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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think this mother is right. Holiday in term time.

444 replies

derxa · 26/04/2016 12:14

Normally I think children should not be taken out of school for holidays but this mother may have a point.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3559089/Mother-four-fined-60-truancy-taking-youngest-daughter-term-time-holiday-Government-free-meant-children-s-Easter-breaks-different-times.html

Good sad face as well

OP posts:

apple1992 · 07/05/2016 22:16

being persistently absent don't incurr fines.
Incorrect. It does, and in my role this is probably 80% of the fines We issue, rather than holidays.

why is it so hard? It's hard because they had to sift and authorize. Don't get them to do that. just get them to deal with the persistent people
It was hard because you had to make judgements on whose holidays were worthy and this appeared (and was) an unfair system. Now there is a blanket rule. If you allowed term time holidays, so many more would fall into PA.

I for one am far from convinced by the govt rhetoric about term time holidays, and would far rather see much greater action on dealing with truancy per se.
I'm really keen to know what 'great action on truancy' might be or look like?

Kitla · 07/05/2016 22:31

And the system is working so well now, even the Naht agree it's not working....

The NUT and LGA want to see a return to the old system!

chilipepper20 · 09/05/2016 11:59

It was hard because you had to make judgements on whose holidays were worthy and this appeared (and was) an unfair system.

that's my point. Why are heads judging? A child is away. Ask the parents if they are aware of this. end of. deal with PA.

lurked101 · 09/05/2016 12:16

Heads are judging because parents are not the only stakeholder they are answerable to. Have you had any experience of this other than as a parent? Have you explained to a parent that it is really inconvinient for their child to be away at that point because its when the controlled assessment is going on, and essentially they expect the teacher to give up their own time later on to ensure that it is going to happen? That, sorry, little chilli had 9 days off so far and to take another 10 would be inadvisable, or that its a really bad idea to take your kid away two weeks before GCSEs start?

I think lots would like to go back to the old way, lots of people wouldn't be doing the work though.

chilipepper20 · 09/05/2016 20:47

Heads are judging because parents are not the only stakeholder they are answerable to.

I understand why they are judging. They are being told to. again, it's the rule I am questioning, not the enforcement.

That, sorry, little chilli had 9 days off so far and to take another 10 would be inadvisable

I have not explained such a thing to a parent. But it appears that saying it so politely and clearly as you have done should be fine. Parents can take or leave it.

The trouble is that the head will say this even if the child is doing fine because the government says it's "inadvisable".

its a really bad idea to take your kid away two weeks before GCSEs start?

Said so well. I hope all heads say it that way. Again, a parent can should be able to take the advice under consideration and make up his/her own mind.

apple1992 · 09/05/2016 21:43

Again, a parent can should be able to take the advice under consideration and make up his/her own mind
So you are an intelligent, well-informed parent who has your child's best interests in mind. What about the others?

chilipepper20 · 09/05/2016 21:53

So you are an intelligent, well-informed parent who has your child's best interests in mind. What about the others?

what about them? They are the parents. Unless there is a clear case of negligence, we have to trust them. We have to trust them. That child lives in their house, eats their food, sleeps in the house without the protection of other adults. if we trust them so little to make reasonable decisions, perhaps they should be put in public care.

lurked101 · 09/05/2016 21:55

You're taking it to far now. If you have such an independent streak maybe state provision of anything isn't for you. It does mean making a few compromises, its not bespoke to your needs.

chilipepper20 · 09/05/2016 22:17

or, perhaps, maybe the state should respond to parents' needs and learn about proper boundaries. In most cases, they care far less about the children than the parents do.

JugglingFromHereToThere · 10/05/2016 13:23

"In most cases they care far less about the children than the parents do"

I'm so glad you're on this thread chilli - I agree with everything you say!

apple1992 · 10/05/2016 21:26

if we trust them so little to make reasonable decisions, perhaps they should be put in public care.
This is simply not possible. There are plenty of children who IMO should not be with their parents, but there simply isn't funding or capacity to allow this. Trust me, I've spent hours on the phone to social workers trying to help vulnerable children.

chilipepper20 · 10/05/2016 21:40

There are plenty of children who IMO should not be with their parents

no doubt there are plenty of children. But are there so many they should guide school policy?

jellyfrizz · 13/05/2016 13:28

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36277940

Jon Platt wins at High Court!

A father who refused to pay a £120 fine for taking his daughter on an unauthorised term-time holiday has won a High Court ruling in his favour.
Magistrates had ruled that Jon Platt had no case to answer as, overall, his daughter had attended school regularly.

Lozzamas · 13/05/2016 13:40

Quite right a victory for common sense - I am sick to death of the state and through them institutions like schools deciding what we can and cannot do. I took my kids out of state education - no permission required for that and now I'm in charge not some policy and a HT who has to follow a policy to keep their job.

lurked101 · 14/05/2016 20:28

"Quite right a victory for common sense - I am sick to death of the state and through them institutions like schools deciding what we can and cannot do. "

Yet you and all the others on this thread are perfectly happy when the state tells others how to behave, it should just be for people like you to decide. Hypocritical twerps the lot of you.

All that will change now is the Government will go change the language of the law so it makes cases like this impossible.

Libertarians, don't like being told what to do, love telling everyone else what to do, and love hiding behind the state when it counts.

jellyfrizz · 14/05/2016 21:32

chilipepper20 · 15/05/2016 22:06

Yet you and all the others on this thread are perfectly happy when the state tells others how to behave

where exactly?

jellypopmummy · 16/05/2016 14:19

Personally I think that the government should be doing something about the prices that holiday companies and airlines charge during the summer holidays. Prices can jump by 100% so I don't blame parents for taking their kids out during term time within reason. I wouldn't advocate taking kids out during exam years but why should poorer families be penalised because of the greed of these companies.

lurked101 · 16/05/2016 16:28

It's not greed. It's supply and demand. When the demand for holidays goes up massively in the holidays so does the price, the supply doesn't really change all year round.

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