Hounslow's 2026/27 term dates with half terms, the Christmas break and INSET days, and why Chiswick School, Orchard House and Kew House break up a week earlier.
Hounslow Council’s term dates for 2026/27 run from Wednesday 2 September 2026 to Thursday 22 July 2027, with the October half term on Monday 26 to Friday 30 October and the Christmas break from Monday 21 December to Friday 1 January. Those dates bind only the community schools the council maintains. Academies and independent schools set their own, and in Chiswick that includes the one secondary school most families use.
Every date below was read from the council’s or the school’s own published calendar on 25 September 2026. Where a school has not published, we say so.
The quick answer
Council half terms: 26 to 30 October 2026, 15 to 19 February 2027 and 31 May to 4 June 2027. Christmas break: 21 December to 1 January, back on Monday 4 January (a Tuesday or Wednesday at several schools once INSET days are counted). Chiswick School and Orchard House take two weeks in October, 19 to 30 October, and Kew House School breaks up on Wednesday 21 October and finishes the autumn term a week early on 11 December. The next closure at most primaries is an INSET day: Grove Park on Friday 20 November, Gunnersbury Catholic on Friday 27 November.
Hounslow Council’s dates for community schools
These are the dates the council has determined for the schools it maintains, with the day counts it publishes (Hounslow Council, school term dates). The framework is 195 days; each school picks five of them as INSET training days, so pupils attend 190.
| Term | Dates | Half term |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn 2026 (73 days) | Wednesday 2 September to Friday 18 December | Monday 26 to Friday 30 October |
| Spring 2027 (54 days) | Monday 4 January to Thursday 25 March | Monday 15 to Friday 19 February |
| Summer 2027 (68 days) | Monday 12 April to Thursday 22 July | Monday 31 May to Friday 4 June |
The only bank holiday in term time is Monday 3 May 2027. Easter is a short one this year: Good Friday is 26 March, and the spring term ends on the Thursday before it. The council has already published 2027/28, 2028/29 and 2029/30 on the same page, and next year’s October half term is 25 to 29 October 2027.
School by school
This is where it gets useful. The table compares the local schools that have published 2026/27, and the differences are bigger than most parents expect.
| School | First day for pupils | October half term | Autumn term ends | Back in January | INSET days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chiswick School (academy) | Fri 4 Sep (Years 7 and 12), Mon 7 Sep (all) | Mon 19 to Fri 30 Oct (two weeks) | Fri 18 Dec | Tue 5 Jan | 2 and 3 Sep, 4 Jan, 12 Feb, 12 Mar |
| Gunnersbury Catholic School, Brentford | Thu 3 Sep | Mon 26 to Fri 30 Oct | Fri 18 Dec | Mon 4 Jan | 1 and 2 Sep, 27 Nov |
| Kew House School (independent), Brentford | Thu 3 Sep (Years 7 and 12), Fri 4 Sep (all) | Thu 22 to Fri 30 Oct | Fri 11 Dec | Tue 5 Jan | 1 and 2 Sep, 4 Jan, 19 Apr |
| Orchard House School (independent), Chiswick | Mon 7 Sep | Mon 19 to Fri 30 Oct (two weeks) | Thu 17 Dec, midday | Wed 6 Jan | Not listed |
| Grove Park Primary | Thu 3 Sep | Mon 26 to Fri 30 Oct | Fri 18 Dec | Wed 6 Jan | 2 Sep, 20 Nov, 4 and 5 Jan, 22 Jul |
| Cavendish Primary | Thu 3 Sep | Mon 26 to Fri 30 Oct | Thu 17 Dec (18 Dec is INSET) | Tue 5 Jan | 2 Sep, 18 Dec, 4 Jan, 21 and 22 Jul |
| Strand on the Green Infant and Nursery | Mon 7 Sep | Mon 26 to Fri 30 Oct | Fri 18 Dec, 1.30pm | Tue 5 Jan | 3 and 4 Sep, 4 Jan, 22 and 23 Jul |
Four things stand out.
- Two Chiswick schools take a fortnight in October. Chiswick School and Orchard House both close from 19 October, so a family with children at Chiswick School and a council primary has one child off for two weeks and the other for one. Our October half term page works through what is on in each week.
- Kew House finishes for Christmas on 11 December, a full week before everyone else, and starts its half term on the Thursday, 22 October.
- The first day back in January is rarely 4 January. Chiswick School, Cavendish, Strand and Kew House use it as an INSET day; Grove Park uses 4 and 5 January, so its children return on Wednesday 6 January.
- Cavendish’s last day before Christmas is Thursday 17 December, because it has put an INSET day on the Friday.
Strand on the Green Infants also finishes at 1.30pm on the last day of each term. Its published calendar has a typo, giving the last day of the autumn term as 18 December 2027; the school year is 2026/27 and the Friday is 18 December 2026.
Schools that have not published yet
St Mary’s Catholic Primary on Duke Road lists a “Term Dates 26-27” document on its calendar page, but the page loads without the dates themselves. Belmont Primary, William Hogarth Primary and Chiswick and Bedford Park Prep were not reachable in a form we could verify. If your school is not in the table, its own website is the only reliable source; the council says the same.
The summer term and the end of the year
Council schools finish on Thursday 22 July 2027, but almost nobody finishes on that date. Cavendish has INSET on 21 and 22 July so pupils finish on Tuesday 20 July. Strand’s last day is Wednesday 21 July with INSET on 22 and 23 July. Grove Park’s children finish on Wednesday 21 July. Chiswick School’s last day is Friday 16 July. Kew House breaks up on Friday 2 July and Orchard House on Thursday 8 July.
The May half term is the same everywhere that has published, 31 May to 4 June, except Kew House, which runs 1 to 4 June because it takes the bank holiday as the start.
Absence in term time
Hounslow issues fixed penalty notices for unauthorised term-time absence, and the national rate is £80 per parent per child, rising to £160 if unpaid after 21 days (Hounslow Council, fixed penalty notices). A school’s own INSET day is not absence, which is one reason the table above matters if you are pricing a trip.
Applying for a school place is a separate timetable, and the secondary deadline is 31 October 2026: see our school admissions page.
Sources
- Hounslow Council, school term dates
- Chiswick School, term dates
- Gunnersbury Catholic School, term dates
- Kew House School, term dates
- Orchard House School, term dates
- Grove Park Primary, term dates 2026/27 (PDF)
- Cavendish Primary, term dates 2026/27 (PDF)
- Strand on the Green Infant and Nursery School, term dates
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