There will be no changes to the timing of school holidays in Auckland from the beginning of October despite the region having been in lockdown for nearly five weeks. Education Minister Chris Hipkins said school holidays in Auckland would continue to be held at the same time as the rest of the country, starting from Saturday, October 2. If there are two more weeks of level 3, the city would hit level 2 just in time for the school holidays - meaning two more weeks before kids get back to school. Parents have called for the school holidays to be brought forward to Monday instead of October 2, but teachers' unions and school principals strongly opposed the move. Last year all of New Zealand went into level 4 just before the Term 1 school holidays, so it made sense the holidays were brought forward by two weeks, the Ministry of Education said at the time.

Source: Otago Daily Times September 16, 2021 22:52 UTC