Monday morning saw children across Cheshire West put on their freshly ironed uniform and head back to school.
But for others there are still a few days left of the summer holidays to savour.
A late start means many students will not go back until September 7.
The knock-on effect of this could put parents in a tricky situation ahead of Christmas, with many schools breaking up days before December 25.
Cheshire West and Chester Council term dates have set the festive finish for Friday, December 23, which makes Christmas Eve the first full day of holiday.
Schools do have the option to use their inset days if they want to make the final week shorter.
Cabinet member for children and families councillor Nicole Meardon said term dates had been set for the next four academic years.
She said: “These dates have been agreed and adopted by members of the Learn Together Partnership (LTP).
“The school year is not starting any later than it normally would, however the autumn half term is a week later at the request of the school heads in West Cheshire, so the second half of the autumn term has the shorter number of weeks.
“If individual schools are concerned that the autumn term finishes too close to Christmas, they may set one or two of their INSET days at the end of this week in order to make it shorter.”
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Blacon High, Neston High and Helsby High are included in the secondary schools finishing on December 23.
Cheshire West standardised its term dates together with neighbouring authorities in the LTP including Cheshire East, Wirral, Halton and Warrington starting from September 2013.
Academies, free schools and private schools have greater freedom to set their term dates.
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