Cost of the School Day calendar - Spring term 2027

Use the suggestions below to create your own calendar for the spring term, incorporating the events and activities that are important to your school community but can incur a cost.

January

Event	Date	Things to think about
Start of term	Varies by school	As families return to school, now is a good time to promote any support available with school-related costs. Take a look at our resource on talking about money with parents: Talking about costs and money at school - advice from parents and carers

Charity or awareness day	Date	Things to think about
International Day of Education	24 January	Remind parents of any upcoming charity or awareness days you have planned in for the spring term and how these are going to be marked in school.

Special event	Date	Things to think about
Burns Night (Scotland)	25 January	If you’re marking these events by setting arts and crafts or creative home activities, make sure all students have access to resources to take part.
St Dwynwen’s Day (Wales)	25 January

February

Charity or awareness day	Date	Things to think about
LGBTQ+ History month	1-28 February	If pupils are running enterprise projects for school or charity fundraising, encourage them to think about how to engage with the wider community rather than just asking their peers for donations. Encourage pupils to raise awareness of issues that matter to them. As well as taking part in fundraising, this could include writing letters to local policymakers and decisionmakers, setting up petitions and drawing attention to issues they care about through assemblies.
Numbers Day	5 February

Special event	Date	Things to think about
Valentine’s Day	14 February	Calculate the total cost for a child to take part in any school discos or parties you are planning. Consider including snacks and refreshments in the overall ticket price so children don’t need to bring additional money with them to the event.
Ramadan	7/8 February to 8 March	For students fasting during Ramadan, consider how unspent free school meal money can be used to support lower-income families who are not having lunches during this time. Explore what happens to any unspent free school meal money if students are absent or opt not to have a school lunch. Consider giving secondary students flexibility over how their free school meal allowance is used. Some schools have given students a termly or weekly allowance, rather than daily so they have more choice over what they'd like to purchase and when.

March

Charity or awareness day	Date	Things to think about
World Book Day	4 March	Taking part in non-uniform days can place families under pressure to buy or make outfits and accessories. Consider how you can use school resources to enable everyone to take part. For more ideas on how to set up costume recycling, make masks and accessories in school and organise money collection in a way that lessens the pressure on families, see The Cost of Having Fun at School.
International Women’s Day	8 March

Special event	Date	Things to think about
St David’s Day (Wales)	1 March	Special occasions such as Mother’s Day can often involve activities and events planned and led by PTAs and parent councils. Encourage your PTA or parent council to add their activities to your Cost of the School Day calendar. If you’re doing any Easter crafting, make sure that children don’t miss out if they don’t have resources at home to make an Easter bonnet or decorate an egg. Some schools have given equipment and resource packs to pupils so that they have the resources they need. Other schools have invited parents into school to take part in a craft morning alongside their children so that all of the children have an Easter item to display.
Mother's Day	7 March
Eid al-Fitr	9 / 10 March
Shrove Tuesday	9 March
St Patrick's Day	17 March
Purim	22-23 March
Holi	22 March
Good Friday	26 March
Easter Sunday	28 March

Four pupils looking through a pile of books

World Book Day

How to celebrate World Book Day in the most inclusive way possible, with little or no cost to families.

Read our case study

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