Latest news with #schoolHolidays
The Herald
08-07-2025
- The Herald
Extended hours at home affairs offices during school holidays
Home affairs offices will be open until 6pm on weekdays until July 21. Department spokesperson Siya Qoza said the two-hour extension in operating hours is to assist people, including pupils, who want to apply for and collect their IDs during the school holidays. To reduce queues, appointments before visiting offices can be booked on the department's website. Home affairs has also introduced dedicated counters for collections in large offices that process smart ID Cards and passports, where space allows. People who have been waiting three weeks or more for their ID cards are encouraged to visit their home affairs offices to check if their cards are ready for collection. TimesLIVE
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Millions of drivers warned over two week 'cold snap' blitz as fines jump to $1250
Millions of motorists are being warned to stick to the road rules as families head out to enjoy the school holidays and authorities seek to crack down on dangerous and tired driving. Queensland police are warning they'll be out in force for the next two weeks in a "highly visible and proactive" operation dubbed X-Ray Cold Snap. The statewide road safety campaign will run until Sunday 13 July when the school holidays comes to an end in the state with police particularly keen to ensure drivers embarking on long trips take precautions. "Fatigue is a really considerable factor across holiday periods, usually where families travel long distances across unusual roadways and destinations," Acting Chief Superintendent Garrath Channells said. "The state of Queensland is obviously quite large, and you can travel for extended periods of time. I would just ask anyone that is traveling long distance, particularly on unusual roadways, to drive to the conditions always and take time to stop and rest if you're exceeding two hours of driving, so that you're managing fatigue, and if possible, swap drivers and share the load." So far this year, there has been 136 road fatalities on the state's roads, that's 7.8 per cent higher than the previous five-year average for the same period. "And we've had thousands of serious injuries that could be lifelong, traumatic events like a spinal cord injury that that person then has to live with for the rest of their lives, and the family have to provide support for the rest of that time," Superintendent Channells said. "Poor decision making in a split second can have tragic and traumatic outcomes." Drivers warned of road rule change with $961 fines just days away Controversial road rule change to impact a million Aussies from July Drivers erupt at council's 'embarrassing' new roundabout The winter school holidays are traditionally one of the busiest periods on Queensland roads with police ramping up their presence from today. The blitz will also coincide with a planned jump in the price of fines for drivers caught doing the wrong thing. From Tuesday, July 1, motorists caught using their phone behind the wheel or not wearing a seatbelt will cop a whopping $1,250 fine. A similarly expensive hit to the hip pocket will come for drivers exceeding the speed limit by 30km/h. The fine hikes are the result of a scheduled increase in the value of a penalty unit. While Queensland has by far the toughest financial penalties for drivers, other states also enforce yearly increases in the cost of road fines. The situation in Queensland reflects a larger, alarming trend. Last year, 1,300 people died on Australian roads — the highest toll since 2012. It's part of a four-year rise in deaths not seen since before seatbelts became mandatory in the 1960s. The final three months of 2024 alone saw 359 lives lost — the deadliest quarter in more than a decade. Road safety advocate Peter Frazer OAM, whose daughter was killed by a distracted driver, said the problem goes beyond driver error and argues we have a cultural issue when it comes to not taking road safety seriously enough. "The very first thing that we need to do is to flip everything on its head and start dealing with the reality of risk on our roads," he told Yahoo News Australia recently. "We've got to have our governments start doing much more active enforcement, both police enforcement and also automated enforcement, which we can do immediately." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
The Sun
25-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Aldi is giving away free £50 vouchers to shoppers this summer – here's how to get it
ALDI is launching a brand-new voucher scheme to help cover the soaring cost of the school holidays. The supermarket giant will be giving away a free £50 voucher every single day throughout the months of July and August, offering financial relief to families feeling the pinch. 