Bracknell Forest schools break from 26 to 30 October 2026, Brakenhale a week earlier. The Look Out show, Coral Reef, Go Ape and what The Lexicon did last year.
October half term in Bracknell Forest is the week of Monday 26 October 2026 for the council’s schools and most of the academies, which makes the break Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November. Brakenhale pupils get the week before as well, Ranelagh’s start on the Thursday, and Wellington College’s fortnight begins on 17 October. Halloween falls on the Saturday at the end of the week. This page has the dates by school and what the borough’s own venues have published for the week, checked on 25 September; the council and The Lexicon usually announce their half term programmes in mid-October, and we will add them.
The quick answer
Half term is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 for Bracknell Forest Council schools, Garth Hill, Edgbarrow and Sandhurst. Brakenhale breaks from Monday 19 October, Ranelagh from Thursday 22 October, and Wellington College from Saturday 17 October to Sunday 1 November. Garth Hill and Ranelagh pupils go back on Tuesday 3 November after a training day. On the week itself: The Look Out’s Splash, Bubbles and Balloons show runs five times a day at £2.30, Coral Reef normally shuts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and has not yet published holiday pool hours, Go Ape’s junior course is from £21.95, and Sandhurst Town Council’s fireworks are on Saturday 31 October.
The dates, school by school
| School | Last day before half term | First day back |
|---|---|---|
| Bracknell Forest Council schools | Friday 23 October | Monday 2 November |
| Garth Hill College | Friday 23 October | Tuesday 3 November (INSET Monday 2 November) |
| Edgbarrow School | Friday 23 October | Monday 2 November |
| Sandhurst School | Friday 23 October | Monday 2 November |
| Ranelagh School | Wednesday 21 October | Tuesday 3 November (INSET Monday 2 November) |
| Brakenhale School | Friday 16 October | Monday 2 November |
| Wellington College | Saturday 17 October, after sport | Monday 2 November |
Sources: Bracknell Forest Council, Garth Hill College, Edgbarrow School, Sandhurst School, Ranelagh School, Brakenhale School (PDF), Wellington College. The full year, including Christmas and INSET days, is on our term dates page.
What is on in the borough that week
The Look Out Discovery Centre, Nine Mile Ride
The council-run science centre’s current show, The Splash, Bubbles and Balloons Show, runs until Sunday 8 November, so it covers the whole of half term. It lasts about 35 minutes, is pitched at 4 to 11 year olds, and tickets are £2.30 each, for adults as well as children, with babes in arms free. In holiday periods it runs at 10.45am, 11.45am, 12.45pm, 1.45pm and 2.45pm, and the centre warns that show times can change. Pushchairs are not allowed in the show room (Bracknell Forest Council, science discovery shows). The car park is open 7am to 8.30pm at £4 for four hours or £7.90 all day (Bracknell Forest Council, The Look Out).
Coral Reef Waterworld, Nine Mile Ride
Everyone Active’s normal week has the pool shut on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, opening 9am to 8.45pm on Mondays and Fridays, 10.30am to 8.45pm on Thursdays and 8am to 8pm at weekends. The centre’s page gives holiday hours only for the Coral Spa, which moves from its term-time pattern to 9am to 8.30pm in school holiday periods; it does not say whether the pool opens on the Tuesday and Wednesday of half term, so check before travelling. All visits must be booked online in advance (Everyone Active, Coral Reef Waterworld). Prices are shown at the point of booking rather than on the centre’s page.
Go Ape, Swinley Forest
The high-ropes site next to The Look Out lists its Treetop Challenge for ages 10 and over from £36.95, the Treetop Adventure for ages 4 to 10 from £21.95, and the Treetop Adventure Plus for ages 6 and over from £25.95, with Forest Segway and axe throwing alongside. Parking is in The Look Out car park, at the charges above (Go Ape, Bracknell).
The Lexicon’s Halloween week
The town centre has not yet announced its 2026 programme; its news page carries nothing newer than 12 August (The Lexicon, news). Last year’s ran from Friday 24 October to Sunday 2 November 2025 and was almost all free: a pumpkin trail through shop windows with a gift card and a plush pumpkin cushion to win, the Lexicon Express running through two 4.5-metre pumpkin tunnels, a pumpkin patch beside the Tuk-Tuk selling pumpkins at £2 for The Lexicon Charity Fund, a student skeleton art display opposite Primark with a £100 gift card vote, and free face painting in Union Square opposite Boots from 11am to 4pm on 25, 26 and 31 October and 1 and 2 November (The Lexicon, Halloween 2025). The equivalent dates this year would be 23 October to 1 November; nothing is confirmed.
Bracknell Forest Council’s own list
The council published its October 2025 half term round-up on 16 October last year, covering free spooky craft sessions in the libraries, free family hub sessions, conservation volunteering at Buckler’s Forest, Worlds End playground and Garth Meadows, and the Look Out and Lexicon programmes (Bracknell Forest Council, half-term activities, 16 October 2025). Expect the 2026 version in the same week. Its events calendar lists nothing for the half term dates yet; the nearest children’s events are the £1.50 Harry Potter Day sessions for 5 to 10 year olds at Whitegrove, Crowthorne and Bracknell libraries on 7, 8 and 9 October, 5pm to 6pm (Bracknell Forest Council, events feed).
The Saturday at the end: fireworks
Half term ends with Halloween on Saturday 31 October, and Sandhurst Town Council’s diary lists its Sandhurst Fireworks Event at Brookside Field that evening (Sandhurst Town Council diary). Our fireworks page has every display in and around the borough as they are announced.
After half term
Lapland UK’s Ascot season in Whitmoor Forest opens the following Saturday, 7 November, and standard tickets are already sold out: see our Lapland UK page. South Hill Park’s Winter Craft Fair is on 14 and 15 November (South Hill Park, festivals and fairs).
What is still to be confirmed, and when
- The Lexicon’s Halloween programme: usually announced in the second week of October.
- The council’s half term round-up: mid-October, going by last year’s 16 October date.
- South Hill Park’s half term workshops: not listed on its festivals page; check its what’s on nearer the time.
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