SCHOOLS may have only just re-opened last week- but many of us will be looking ahead to the Easter holidays and bank holiday weekend.
While social distancing measures are set to relax slightly in April, all legal limits on social contact are set to be lifted by June 21st at the earliest meaning our Easter break is set to be another quiet affair
However, if you want to organize your diary and start planning some lockdown activities with the kids, then here are the important Easter holiday dates that you need to be aware of:
When is Easter 2021?
This year, Easter is on Sunday 4 April which is a week earlier than it fell last year.
The easter holiday dates and bank holidays are as follows:
- April 2- Good Friday (bank holiday)
- April 3- Holy Saturday
- April 4- Easter Sunday
- April 5- Easter Monday (bank holiday)
When do schools break up in Bradford?
The Easter holiday dates vary across the United Kingdom.
In Scotland, schools will generally close between April 2 -19.
In Northern Ireland, most schools will close from April 1 to 9 this year.
In Wales, schools can be expected to close from Monday, March 29 until Friday, April 9, 2021.
In England, you can expect schools to close from April 1 to 16 April, 2021.
However, Easter holidays in Bradford vary slightly and the holiday starts Monday 29 March and ends 9 April.
Pupils then return to school on Monday 12 April.
To find the term dates for your specific Bradford school, us the school finder on the Bradford.gov website.
What will we be able to do at Easter?
The rules around meeting others and social distancing are set to become more relaxed as the weeks go on.
As of March 8, you are able to have a picnic or coffee with your family or one other person; let’s hope the weather improves so you can have a family picnic over the Easter holidays.
However, there is an even bigger shift in the rules from March 29, just in time for the Easter break when the rule of six is reintroduced.
Some outdoor sports facilities will also be able to re-open.
The rules state: “From 29 March, when most schools start to break up for the Easter holidays, outdoor gatherings (including in private gardens) of either 6 people (the Rule of 6) or 2 households will also be allowed, making it easier for friends and families to meet outside.
“Outdoor sports facilities such as tennis and basketball courts, and open-air swimming pools, will also be allowed to reopen, and people will be able to take part in formally organised outdoor sports.”
Why do Easter holidays keep changing?
As a general rule, the Easter Holidays can fall anywhere between March 22-April 25.
These dates are actually based on the Jewish calendar and the cycle phases of the moon.
Easter is always the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon.
As we now work off the solar Gregorian calendar rather than a lunar one, it means the full moon falls on a different date every year.
As a result, some churches celebrate Easter on different days as not everyone follows the same calendar we do.
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