West Berkshire schools break for half term on Friday 23 October and for Christmas on 18 December. Kennet School's half term starts a week early, on 19 October.
West Berkshire’s council-set term dates give children Friday 23 October to Friday 30 October 2026 off for half term, and schools break up for Christmas on Friday 18 December. But many Newbury and Thatcham secondaries are academies and set their own calendars, and some of them differ by a week.
The quick answer
- October half term (council dates): Friday 23 to Friday 30 October 2026, back on Monday 2 November.
- Christmas: last day Friday 18 December 2026, back on Monday 4 January 2027.
- Kennet School in Thatcham breaks a week early, from Monday 19 October, and St Gabriel’s finishes for Christmas on 11 December.
The council’s dates for 2026/27
These apply to community and voluntary controlled schools, and are the dates most West Berkshire primaries follow. They come from the council’s term dates page, with the term-by-term breakdown from its 2026/27 consultation, decided on 3 March 2025.
| Term | Pupils in | Holiday |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn 1 | Wednesday 2 September to Thursday 22 October 2026 | Friday 23 to Friday 30 October |
| Autumn 2 | Monday 2 November to Friday 18 December 2026 | Monday 21 December to Friday 1 January |
| Spring 1 | Monday 4 January to Friday 12 February 2027 | Monday 15 to Friday 19 February |
| Spring 2 | Monday 22 February to Thursday 25 March 2027 | Friday 26 March to Friday 9 April |
| Summer 1 | Monday 12 April to Friday 28 May 2027 | Monday 31 May to Friday 4 June |
| Summer 2 | Monday 7 June to Friday 23 July 2027 | Summer holiday |
Two details catch people out. October half term starts on a Friday, so the Thursday before is the last school day. And the year began with a fixed INSET day on Wednesday 2 September that every council school shares.
The council’s own summary lists the Christmas holiday as ending on Thursday 31 December, while its consultation table runs it to 1 January 2027, which is New Year’s Day and a bank holiday anyway. Either way pupils return on Monday 4 January.
INSET days: four are the school’s choice
The council fixes one INSET day, 2 September 2026. Its term dates page says there are “four additional inset days which schools are able to decide for themselves”, taken outside the set pupil days. That is why two schools on the same council calendar can still close on different days. Check your own school’s newsletter or website for the other four.
Where the big schools differ
Academies, voluntary aided and foundation schools set their own dates. We checked the calendars published by six of the largest schools on 24 September 2026.
| School | October half term | Last day before Christmas | Back in January | Summer term ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council dates | Fri 23 to Fri 30 Oct | Fri 18 Dec | Mon 4 Jan | Fri 23 Jul |
| St Bartholomew's, Newbury | Thu 22 to Fri 30 Oct | Fri 18 Dec, 12.30pm | Mon 4 Jan | Thu 22 Jul, 12.30pm |
| Trinity, Newbury | Fri 23 to Fri 30 Oct | Thu 17 Dec | Tue 5 Jan | Fri 23 Jul |
| Park House, Newbury | Fri 23 Oct to Mon 2 Nov | Fri 18 Dec | Tue 5 Jan | Thu 22 Jul |
| Kennet, Thatcham | Mon 19 to Fri 30 Oct | Fri 18 Dec, 2pm | Tue 5 Jan | Fri 23 Jul, 2pm |
| St Gabriel's (independent) | Thu 22 to Fri 30 Oct | Fri 11 Dec | Tue 5 Jan | Wed 7 Jul |
Sources: St Bart’s, Trinity, Park House, Kennet School, St Gabriel’s.
What each school adds
- Kennet School takes a two-week October break, Monday 19 to Friday 30 October, with pupils’ last day on Friday 16 October. Its staff training days are 1 September 2026 and 4 January 2027 (Kennet School). The council says only Kennet School and the primary schools in its academy trust run a two-week October half term, using INSET days inside the holiday (West Berkshire Council). A Thatcham family with one child at a council primary and one at Kennet will share one week, not two.
- Park House says outright that “not all of these dates match West Berkshire Council approved dates”. Pupils return a day late after half term, on Tuesday 3 November, and its INSET days include two mid-term closures, Friday 20 November 2026 and Monday 15 March 2027 (Park House School).
- St Bartholomew’s closes on Thursday 22 October, a staff training day, so its half term starts a day before the council’s. Its other training days are 1 and 2 September, 26 January, 25 March and 7 July (St Bart’s).
- Trinity finishes on Thursday 17 December and returns on Tuesday 5 January; its closed training days are 2 and 3 September, 23 October, 4 January, 12 April and 25 June (Trinity School).
- St Gabriel’s, the independent school at Sandleford, breaks up for Christmas on Friday 11 December, a week before the state schools, and is also closed on Friday 27 November for Dame Betty Day. Its summer term ends on Wednesday 7 July (St Gabriel’s).
Before you book a holiday
The council calls its dates “a guide” and says a school “may adjust the dates slightly due to specific circumstances”. If a date matters for a booking, confirm it with the school. The council also publishes the dates as a calendar file you can add to your phone.
For what is on locally over the October break, see October half term in Newbury. For the Christmas holidays, see Christmas trains and buses from Newbury and the Newbury Christmas bin collections.
Still to be confirmed
- The 2027/28 dates. The council consulted from 6 May to 24 June 2026 on three options: a one-week October half term from 25 to 29 October 2027 lined up with Hampshire and Wiltshire, the same week lined up with Reading, Oxfordshire and Wokingham with a later Easter, or a two-week half term from 18 to 29 October 2027 (West Berkshire Council). It said a decision would be made by 15 July and the dates shared with schools by 22 July 2026, but on 24 September its term dates page still showed only 2025/26 and 2026/27. We will add 2027/28 when it is published.
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