But this is a new law in England. In the 90s and early 00s, almost everyone went on holiday in term time at some point and miraculously none of us suffered. I don’t think it’s particularly disruptive, especially in Reception.
We’re in Wales and it’s a bit more lax here. Our school tend to say yes and recognise holidays are often educational experiences in themselves.
I do think it’s unnecessary to ask for work and, although what you’re saying to them is you appreciate the importance of education, in reality it’s not needed and causes more work for the teacher.
I think the whole holiday rule is unfair and a bit silly. It’s a blanket rule when in reality the children repeatedly missing school are not going on an annual holiday, they have parents who have issues or other key reasons to miss school (like SEN/ALN). I think it’s easy to forget it’s such a new (and slightly odd) enforcement of a rule and wasn’t really an issue. I think it was Gove who introduced them in 2013? (Happy to corrected as from memory) They were based on questionable data and, really, Gove’s inability to explore and discover the complex real reasons for low attainment at school.
Currently, it’s a bizarre juxtaposition that term time holidays are an issue in England, but less so elsewhere - and that, despite this, schools still seem to be having attainment issues, complex other problems and high absences. We can’t discount COVID as a big part of that, but neither can we discount other issues that were already there before (poor access to underfunded and CAHMS, lack of access to early intervention when parents struggle, lack of support for children with SEN/ALN, poverty etc.) It is, however, a useful way to get a small amount of extra funding as most parents will pay the fine.
I agree education is important, but not to the detriment of small amounts of normal, other experiences. Holidays are often beneficial, especially with the pressures faced by school children today. They’re also educational - and, for those which aren’t that educational, have social benefits. An annual holiday will not generally disrupt a child’s education to the point they can never catch up - especially in Reception.