Term Dates & The School Day
Term Dates
Term dates for St Peter Chanel Catholic Primary School and Pre-School for the 2026–2027 academic year. Please note that the dates below include our five Development Days, when staff are training and children do not attend school. The first day back for children each term is highlighted below.
First and last days for children
Autumn Term 2026
Autumn 2026
73 days total · 71 pupil days · 2 Development Days
Spring Term 2027
Spring 2027
54 days total · 53 pupil days · 1 Development Day
Summer Term 2027
Summer 2027
68 days total · 66 pupil days · 2 Development Days
Development Days 2026–2027
5 Development Days — children do not attend
Development Days (also known as INSET days) are when our staff team is in school for professional training and curriculum planning. Children do not attend school on these days. Please make alternative arrangements.
- Wednesday 2 September 2026First day of the academic year
- Monday 2 November 2026First day back after Autumn half-term
- Monday 4 January 2027First day of the Spring term
- Monday 12 April 2027First day of the Summer term
- Wednesday 21 July 2027Final day of the academic year
Year totals
A Day at St Peter Chanel
Our school day is designed to give every child a calm, well-paced rhythm of learning, prayer, play and discovery. We hold ourselves to the statutory 32.5-hour week and use every moment thoughtfully, from morning prayer to dismissal at 3:20pm.
The rhythm of our day
School doors open
Children arrive, settle into their classrooms and prepare for the day ahead.
Register and morning prayer
Teachers take the register, and we begin our day together with morning prayer.
Lessons begin — Maths, English and Phonics
Our mornings typically focus on the core subjects: Maths (using the Maths Mastery approach), English (through our SPC Writing Journey) and, in EYFS and KS1, Phonics (using Little Wandle).
Assembly — Collective Worship
Three times each week we gather as a community for Collective Worship. You can read more in the Catholic Life and Mission section of our website.
Breaktime
A chance to play, run, chat with friends and enjoy our outdoor playgrounds.
Back to class
Children return to learning until lunchtime.
Lunchtime
KS1 begins lunch at 12:00pm and KS2 at 12:15pm. Children enjoy lunch in the hall and free play outside before returning to class.
Afternoon learning
Our afternoons are for Religious Education (2.5 hours each week) and our wider curriculum topics — history, geography, science, art, music, PE, computing and more.
End of school day
Children are dismissed from class onto the playground, ready to be collected.
What we learn each day
Our core curriculum is delivered through evidence-based schemes chosen for their quality and progression.
Maths
Built around the Maths Mastery approach — deep understanding through concrete, pictorial and abstract reasoning.
English
Taught through our SPC Writing Journey, building strong readers and confident, expressive writers.
Phonics
In EYFS and KS1, we follow Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, the DfE-validated systematic synthetic phonics programme.
Religious Education
2.5 hours each week of RE, drawing on the Catholic Religious Education Directory and our parish community.