College term dates for next year (2013) have now been reaffirmed following a meeting with the Australian Education Union this morning.

The Minister for Education and Skills Nick McKim said he welcomed the support of the union to give teachers, parents and students certainty around term dates for the 2013 school year.

"I considered a range of options before me and the term dates have been based on a number of factors," he said.

"These included adhering to the current award conditions which state that college teachers return to work one week earlier than K-10 teachers as well as the views of college staff and advice from my department.

"College staff will start on 29 January 2013, students on the 5 February 2013 - which is the same as K-10 - and college staff will finish on 13 December 2013.

"Given the concerns of the AEU, I have agreed to form a working party with representation from the Department and the union to consider any current or future identified industrial issues surrounding the four-term school year.

"The Working Party will consider a range of information including surveys undertaken by the AEU," Mr McKim said.

Below are the 2013 term dates for schools and colleges.

2013 - Schools

2013
	Start			End
Term 1	Monday 4 Feb - teachers commence Tuesday 5 Feb - students commence		Easter break: Friday 29 March - Tuesday 2 April	Friday 19 April
Term 2	Monday 6 May			Friday 5 July
Term 3	Monday 22 July			Friday 27 September
Term 4	Monday 14 October			Thursday19 December - students finish Friday 20 December - teachers finish

2013 - Colleges

2013
	Start			End
Term 1	Tues 29 Jan - teachers commence Tues 5 Feb - students commence		Easter break: Friday 29 March - Tuesday 2 April	Friday 19 April
Term 2	Monday 6 May			Friday 5 July
Term 3	Monday 22 July			Friday 27 September
Term 4	Monday 14 October			Thursday 13 December - teachers finish