THE opening of the new building at Hartford High School will have an impact on dates of school holidays for pupils at the school next year.

The school’s headteacher Mike Holland has updated parents on the progress of the build, but said it is unavoidable that holidays over February and March next year will be affected.

Mr Holland said: “One thing we cannot avoid is the impact of the opening of the new build on our school holiday schedule for 2019 – 2020.

“Foundations are almost complete and in the next few weeks we will begin to see the outline of the building take shape above ground.

“We simply cannot have all students in school when the East Building is being decanted (emptied of furniture and fittings) so we have chosen to do this over a half term.”

The school has proposed alternative dates throughout the February and March period and is awaiting approval from the governing body.

The alternative dates suggest half term starts a week later than other Cheshire West schools, on February 21, and the school will take advantage of an extra INSET day that is allowed during exceptional circumstances to extend half term.

Mr Holland added: “Currently it is likely that the governing body will adopt the alternative dates. However, we want to hold open the possibility that the build can be completed ahead of time which would allow us to set dates which align with the CWAC dates. To this end, the governing body agreed at their meeting on Tuesday 19th March to make a final decision on school holidays for 2019 – 2020 at their meeting on June 24th.

“I do hope you can appreciate the difficulties we face in making this decision and our rationale for the delay.”