Headteacher says I can't go on holiday

[Scuzzymummy]

Ok so this might not be a problem in a few weeks and please please believe me when I say I have done everything possible to ensure my pupils have had my attention and expertise when needed during lockdown. I have recorded lessons, marked work, given feedback etc... I know lots on MN have some very strong feelings about teachers at the moment 😬.
So I have a holiday abroad booked for the 18yh August. I have been hanging on and hanging on to see if we can go. We are so desperate for a break- who isn't- but my headteacher has emailed today and said that of quarantine measures are still in place in September then holidays at the end of August need to be cancelled. What do I do, I know I need to be back in September, god knows I want to have actually children in front of me not a bloody screen. But if we cancel we will loose hundreds and hundreds plus the holiday. We can't change the date, my husband is not able to change. Help!

You won't get your money back though surely if it's just his decision. They were very strict with me when I changed my TUI holiday because I wanted to cancel and ge my money back but would have lost 90% so I changed it to next year free of charge .

@exLtEveDallas

How are they going to enforce this? If quarantine is at home, then surely people just won’t do it? It’s not like they take you to a prison from the plane.

I think a lot of people just...won’t.

It’s because of attitudes like this that Covid 19 is still taking so many lives and could lead to even more lives lost!

Don’t blame the Government for everything, blame those who have, and still are, sticking 2 fingers up to the current rules around social distancing! Bournemouth beach shows just how many idiots don’t give a shit about anyone other than themselves!

Gogogadgetarms That's interesting. We were off to centreparcs in May half term but it was obviously cancelled. Moved it to late September instead ( they've all reopened now but for how long who knows ) and i did wonder if they'd be fining...you're going to get a lot of people taking their kids out of school this year for missed holidays I feel.

There is already another thread on this OP in education (a slightly safer spot0. Quite a few teachers (and students' families) are in this spot.

The holiday companies will not refund. Only TUI seem to be being human about this whole thing. Mine won't even let me rebook!

I am due to get out of quarantine the day before term starts so that's fun fun fun.

I think schools threatening to fine parents for this absence are being ridiculous. They certainly wouldn't win any appeal!

Quarantine is going to be impossible to police as well, I’m not suggesting you just carry on as normal but I imagine, especially by September, many people will.

One of the reasons for not locking down earlier was they knew there was a limited amount of time people would comply. That time has clearly expired, the same will happen with quarantine because for most it’s simply not a workable solution.

I would start by emailing your head teacher, explaining that financially cancelling is not an option and put the ball back in her court. It’s possible that there will only be a few at the school who will be effected and the school will be able to manage it, but at the moment she’s taking the heavy handed view rather than gathering the information to see the full picture and then finding a solution.

Contact your union also OP : they may have some advice on this.

Leaving aside the issue of what is "fair", this is how I'd make the decision. Work out the following:

*Firstly, how much has the holiday cost in total, and what proportion of it have you paid?

*Are there dates arising between now and the 20th July (next quarantine review after Monday's) which will mean more payments have to be made?

*Assuming you've made arrangements directly with e.g. villa owners, have you contacted them asking if you can push the dates to next year? (It's worth asking even if their T&Cs state you can't. You've nothing to lose!)

*Would the balance of all costs yet to be paid cover a (possibly shorter) UK break for the family? EG if the total cost is around £2k for Croatia and you've already paid £1k upfront, would the remaining £1k cover you all going to a cottage in Wales instead? Alternately, could you put it towards a foreign holiday next year and have a bigger and better time?

One you've worked out dates and amounts, you then have a few choices that I can see.

1. Go on holiday to Croatia anyway. Pros: Lose no money, still get the holiday. Cons: If quarantine still active, spend time away worrying about what will happen when you get home. DH may have to take unpaid leave for quarantine, thus turning a 2wk holiday into 4wks. You will potentially be putting your job at risk. Other colleagues may have to cover for you, which won't endear you to them.

1. Sack off Croatia and use the remaining money for a UK holiday. Pros: no worries about consequences. Cons: you may have all been excited about going abroad and had activities in mind/places to see, which you will now miss out on. Price of UK holiday may be artificially inflated.