1 That adds up to 62 vouchers in total, one for every day of the summer break, and it's open to parents across Great Britain, including Scotland where schools finish earlier. To be in with a chance of bagging one of the vouchers, parents simply need to send their name and email address to SummerSupportScheme@ There are no lengthy forms or complicated sign-ups – just one quick email to apply. Each day, one family will be picked at random and awarded a £50 Aldi voucher to spend in store on whatever they need. The supermarket says families can use the vouchers however they like. That could be for their weekly food shop, snacks to keep the kids going, or even treats from the Specialbuy aisle, like toys and garden games to keep children entertained during the long summer break. Julie Ashfield, chief commercial officer at Aldi UK, said: 'The school holidays can put extra pressure on finances, especially when it comes to keeping children fed, entertained and active during the six-week break. "As the UK's cheapest supermarket, we don't believe in paying a premium for healthy, quality food and we'll always do what we can to support parents in making their money go further.' This summer scheme follows Aldi's ongoing efforts to support families, including freezing the price of its Mamia First Infant Formula until the end of 2025. Earlier this year, it also launched the Mamia New Parent Fund, which sees parents given £100 in Aldi vouchers every week for an entire year to help with the cost of everyday items after having a baby. How do get the perfect summer glow up with Aldi's latest middle aisle beauty buys including a £4.99 serum that'll revitalise dull skin AND smells amazing In another major help for families, Aldi has brought back its hugely popular Back to School range and frozen prices once again. Parents can pick up essential school uniform items from just £1.50, and the full £5 uniform bundle, available in sizes ranging from four to 12 years. For those looking to top up on school kit, shoppers will find three-packs of shirts for £3.69, jersey trousers at £2.49 and leather school shoes with memory foam insoles for just £8.99. The range also includes sportswear and PE essentials, with joggers from £6.99 and football boots from £9.99. How to save money at Aldi There are plenty of clever ways to save even more money when shopping at Aldi and most of them don't require any effort. One of the easiest tricks is to look out for items nearing their expiry date. Aldi often marks these down automatically at the till, even if there's no visible sticker on them. Items that expire the same day or the next can be up to 75% cheaper. So if you know you'll use something quickly or have freezer space it's worth snapping these up for big savings. Specialbuys are another major money-saver. These are limited-time items that land in stores every Wednesday and Sunday and cover everything from garden furniture to toys and kitchen gear. You can check what's coming soon by signing up for Aldi's newsletter or checking the Specialbuys section on the website. Aldi also runs its 'Super Six' fruit and veg offer every two weeks, where it slashes prices on six fresh items. It's a great way to get more variety in your weekly shop while paying less, with discounts like oranges for 99p or red cabbage for just 49p. If you haven't already, downloading the Aldi app can also help. It shows you all the latest offers and lets you build a shopping list to help you stick to your budget. You can even use the app to plan ahead for future deals. There's also Aldi's reduced aisle, which includes big discounts on items they're trying to shift. These are marked with red tags and are usually end-of-line Specialbuys or seasonal stock. If you can't spot it, ask staff where the reduction section is – it's often tucked away. Lastly, you can get cashback through Hyperjar, a savings app offering 20% back at Aldi. Just download the free app, load money onto your account, then buy a gift card to match the cost of your shop. You'll get cashback directly into your Hyperjar wallet – perfect if you're doing a big weekly shop and want some money back. How to cut the cost of your grocery shop SAVING on your shop can make a big difference to your wallet. Here are some tips from comparison site about how you can cut the cost of your shopping bills: Write yourself a list – Only buy items that you need. If it isn't on your list, don't put it in the trolley Create a budget – Work out a weekly budget for your food shopping Never shop hungry – you are far more likely to buy more food if your tummy is rumbling Don't buy pre-chopped veggies or fruit – The extra they'll charge for chopping can be eye watering Use social media – follow your favourite retailers to find out about the latest deals Be disloyal – You may want to go to different stores to find the best bargains Check the small print – It's always worth checking the price per kg/lb/litre when comparing offers so you're making a like for like decision as a bigger box won't necessarily mean you get more Use your loyalty cards – Don't be afraid to sign up to them all. They all work slightly differently – work out what bonus suits you better and remember to trade in your points for additional rewards What other support is available? Aldi isn't the only retailer offering help to families this summer. Iceland is still running its Food Club, which lets eligible customers take out interest-free loans between £25 and £100 to help cover the cost of their food shop. The payments are made onto a pre-loaded card and can be repaid at £10 a week. Asda also offers a Kids Eat for £1 deal in its in-store cafes, which runs year-round. Children can get a hot meal for just £1 when an adult spends £1 or more. Some meals also include a free drink and a piece of fruit, making it one of the most affordable lunch options when you're out. Meanwhile, Tesco has teamed up with Community Cookery School to offer free cooking classes to parents and children over the summer, helping families learn budget-friendly recipes and how to reduce food waste. These government-backed schemes free school meals during term time but places often fill up fast, so it's worth registering early.
