Member for Barron River Steve Wettenhall has urged parents to familiarise themselves with the changes to state school holidays that take effect from this year.

"When planning family holidays this year it's important for parents to be aware that some school breaks are at different times and for different durations from previous years," Mr Wettenhall said.

"This year's Easter holidays will be extended from six days to two weeks after a 10-week first term.

"For state schools, the 2012 Easter holidays will begin on Saturday 31 March and students will go back to school for term two on Monday 16 April."

Mr Wettenhall said the changes followed feedback that long first terms were tiring, especially for younger students, student-free days scattered throughout the year were disruptive for working parents, and that the current Easter holidays did not align with many non-state school vacations.

"There will also be an extra public holiday this year for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee," he said.

The Queen's Birthday will be celebrated on the first Monday in October, and a special holiday to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee will be held in June.

Mr Wettenhall said the special, one-off Queen's Diamond Jubilee holiday would allow community and sporting events planned and booked for the June long weekend in 2012 to continue without disruption.

The move follows feedback on a discussion paper titled Getting the balance right: A proposal on holidays in Queensland which sought feedback on various holiday proposals.

"The changes were subject to consultation and Queenslanders in overwhelming numbers supported the proposals," he said.

"We have moved three student-free days so that the Easter state school holiday can be extended to two weeks.

"This will mean less disruption for Barron River families and more help for parents to plan for holidays and childcare needs, while still giving teachers essential time to plan, boost professional development and keep our classrooms at the cutting edge.

"Teacher professional development will occur on the student-free days during the holidays.

"About 81 per cent of 23,700 online responses supported the extension of the Easter state school holiday to two weeks."

Mr Wettenhall said the extended state school Easter holiday break was a positive move.

"Having two weeks at Easter means that it is possible to have more regular 10-week terms and that is good for parents, teachers and students," he said.

ENDS