Admission to School - Information for Parents 2025-2026

SECTION B - Information on Education and Learning

1. School Terms and Holiday Dates for 2025/26

Please note that this calendar is subject to any changes that may arise as a result of government policy decisions. Carmarthenshire County Authority does not accept liability for any losses incurred in respect of altered holiday arrangements following such changes.

School Terms and Holiday Dates for 2025/26

2. Learning Experiences

Schools in Wales design a curriculum that is based on the curriculum for Wales and is co-designed between teachers their pupils and the community.
Your school will support your child to become an ambitious, capable learner ready to learn throughout their life. The learning experiences will ensure that your child develops in an enterprising and creative way making sure that they are well informed about Wales and the world. In addition, the learning experiences will ensure that our children and young people develop as healthy confident individuals, ready to lead a fulfilling lives as valued members of society.
The areas of learning and experience include a focus on languages, literacy and communication, science and technology, mathematics and numeracy, expressive arts, humanities and health and well-being.
The curriculum also covers human rights, diversity and respecting differences, experiences and skills for careers and the workplace, learning about local, national and international contexts and developmentally appropriate relationships and sexuality education.
Learning experiences in our schools in Carmarthenshire are inclusive and purposeful and are linked closely to the local community, our Cynefin.
Older pupils have the opportunity to undertake external examinations. Parents and pupils are fully consulted on their option choices and discussions supported with careers advice.

General Principles

In Carmarthenshire we strive to provide our learners with the best possible education experience. We endeavour to develop the whole child/young person equipping them with the skills and knowledge they need for the next step in their learning or career pathway.
Carmarthenshire believes in the educational value of being conversant in two or more languages and is strongly in favour of a bilingual policy in its schools. The long-term aim of this policy is to teach children to be fluently bilingual in the use of Welsh and English by the time they leave primary school. The provision at primary and secondary level aims to ensure that the children are able to communicate with confidence in both languages and that they are aware of the cultural heritage of Wales.

Vision to 2030

We will support all the children and young people of Carmarthenshire. We will achieve this by becoming the best we can be and be highly regarded locally, whilst also earning national and international recognition ensuring our children and young people are happy, safe, thrive, and fulfil their personal, social and learning potential.

Our collective moral purpose

Making sure every child and young person is valued and valued equally.

School based complaints

Each individual school has a policy for dealing with complaints. Any concerns which parents may have will ideally be resolved informally in discussion directly with the school. However, should parents wish to make the complaint formal, the school has established procedures which they are obliged to make available.

Year Groups/Pupil Ages

A pupil's progression through years of compulsory education is divided into four key stages. The table shows the key stages against the corresponding pupil ages and year numbers.