By Angela Harrison BBC News Online education staff

Councils are trying to co-ordinate plans

It is the first time a government minister has given a seal of approval to the proposed shake-up by councils.

Many will be deciding in the next few weeks whether to bring in the controversial changes and have been consulting parents and teachers.

So far, between 30 and 40 councils have decided to make the change to more uniform teaching blocks.

It would involve fixing the spring break in April and having a separate long weekend for Easter when the festival falls outside that break.

Mr Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The Local Government Association commissioned an inquiry by Chris Price, a former MP and chairman of the education select committee, looking at the balance of the school year a couple of years ago, and he recommended, and most local authorities have gone along with it, that there should be six terms in the school year.

BACKING THE CHANGE Full backing: Essex, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Oxford, South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire Backing in principle: Birmingham with other West Midlands authorities, Bracknell Forest, Derbyshire, Hampshire, Kent, Luton, Medway, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, North East Lincolnshire, Southampton, Telford, Thurrock

"They have raised that with me and, though it is not formally my responsibility - it is the responsibility of the individual local education authorities - I decided that I supported the approach that was being taken, and have written to the Local Government Association, encouraging them to go down the course recommended by Chris Price."

In a letter to Don Rule, an independent councillor in Herefordshire, Charles Clarke wrote: "I am personally attracted to the arguments in favour of standardising the length of the school terms.

"For our part, we see positive merits in the proposals and would want to lend our support to the debate."

Representatives of the 150 local education authorities in England voted in favour of switching to a six-term year last November.

It is up to individual authorities to decide if they want to bring in the changes by September 2005.

Some have already agreed to the changes and others will decide in the next few weeks.

Endorsement

LGA chairman Graham Lane was pleased by Mr Clarke's intervention.

"It is significant. Other education secretaries have not wanted to get involved but Charles Clarke has told us he is keen on standardising the school year," he said.

"He told us to write a letter to him on the issue and that he would write back endorsing the idea."

Mr Lane said the change would break up the long spring and summer terms so that there were four teaching blocks of six weeks, which would be easier for teachers and students alike.

LONDON BOROUGHS Backing in principle: Bromley, Camden, Corporation of London, Croydon, Enfield, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston-upon-Thames, Newham, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest

Further proposals are to have a two-week break in the autumn instead of the present one-week break, but these appear to be further away.

According to the LGA, two-thirds of London boroughs support the change, as do most of the authorities in the West Midlands and in the South West.

Councils in the North East of England are still debating the issue together.

Many councils take the view that they will switch to what is becoming known as the "standard school year" if neighbouring councils do the same, because a patchy acceptance would bring problems for parents with children at school in neighbouring areas and for teachers too.

Kent is in favour of the change in principle, but is still consulting. Hampshire is expected to formally endorse the changes at the end of the month.

But not all councils are keen to press ahead.

Leicestershire County Council is expected to vote against the changes next week, after a public consultation.

Ivan Ould, its cabinet lead member for education, said: "The level of response to the consultation exercise was disappointingly low.

"However, taking into account the lack of outright support it showed for the introduction of the six-term year, and a similar lack of support from a number of the other formal consultees, we will be considering maintaining the current pattern for a further year, and would then re-assess the situation, both locally and nationally"

Christopher Price, the former Labour MP who led the independent inquiry into the school year for the local authorities said: "We already have a de facto six-term year.

"All we are trying to do is even up the terms and have equal terms irrespective of the timing of Easter.