There are some strong arguments in favour of switching the school year to six terms. It would enable the holidays to be spaced out more evenly, reducing the long winter terms and avoiding the bunching-up of breaks which occur in the spring and early summer.

Equally, there are very strong arguments against - not least the disruption caused to children's education as their parents are forced to take them out of school during term time in order to overcome the pressure on a concentrated summer holiday period when all their workmates try to book the same dates.

However, it would be folly for Bradford to make this radical change alone, putting the district out of step once more with other districts in the region. Fortunately education chiefs now seem to have acknowledged that and are set to enter into talks with their counterparts in neighbouring councils to see if they are prepared to switch over too.

They have also pledged that there will be extensive consultation - although Councillor David Ward's claim that "after full consultation I believe it makes sense to do it" suggests that this exercise might not be undertaken with an entirely open mind.

It is important that the consultation takes full account of the views of all those concerned: teachers, governors, parents, pupils. However strong the arguments might be in favour of the change, if the majority of those most keenly involved don't want it, or if the neighbouring authorities can't be persuade to go along with it, or if it would put Bradford schools out of synch with the national examinations system, it would be wrong to push it through.