PLANS to create a new school year with terms of a more even length and a shorter summer holiday have received a general welcome from schools, but divided parents.

Wiltshire County Council's cabinet has now finalised its term dates for 2004/2005.

The county council wants to create terms of a similar length, with each block of schooling from September to July being six weeks.

This will help to avoid the problems caused by very short or very long terms that can emerge under the current three-term system.

Eventually a two-week holiday will take place in October, and there will be a slightly shorter summer break.

The new term structure will also mean that the current two-week Easter holiday will not always coincide with Easter in the future.

Martin Lavelle, from Chippenham, has three children of primary school age. He broadly welcomed the plans, although he was concerned it might cause holiday prices to rise, particularly if different local authorities had school breaks at different times.

"I think a shorter summer break would be a good thing there is a lot of pressure on parents providing entertainment for kids over the long holiday," he said.

"If the summer holiday was shorter it would be easier getting the children back into the school routine."

But he was concerned that families with a strong Christian faith might be unhappy if Easter fell outside the new spring break.

Working single parent Lisa McCullock, who has one child at primary school, welcomed the new plans and applauded the idea of a shorter summer holiday, saying it would make childcare easier and enable her to spend more holiday time with her son, George.

"If the holidays were more spread out over the year I could spread out my holidays too," she said. "It isn't possible to take six weeks off in the summer."

But Mary Quarmby, a mother from Chippenham with one child at primary school and one at secondary school, believed the long summer break was important for children, giving them time to relax and pursue creative interests.

"It depends how short the summer holiday becomes," she said. "If it was four weeks, that's not enough. The summer holiday is a time to reclaim your children, and it's important for them to get in touch with their creativity."

Headteacher Colin Smith, from Hardenhuish Secondary School in Chippenham, broadly welcomed the plans. "Any move to create a balance of work for students and teachers is something to be welcomed," he said.

He was concerned, however, that term times could vary between neighbouring local authorities. He also expressed disquiet at the dates set for exams, which he thought would leave students with a lot of spare time before starting new courses on leaving school.

But he judged the shorter summer holiday to be a price worth paying if children did not have to endure some lengthy and exhausting terms.

Hilary Etherington, headteacher at Redland Primary School in Chippenham, said the new terms would bring benefits. She said they meant that teachers would not have to cram work into short half-terms.

The county council reviewed the structure of the school year following a recommendation by the Local Government Association that the standard school year should be introduced across England and Wales.

The 2004/2005 academic year will be a transitional year. The first term will run from August 31 until December 21 inclusive, with a break from October 21 to October 31 inclusive.

The spring term will run from January 5 until March 24 inclusive, with a break from February 12 until February 20 inclusive. The summer term will run from April 11 until July 22 inclusive, with a break from May 28 until June 5.

The new term dates will ensure Wiltshire children will be on holiday at the same time as children in the neighbouring authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Somerset, Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire. It is expected that Swindon will also adopt these term dates.

But West Berkshire and Dorset have both chosen school calendars for 2004/2005 that are different to those now adopted by Wiltshire County Council. The dates of the 2003/2004 school year in Wiltshire remain unaltered and are available on the council's website at www.wiltshire.gov.uk.