New Zealand School Term Dates and Public Holidays

The 2010 New Zealand school term dates are:

Term 1 - starting between February 2 and February 5, running to April 1.

Term 2 - April 19 to July 2. 

Term 3 - July 19 to September 24.

Term 4 - October 11 to December 20 (at the latest) for primary and intermediate schools, to December 14 for secondary schools.

Schools have some flexibility in these dates, especially in the date they open at the start of term 1 and the date they finish in term 4. Private schools have longer holidays.

The 2011 New Zealand school term dates are:

Term 1 - starting between January 31 and February 7, running to April 15.

Term 2 - May 2 to July 15. 

Term 3 - August 1 to October 7.

Term 4 - October 25 to December 20 (at the latest) for primary and intermediate schools, to December 13 for secondary schools.

Term 1 and 2 are slightly longer than usual and Term 4 is slightly shorter than usual so that the final stages of the 2011 Rugby World Cup (which is being held in New Zealand) fall during the October school holidays.

The 2012 New Zealand school term dates are:

Term 1 - starting between January 31 and February 7, running to April 5.

Term 2 - April 23 to June 29. 

Term 3 - July 16 to September 28.

Term 4 - October 15 to December 20 (at the latest) for primary and intermediate schools, to December 14 for secondary schools. 

New Zealand Public Holidays

New Zealand celebrates Mothers Day on the 2nd Sunday in May and Fathers Day on the 1st Sunday in September.

Areas of New Zealand also have an Anniversary Day public holiday, observed as follows:

School term date information is provided by: NZ Ministry of Education 

Public Holiday information is provided by: New Zealand Employment relations. Check our article on New Zealand employment law for more information on annual leave entitlements.