauthorised absence. This will be done even if you have told the school you intend to take your child on holiday. No school work will be given, although some schools may consider giving you information about what will be covered during the absence.

In exceptional circumstances, extended visits overseas to relatives or the extended absence of children of travelling people may be marked as an authorised absence. If you wish to discuss the matter further, please contact the school.

Emergency School Closures

The homepage of this website always features a news headline whenever one or more schools are closed at short notice. The headline provides a link to further information including reasons for closures, the expected duration of closures and contact details for the relevant schools. Please note that you can view the Emergency School Closure list at any time. It may be useful to add this page to your favourites.

An email is sent to the local media as soon as the list of schools is updated too. Local newspapers and radio can then choose to publicise this information.

Parents/carers are also notified of any emergency school closures by text message wherever possible.