With some strategic planning, you can maximise the amount of time you get off work using the least amount of annual leave. Photo: Unsplash
Counting down the days to a well-earned summer break?
With some strategic planning, you can maximise the amount of time you get off work while using the least amount of annual leave.
Here are the key dates to be aware of.
Christmas and New Year
Christmas Day and Boxing Day, as well as the New Year's statutory holidays fall on a Thursday and Friday in 2025.
Use those stat days, along with six days of annual leave, to take off 22, 23, 24 of December, along with 29, 30 and 31 December to get a 16-day stretch of time off work.
Easter weekend 2026
Unlike in recent years, Easter and Anzac Day do not fall in the same week, so you lose the opportunity to combine those stats for extended time off.
However, use the Good Friday and Easter Monday stat days, and book eight days of annual leave for March 30, 31 and April 1 and 2, along with April 7, 8, 9 and 10 to get 16 days off work.
When are the public and anniversary holidays in 2026?
- New Year's Day - Thursday 1 January
- Day after New Year's Day - Friday 2 January
- Wellington Anniversary - Monday 19 January
- Auckland Anniversary - Monday 26 January
- Nelson Anniversary - Monday 2 February
- Waitangi Day - Friday 6 February
- Taranaki Anniversary - Monday 9 March
- Otago Anniversary - Monday 23 March
- Good Friday - Friday 3 April
- Easter Monday - Monday 6 April
- Southland Anniversary - Tuesday 7 April
- Anzac Day - 25 April (Observed Monday 27 April)
- King's Birthday - Monday 1 June
- Matariki - Friday 10 July
- South Canterbury Anniversary - Monday 28 September
- Hawke's Bay Anniversary - Friday 23 October
- Labour Day - Monday 26 October
- Marlborough Anniversary - Monday 2 November
- Canterbury Anniversary - Friday 13 November
- Westland Anniversary - Monday 30 November
- Chatham Islands Anniversary - Monday 30 November
- Christmas Day - Friday 25 December
- Boxing Day - 26 December (Observed Monday 28 December)
What about school terms in 2025?
While exact start dates for individual schools differ, Term 1 starts between Monday 26 January and Monday 9 February (at the latest).
Term 1 is 10 weeks long, with the last day being 9 April. It includes one public holiday; Waitangi Day on February 6.
Term 2: Eleven weeks. Begins 20 April and ends 3 July, and includes two public holidays; Anzac Day (observed 27 April) and King's Birthday on 1 June.
Term 3: 10 weeks. Begins 20 July and ends 25 September. There are no public holidays in Term 3.
Term 4: Begins Monday 12 October and ends no later than Friday 18 December, and includes the Labour Day public holiday on October 26.
When are the school holidays?
The first lot of school holidays run from April 3 to April 19 and include Good Friday, Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday.
Term two school holidays run from 4 July to 19 July and include the Matariki public holiday on Friday 10 July.
Term three school holidays run from 26 September to 11 October.
The summer holidays start no later than 19 December and run for five or six weeks - from the school's closing date until opening date of 2027.
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