The scheduling of the school holiday periods during the academic years is agreed between the managerial authorities of schools, the teacher unions and the Department for the purposes of standardising breaks at Christmas, Easter and mid-term. This is important to ensure certainty for the school community about the dates of school holidays.
The Department’s circular 072/2022 outlines the arrangements for the 2023/24 school year and subsequent years.
All recognised schools deliver the national curriculum, regardless of patron, and are subject to the same rules and regulations. All recognised schools have a patron, whose responsibilities include setting the ethos and characteristic spirit for the school. Schools work towards providing for a positive learning experience for pupils, which can involve celebrating many of the important religious and non-religious events that take place throughout the year such as Christmas, Easter, Diwali, Eid, Vaisakhi, and Holi. Many schools may have symbols and images on display in the school which may reflect the different religions and beliefs of children attending the school. Special times of year may also be marked with particular images and artefacts, for example, a crib at Christmas, or Islamic art displays at Eid. Arrangement can vary from school to school.
In practice, many schools take steps to mark the major religious festivals during the year, whereas other schools hold an intercultural day or week at which all religions, belief systems and traditions represented in the school are celebrated. Whether this is a one-off culture week or an ongoing celebration of diversity at appropriate times during the year is a matter for the school locally.
