The title of these Regulations is the Education (School Day and School Year) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 and they come into force on 1 August 2006.

(1)    The Education (School Day and School Year) (Wales) Regulations 2003 are amended as follows.

(2)    In regulation 3, in the appropriate alphabetical order insert—

“key stage” is to be construed in accordance with section 103 of the Education Act 2002”.

(3)    For regulation 5 substitute—

(1)    Subject to paragraph (2), this paragraph applies to any school session falling within the school years 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 which is devoted (wholly or mainly) to the provision of any one or more of the following forms of training (including training attended by both teaching and non-teaching staff and training conducted jointly with other schools), namely—

(a)    training in, or in connection with, the preparation and implementation of plans aimed at facilitating the transition of pupils from one key stage to the next or from primary school to secondary school (including plans of the kind referred to in section 198 of the Education Act 2002 if the governing body of the school are, or expect to be, required by the National Assembly for Wales to participate in drawing up such a plan);

(b)    training related to prospective changes to the National Curriculum for Wales;

(c)    training related to the proposals of the National Assembly contained in its circular 37/2004 entitled “Learning Pathways 14–19” for extending the range of learning options available to 14–19 year olds (including developing the role of Learning Coach in supporting young people's learning, and developing a comprehensive Learning Pathways Plan).

(2)    Paragraph (1) is to have effect in relation to no more than four school sessions in each of the school years in relation to which that paragraph applies.

(3)    Where paragraph (1) applies in relation to a school session, that session is to be regarded for the purposes of regulation 4 as a session on which the school has met."

Signed on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales under section 66(1) of the Government of Wales Act 1998

D Elis-Thomas

The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly

3 May 2006

The Education (School Day and School Year) (Wales) Regulations 2003 apply to schools maintained by local education authorities and to special schools (whether or not so maintained). They make provision (among other things) for a school day which is ordinarily to be divided into two sessions (with a break in the middle), and for schools (other than nursery schools) to meet for at least 380 sessions during any school year. Regulation 5 of those Regulations (which is now spent) provided for specified numbers of school sessions in the 2003/4, 2004/5, 2005/6 school years devoted to specified forms of teacher training to count as sessions on which the school met.

These Regulations substitute a new regulation 5 which, in broad terms, provides for up to four sessions in each of the 2006/7 and 2007/8 school years to count as sessions on which the school met if they were devoted to the provision of certain forms of training. Broadly, the forms of training which count are training relating to—

—the preparation and implementation of plans aimed at facilitating the transition of pupils between key stages and between primary school and secondary school (including, in the latter case, the statutory plans required to be drawn up under section 198 of the Education Act 2002),

—forthcoming changes in the National Curriculum, and

—the Assembly's plans for extending learning options for 14–19 year olds.