To think that closing schools for x weeks shows that a week of term time holiday was never that damaging?

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So many teachers seem to now be saying ‘don’t stress about the work set, spend time together, learn skills’ etc. Yet it’s not so long ago that it was being touted that taking a week off was consigning children to educational destruction. AIBU to think the argument is now lost and that actually for children who otherwise have good attendance a week off at a non key point of the year makes not one jot of difference to their overall education?

You're being ridiculous. Children taking time off in term time is disruptive and causes extra work for staff.

Not really comparable are they though. All children are currently off and teachers are setting work.

Taking a child out during term time means they do miss work, teacher then has to catch them up or the chills has gaps and children learn that education is ok to be ditched for something more fun.

Why does everyone thing it’s teachers saying you can’t have a holiday in term time? It’s the government.
Honestly, for a child who is generally doing ok and whose attendance is good, a holiday will not matter at all.
But too often it’s the children who are off a lot anyway and who can ill afford the time.
It can be a pain though. If you’ve just taught three weeks of writing unit then little Jonny misses the final week, it really stops him consolidating the learning.

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How can the argument be lost without the outcome of the current situation?

We have no idea of the impact of the current break in education.

Low attendance while the schools are open is well researched and well documented.

Oh FFS some of you need to move on. Schools are closed... deal with it.

A week off school might not make a difference to the child whose family can take them skiing for a week, but closing schools for x weeks certainly does make a difference to the children who rely on school for a decent meal or to keep them safe.

What else are the teachers going to say? ‘Unfortunately all your children are going to suffer from the lack of formal education they’ll be receiving while schools are closed. They’ll also suffer socially and emotionally’. Wouldn’t help morale during lockdown much, would it?

There is a direct correlation between attendance and attainment. The government has lots of data and graphs to back this up

Yes, but what I always wonder is whether this is a bit chicken and egg. As in... the children with chaotic home lives and unsupportive parents are much more likely to have high absence levels, but their attainment is likely to be lower anyway because of their situation - it's not necessarily the absence that's the main cause of the low attainment. It's the reasons leading to the absence. I suspect that little Tarquin whose parents are pushy and supportive of his education but also whisk him off to the Bahamas during term time for weeks is a lot less likely to suffer a drop in grades.

I assume that everyone happy to take their kids out of school to benefit from cheaper / more available family holidays would have no problem with their kids' teachers taking a couple of weeks off during term time so they can enjoy the same benefits?

Teacher can inform in advance, so parents can arrange alternative childcare / time off work as required. And there's no detrimental educational outcome to consider, as we've just proved. Glad we've sorted that one out, then.

Well... time will tell. There is a real concern amongst teachers that children with limited internet access or no laptop/PC, parents with poor literacy/nuneracy or lacking the facilities to support, will fall further behind their peers.
There is definitely a sense that we all have bigger things to focus on. There is a hope that there will be a seachange in schools now.

All that cramming for exams, pressure, league tables, ofsted changing its goalposts again, did it really all matter. Beacuse when the chips are down schools have become a hub of emotional support, stability and some education for those that needed it.

To be fair it’s ofsted and the government who have made the occasional term time holiday something akin to child abuse.

Teachers never wanted the current draconian system and most are indifferent or positively disagree with the current way of things.

Seems to me the concern is teachers convenience

PMSL! As if the government does things for the convenience of teachers!

Well currently all children are missing out on full education whereas only the child/children who go on holiday in term time miss out on key areas of learning. A week or 2 weeks off can be a whole unit of English. In terms of maths, it moves so quickly that in a week or 2 we can touch on 2 or 3 different concepts.
But yes blame the schools and teachers for being awkward even though it's not our decision about term time holidays.
As a teacher I'm currently attempting to teach children remotely and worrying about how much they are missing out on. The only reassuring thing that it is not just my class, my school, my local area but nationally. However it is still really worrying and as educators, at the moment, we cannot really predict how this will pan out and how we are meant to help these children catch up.
I personally would take a few parents taking term time holidays over a global pandemic. When this is all over I'm unsure which children, parents and colleagues I will see again.
But an education and teacher criticising thread always helps to keep things normal.

I think the idea that taking 1 or 2 weeks off during term time will affect a student's performance in the long-term is almost never true. Is that actually the reason they claim?

The reason they don't allow it is more likely because if everyone is holidaying at different times, it's disruptive to the class and the teacher, requires more admin. work, etc. and there's no actual NEED for anyone to do it. So it's just much easier not to allow it.

Seems to me the concern is teachers convenience

Says someone who apparently knows nothing about Government educational policies.

As a teacher I agree with pp who mention it's about catching your child up with the rest of the class rather than overall learning. As for overall learning I know for a plain fact that most of the time that has been lost can easily be made up. And I say that from experience. Nordic countries for example start school much later and yet have some of the best grades around the world. I feel like the education system in the U.K. is very much learning, forgetting, relearning, forgetting till high school when it usually is retained. Or if you look at home schooled children, they spend faaar less time educating yet often get far better grades. Quality over quantity! Sorry that was a slight tangent there but I think your point is valid but also invalid in the context is classroom learning and the work it means teachers have to do.

Oh goody, another teacher bashing thread.

They're ALL off. FFS.

Seems to me the concern is teachers convenience

Yeah right. It's not teachers who make a fuss about absence, it's the government. If a child is absent from my class for a week, it does not cause me any great inconvenience. In fact, depending on which child it is, it may be pretty convenient...

Or if you look at home schooled children, they spend faaar less time educating yet often get far better grades.

With a class size of 1, I'd be surprised if most home educated children didn't achieve well.

And you want to compare that to a class of 30, with varying educational needs?

Jesus, is there ANY situation that some goady fucker won't blame teachers for?

As a teacher, I can usually see the value in a week or two of term-time holiday. What's tricky is that I've often found that these weeks take place before a half-term holiday, which is usually an assessment week. So you have to arrange for that child to take the assessments after the holiday, using up precious TA time to supervise them and the child themselves missing more lessons, which after a school holiday are often introducing new topics in all curriculum areas.

But we do it because that's what we're paid to do. The actual reporting absence and fines and stuff is nothing to do with us! I just fill the marks in on the register and send it to the office!

It's not comparable though. As others have said taking a child out for a week/fortnight holiday while the rest of the class continue learning can have a detrimental effect.
At the moment all the children are in the same boat really.
So yes Yabu.
That said it's going to have such a negative impact on the likes of my young Niece who was, before Covid, awaiting appts/tests/diagnosis for ASD. Her learning is already held back enough and I worry about her when she does return to School as she's going to be even further behind. My sister has tried her best and continues to do so. Her teacher has been fab too, ringing her regularly and trying to encourage her but she just can't sit and do work at home for longer than a few minutes.

For a lot of children a week or two here or there makes no difference. Having said that, strong evidence links absence with lower academic achievement later on.

And so the rules of 97% are to try and protect the most vulnerable from poorer educational outcomes because it is better to enforce clear non-negotiable boundaries. Everyone knows where they stand - be in school during school time.