SCHOOLCHILDREN in west Wiltshire will soon have six terms a year.

This will not, however, mean the abolition of holidays, as the new structure will split the three-term arrangement into six equal portions.

The new structure will start taking shape in the 2004/2005 academic year after being approved by Wiltshire County Council last week.

The 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 six-term year will see a number of changes from the standard school year.

Terms will now be of similar lengths and each block of schooling from January to July will be six weeks. This will help to avoid the problems caused by the very short or very long terms that can emerge under the current three-term system.

There will eventually be a two-week holiday in October and a slightly shorter summer break.

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

Each school will remain free to set its own five teacher training days within term time.

The new term dates will ensure Wiltshire children will be on holiday at the same time as children in other nearby authorities.

Nigel Gillespie, headteacher at Matravers School in Westbury, said: "The change is only worth doing if all LEAs do it. The greatest danger is if some LEAS take it on and others don't.

"It needs to be a whole country initiative otherwise there will be difficulties with people moving from place to place.

"It is a complete nightmare situation if it is not co-ordinated, but if it is co-ordinated there may be gains in making learning more efficient."