School pupils in Gwynedd will return to their classrooms from Monday 29 June but only for three weeks the local authority has confirmed.

The Welsh Government had planned for all Welsh schools to partially reopen on a ‘check in, catch up and prepare’ basis for four weeks, before the starting the summer holidays on the 24th July.

However, Gwynedd Council have now written to parents informing them that the Welsh Government and the trade unions cannot ‘reach a common national position’ on the fourth week (20-24 July) despite protracted discussions.

Due to the lack of consensus, Gwynedd Council has made the decision that schools in Gwynedd will now close for the summer holidays on 17 July.

A statement from Gwynedd Council said: “”When making the initial announcement on June 3, the Welsh Government noted that schools would open for a period of four weeks. This meant an additional week to the regular school term.

“However, we understand that the Welsh Government and the trade unions have not yet been able to reach a common position on the fourth week as a voluntary exercise despite protracted discussions.

“For our part, Gwynedd Council does not intend to ask teaching and other school staff to volunteer for this additional fourth week and therefore schools will close for the summer holidays on July 17 as they would have done originally.

“We believe that providing this clarity for parents, pupils and schools at this stage is a sensible approach and allows families time to prepare for the three week period of the school term.

“We will be writing to parents and pupils directly in the coming days to update them regarding the ‘check in, catch up and prepare’ phase of reopening schools.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “While we continue to recommend four weeks of check in, catch up and prepare, we acknowledge that ultimately this is a decision for local authorities, who are the employers of school staff.”

Schools on Anglesey will not reopen on 29 June due to the outbreak of coronavirus at Llangefni’s 2 Sisters chicken processing plant.