Supreme Court sides with government on term-time holidays

[Mulledwine1]

www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2016-0155-judgment.pdf

www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2016-0155-press-summary.pdf

AIBU to get the popcorn out for the discussion of why this is/is not a great judgment?

I don't even agree with forces children being given time off in term time for holidays! . This routinely happened to one child and her dad was living at home at the time!

Ultimately its the travel companies that need sorting out, not schools and parents.

But I understand taking kids out during half term, would do it at the end of a term absolutely if it meant it was thousands cheaper in peak summer season.

So I am a bit disappointed by this decision.

August is a rubbish time for holidays anyway the med is scorching and the UK cloudy and humid

totally agree

Spreading the holidays out more over the year would make a massive difference imo, but seeing as there was a bloody outcry in my area when the council did just that, it would seem they can't win either way.

Just pay the sodding fine. Unless you have 10 kids, surely it works out cheaper than taking them in the school holidays anyway.

We used to have term time holidays as my parents were farmers - we had to wait for a wet week in the summer to go! If you're a mixed farmer there are very few times in school holidays which are suitable!

I think schools should have the power to allow it at their discretion.

I'm glad the decision went that way. Surprised though.

I have no problem with having to take holidays in holiday time but my brother is getting married in another European country on a bloody Sunday in September. Afters thing on the Monday, so we're flying back Tuesday. So the DDs (who are flowergirls) will miss two days of school.

And I've already been told it'll be refused.

Seriously!? They'll be in YR & Y1. Two days? In late September?? (yes the YR one is unfortunate but it is what it is and honestly? She'll be fine....and her teacher will appreciate the break )

What I don't get is these people taking holidays in term time - they need to sort out holiday cover anyway... unless they don't work...

It's bad enough to sort out summer camps and family cover and holidays for the regular times, let alone try and do term time...

My daughter is only in reception so I am having my first experience of holidays clubs this easter though...

I think exceptional circumstances are ok - a friend has a child with autism and gets permission to go the week before the holiday so he can enjoy a holiday where it's not stupidly crowded...

But otherwise... i think holiday time is more than enough...

yes it costs a lot (i have family in a southern european country) but we just save up throughout the year...

I wouldn't go to the wedding.

But I hate 'abroad' weddings and all the kerfuffle that they cause

Glad it went that way. People were starting to take the P - too many going away, then it seemed to become a "right".

At our primary (5/6 years ago when all this stuff was starting) there were 21 students out of 30 absent for holidays/special occasions for 1-10 days during the May-July term time. The head decided to crack down because it was absolutely untenable for teaching.

Good decision.

August is a rubbish time for holidays anyway the med is scorching and the UK cloudy and humid

totally agree

^^this.

I burn if I look at a brochure. As does DD1. Southern Europe in August is my idea of hell.

I wish they would mix up the holidays a little. I agree with not taking kids out of school though.

I agree that there should be exceptional circumstances.

That said, no, parents should not be encouraged in any way shape or form to take their kids on holidays during school term. If you go on the trip of a lifetime, go for it, but don't pretend it's a valid reason: they are still missing school. If you don't like the system, consider home ed.

When your kids take holidays during school time, what exactly do they do during school breaks? Do they go on more holidays? Are they bored at home for 6 weeks in the summer?

Again, I agree that some trips are absolutely worth taking. Sadly, the most vocal parents in my local school are going on package holidays and dare complaining that the holidays are too long!

I would factor the fine into the cost of the holiday. It is massively cheaper to holiday in term time. Look at how Centre Parcs increase their prices. At least three times as much from one week to the next.

My family holiday is incredibly important to me. I save for it and I wouldn't take them out of secondary school lightly, but I would do it.

Why doesn't it apply to private schools?

Travel companies charge according to supply and demand. The lower the demand the lower the price. As someone said on another thread on this topic, travel companies probably make huge losses for 6 months of the year so the only way to keep the business going is to charge higher prices the rest of the time.

If you can't afford a holiday abroad then you can't afford it, that's life I, afraid. I never had any holidays abroad growing up because my parents couldn't afford them - I was 21 the first time I got on a plane.

We plan on taking our DCs to DisneyWorld when they are older and we know it will have to be during school holidays and will cost an arm and a leg. So we're giving ourselves the next 5/6 years to save up for it.

Really the main problem is the travel agents and holiday companies inflating prices outside of term-time. I'm sure laws could be brought in to mitigate this to some extent to provider greater regulation but there is no political will for that. However clearly this wouldn't solve the problem completely as obviously cannot do anything about foreign companies.

I disagree with the judgement. I don't have children yet but when I was a child me and my siblings went on holiday during term-time a few times during my schooling for up to two weeks at a time (usually at the end of a term in those cases). This was because one of my parents is from a Middle Eastern country and this substantially reduced the cost of flights so we could go and see our extended family. Our school attendances were all good and my brother and I were high achievers at school (myself very much so without trying to sound like an idiot bragging about my school performance lol) and my sister average. It clearly didn't do us any harm in fact I think it did us a lot of good to be able to see our extended family.

It's a straw man argument to say "what if every child took a few weeks off how would teacher cope" etc because that would just never happen lol it never ever has happened and never would.

A non-goady question for posters who would take term time holidays and are happy to pay the fine to do so- do you expect all of your dc teachers to provide time and resources so your dc catch up with what they have missed? And if the answer is yes do you think it would be reasonable for the school to ask you for a financial contribution for this?

I broadly agree with the ruling as children should be in school, and I think historically some people considered that the up-to-ten-days before penalties was as an additional holiday allowance.

However, I also hope Headteachers can continue to use discretion where they think it is appropriate. I am very grateful that DD's HT agreed to her missing 2 days at the start of year 3 after difficult family circumstances meant we had to change our holiday plans.

We are a vegetable farm and can't go away in July and August although we squeeze in short trips here and there long weekends etc. We don't take dd on holiday but every October there are agricultural trials which are very important for trying to keep our business afloat in these impossible times where we are paid less than 30 years ago. We take her (she misses 3 days), my parents live over an hour away and run a business of their own so can't mind her and even her teachers admit it really brings her out as she comes back full of ideas for the future

they had to give this judgement or there would be kids taken out all over the place

if its a special reason-wedding illness etc then the head shold use their discrection-anything else suck it up and save more if u cant afford it-its a luxury not a right

and jon platt in this case didnt have a good enough reason-we all wanted to go on holiday together is a pathetic excuse

I wouldn't class a wedding as a "special reason" - if you want school age children to attend then don't hold it on a school day during term time!

(Haven't read the articles posted)

I think the sad thing is, is that there will be families, single parents, low wage, no car, who just can't afford term time holidays at all. Sometimes it's not a case of just saving up.

I didn't have a holiday for 7 years, and while it's not a right, it really did affect me. We are not in the 'can't afford anything at all' camp, but we have struggled. We live in a deprived area and I know of people who have collected the voucher for a Sun type holiday only to realise they can't actually afford the expanded price of food when they get there, but they don't have a car so can't take food with them.

HOWEVER, my dad has asked me to take my three boys out of school to take them on holiday - for two weeks, over half term. I won't be doing it because one week is enough fgs when you're going short haul! A 2 week jaunt is not required.

Can I just make the point that the travel companies, hotels etc are not to blame either.

The reason its cheaper out of term time is there is less demand and they need to fill the hotels and resorts. Essentially the prices outside of the holidays are subsidised by those who go in the holidays.