ABC News
22-06-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Rain, cold snap forecast for parts of Queensland before school holidays
South-east Queensland residents can expect a reprieve from the wet and wintry weather later this week before conditions pick up again ahead of the official start of the school holidays. Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) senior forecaster Baden Gilbert said showers were forecast to continue in the eastern parts of the state before easing on Wednesday. "As we go into Tuesday, we're going to see a trough crossing the southern interior, which is going to lead to showers about that part of the state," Mr Gilbert said. "But by the time we get into Wednesday, that trough will move offshore and bring some drier air for much of southern and central Queensland." He said the weather system was then expected to do a U-turn and bring more rain. In Far North Queensland, the unseasonal rain is forecast to continue throughout the week. "We're just going to see those showers sort of more persist, maybe easing back a little bit in the middle of the week and then perhaps pick up a little bit more as we go into the end of the week and into next weekend," he said. Despite the wet weather, Mr Gilbert said overall rainfall totals would not be significant as the weather system was expected to pass quickly. "Rainfall totals through the southern interior parts of central Queensland aren't likely to be too big because this trough is going to be moving quite quickly … and in terms of northern Queensland, nothing too big either." Cooler temperatures across the state are also expected to return in the coming days. "In terms of those minimum temperatures, we are going to see them pretty warm for the first half of the week," Mr Gilbert said. He said temperatures could drop below 5 degrees Celsius in Roma, Charleville, Dalby and Toowoomba on Wednesday before falling even further to below zero on Friday. "Looks like the coldest morning at the moment is going to be Friday morning, but it's not going to be as big or as broad as it was at the start of June," he said. "We do get these cold snaps from time to time and our long-range forecast is showing that across winter as a whole we're still projecting towards above average minimum and maximum temperatures."
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- BBC News
Shorter summer holidays and longer half-term for pupils in Surrey
Would you prefer a longer October half-term in exchange for a shorter summer break? Schools in Surrey will be doing just that from the autumn of 2026 after a survey showed people were in favour of the new means that pupils and teachers will have a two week long half-term in October next year and their summer holiday will be shortened by five days. Overall there will still be the same number of school days in the year. Do you think this is a good idea? Would you like it at your school? Let us know in the comments. Why is Surrey council changing school holidays? Schools in Surrey were asked if they were in favour of a two week autumn half-term in a survey. 60% of schools said yes, 30% were against a new system and 10% were unsure. Clare Curran from Surrey County Council said the survey was in response to a wider discussion about term dates. She added that the decision was based on "the feedback received by the council from schools, school staff, and families regarding the challenges of differing term dates". Are other places changing their schools holidays too? Surrey isn't the only place in the UK reviewing the length of school holidays, with some areas like Suffolk and the Isle of Wight already implementing a two week October Welsh government looked at shortening their summer holidays too but has since shelved the plans after opposition to the idea. The discussion comes after a report from last year by the Nuffield Foundation suggested summer holidays should be cut down from six weeks to four and half, with terms made longer to improve the wellbeing of both teaching staff and pupils. That's something schools part of the Unity Schools Partnership in Suffolk found after introducing the longer autumn break. Pupil absences for illness after the holiday fell by 25% at 31 of its primary and secondary schools. What do you think? Would you give up a longer summer break in favour of a two week holiday in October? Let us know in the comments.
