To ask if you agree with term time holidays to please sign this petition...

[TermTimeHolidays]

here

It needs 100,000 signatures before it can be discussed in parliament.

[TermTimeHolidays]

PS am a regular who has namechanged for this.

[Morgause]

YABU

Summer terms were a nightmare of absences when I was teaching.

[HatieKokpins]

YABU. There are weeks, months even when you can take holidays - why should we sign a petition just so some parents can get their holidays more cheaply? Holidays are a luxury a lot of parents can't afford these days.

[sparkle12mar08]

No, I certainly will not sign.

[Runningchick123]

The petition suggest 10 days off per year per child; 2 weeks out of a school year of only 38 weeks is an awful lot. Add on any sickness (most children have at least a day or two of sickness each year) and a good chunk of the academic year has been lost. Times that loss by 30 children per class and its just chaos with different children missing different chunks of learning and the teacher having to continually repeat stuff.
People can have affordable holidays without taking time out of school - camping, a couple of weekend breaks (leaving after school friday and coming back late sunday) instead of needing two weeks on a beach, a week in a caravan......

How many people have had their childhoods ruined because their parents couldn't afford a two week holiday

[SoonToBeSix]

Yanbu soon holidays will only be for children from more well off parents

[IceBeing]

YABU. There are better ways to deal with this issue, like staggering summer breaks or removing the whole six weeks in one chunk thing.

[livinginwonderland]

I would never sign this. If every kid took 10 days off to go on holiday, teachers would spend most of the year playing catch-up.

[jacks365]

Yabu. I have never needed to take my children out of school for holidays, most of the time we don't get, those we do are mostly camping. I've only flown twice in my life but I know this country very well.

[BrokenSunglasses]

I used to have respect for 38degrees, but they just seem to look for things to complain about nowadays.

That petition is very badly written.

All children who have a good attendance record should be allowed the opportunity to enjoy quality time with their parents on an annual holiday of up to 10 days once per year.

Good parents or parents that work full time should not be criminalised for wanting to enjoy an affordable annual family holiday.

This makes no sense whatsoever. They think it's important that families have holidays, but only if you are a 'good' parent who works full time, and when the child has good attendance.

Who gets to be the judge of Good Parenting, and why does a holiday for a child become less important if actually, their parenting is a little bit crap? Why do only the children who are lucky enough with their health to have good attendance get seen as worthy of having the right to a term time holiday?

FFS, holidays are a luxury, education isn't, at least not in this country.

And who gets to judge whether a family is having the right sort of holiday?

Is it ok to have a couple of weeks in Orlando as long as you are good and your child is healthy enough, but not ok to have one week camping if you have been required to attend parenting classes and your child has had too many illnesses that year?

This really is bollocks.

[fluffyraggies]

I think a petition against the extortionate hike up in prices during August by holiday companies, for anything from the price of an ice cream on a camping pitch in Dorset to the flights out abroad to an all inclusive holls would be more popular.

Hard up parents wouldn't feel the need to make their kids miss school if they could actually afford the price of a family holiday during summer school holiday.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Won't be signing

They get quarter of the year off

There are plenty of cheap camping holidays to be had in summer - no ones entitled to some expensive foreign holiday. We went to a cheap holiday apartment in Cornwall 4 years ago - slept 4/6 for £300.

Basically the whining is about fancying an expensive foreign holiday that you can't afford in school holiday time - which is for the parents.

Foreign holiday for parents at expense of education . Kids would be happy with camping or a cheap apartment.

This is all dressed up as 'best for families' - best for adults who want to go abroad more like

[PeterParkerSays]

We've just bought a tent as we can't afford caravan or cottage type accommodation during school holidays.

Personally I think you'd be better off campaigning against the price hike associated with school holidays, or re-organising the summer break as children are no longer needed to be involved in the harvest, rather than trying to get children the right to 10 days off school.

[MurderOfGoths]

YABU, holidays are nice, but education is more important.

[ProudAS]

Won't be signing although I hated being taken camping as a child

[noblegiraffe]

Why are parents that work full time allowed in your petition to enjoy an affordable holiday? Surely families where both parents don't work full time are even more likely to need an affordable holiday?

[Wallison]

I agree that it's not worded very well but I'm going to sign it anyway. Not everyone can go camping (you need a car) or caravanning (only makes sense if there are six of you; useless for smaller families and again you generally need a car) and certainly not everyone can afford to holiday in school holidays. Holidays may not be a right but they are the stuff that childhood memories are made of and an important part of the glue that binds families together. I think it's a shame that the govt is seeking to deny families on low incomes the opportunity to have them.

[kinkyfuckery]

YABU.

Either go during the holidays, or don't go if you can't afford it. Save up for a holiday until you can afford it, if you think it's something worthwhile.
Eating chips on a beach in Spain isn't something that is essential, especially not annually.

[medhandthekiddiesvtheworld]

Ill sign, we should we return to the days when foriegn travel was the province of the wealthy - personally I removed my children for term time holidays and fully intend to keep doing so.

[medhandthekiddiesvtheworld]

and the price hike is related to supply and demand these are businesses not charities

[Wallison]

Butting in here but LaurieFairieCake - do you have the details of that place in Cornwall? Would I need a car for it to work? (I can't drive.) Sorry to be cheeky but I'd love to go to Cornwall and anywhere I've looked at is £££s more expensive than that.

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasHopeful]

Agree with brokensunglasses holidays are a luxury, no one has a right to a holiday (I don't mean time off work / school).

I think I prefer the idea of staggering school holidays and getting rid of the 6 week hol over summer (not reducing the number of days holiday but redistributing them).

It would be hard to stagger the holidays so that kids from the same families are off at the same time but I think it could be doable. Eg town A has school hols one week earlier than town B. Mostly kids will attend schools in the same town from primary to secondary schools.

[Panzee]

Those who advocate staggering holidays, do you honestly think prices will go down? Prices will go up, all year round.

[Ladysamantha]

yabu. Not signing

[Fairylea]

I won't sign but I occasionally take my dd out of school for extended weekend holidays or the odd day out somewhere (ie Legoland or London) on a school day when it would otherwise be absolutely packed. I always ring her in as sick. Bring on the flames... !

However, I don't think a standard 10 day a year entitlement is going to be good for anyone! You'd get some parents using that as a springboard to go away for even longer.