1. Go to Croatia anyway and just tell everyone (not including border officials) you didn't go. Tell border officials you'll be self isolating for 2wks, but don't. Pros: still get holiday and lose no money. Cons: everyone including children will be required to lie to friends and family. No posting holiday snaps on SM. You'll be deliberately breaking quarantine rules

1. DH and kids go to Croatia, you stay home. You could book a short break for yourself or just stay home and enjoy the peace and quiet. Only you will know if this is the right choice for your family as it will depend on age of DC, physical needs etc - not all families could cope with this, or entertain it as an option. Personally I'd love it but I know many wouldn't. Pros: only lose a small amount of money. Cons: None of you may have such a nice time being separated from one another.

I hope this helps you plan your decision making. And whatever you decide, I hope you all have a nice time

But to then threaten us with fines when our children have just missed 12 weeks of school seems a foolish position to take.

Yup. I suspect schools have lost the moral high ground on this one.

OP, it’s all a bit of a mess at the moment. If I were you though, I’d sit tight. There’s good chance that the quarantining won’t be maintained until then.

Sorry, missed a page out and can see union has been covered!

If you can move it (cheap/low cost), it's probably best to. I can't see some of these holidays being worth the money people paid for them once all the restrictions start sucking the joy out of them.

If you can't move it, your head should be accommodating. You shouldn't be left thousands of pounds out of pocket. Our school have simply asked anyone who has a holiday booked to let them know so they can plan accordingly - they will be paid and undoubtedly directed to work from home during the quarantine period. If you booked after the restrictions changed that's different. Get on to your union if the head persists but in all honesty find another school to work at. My last school was like this and I thought they were all the same. They aren't.

@gogogadgetarms that's the funniest thing I've ever seen. My children have been banned from going to school for 6 months and then they threaten you with fines?! Good luck to them in enforcing that - no chance!!!

I'm quite shocked at some of the responses on here. Unless I've misread it, it's not about the holiday but the 2 weeks quarantine preventing her from returning to work on time? If you can't work from home, you're effectively choosing to be off work. My employer would not tolerate an extra 2 weeks off for free.

We had the same issue and cancelled our holiday. Not teachers, just realised it would effectively be a 4 week holiday not 2.

To all those posters wanting a teacher to flout guidance then go teach kids. Really? I would be furious if my kids teacher did that. Or their classmates did it.

Did you lose ££££ to cancel your holiday tilder?

The BBC interviewed people arriving at UK airports at the start of quarantine.They said they would quarantine but they first had to use public transport to get home, pop to shops for supplies and fresh milk etc. Ridiculous!

Not them but the rules.

Flying to a 'safe' country if air bridges do happen won't work. When you go through passport control in the U.K. it will be picked up that you have spent time in a country for which you would be required to travel quarantine. Flying in from a 'safe' country doesn't negate where you've been in the last 14 days.

@noxestdormienda

Pretty sure you’re right. This has been kept very quiet but I thought it invalidated insurance too. Very unwise to travel without insurance.

Piggywaspushed yes we did. We cancelled for lots of reasons. Not least necause it would have meant a 4 week holiday for dh. Not doable.

Not happy about it. Not happy about a lot of stuff with Covid. It's the reality of his job. We're not the only ones either. Lots of friends havd cancelled for similar reasons.

Croatia are one one the countries in talks with U.K. for “air bridges” (no quarantine upon arrival nor your return to U.K.) so I doubt by August you will have to quarantine on return?

I'm glad other PPs have mentioned the FCO advice. The quarantine thing is a red herring really, for holiday travel anyway, because your travel insurance is invalid if you travel for non-essential travel, which is what a holiday is.

Holiday companies/airlines/insurance or whatever, will pay out if you can't go because the FCO advice is still in place, BUT you have to sit tight and hold your nerve, DON'T cancel, wait until much closer to the holiday to sort it out.

I've had 2 holidays this year and both times, the holiday company cancelled, which meant they had to refund me my money. If you've not done it through a travel agent, then your insurance should kick in.

I also had a holiday to Egypt cancelled years ago - we were due to go when Egypt had a revolution, so FCO advice to Egypt was "essential travel only" - again, we got a full refund from the travel company.

You may also want to keep an eye of Croatia itself. After a long decline and virtually zero cases, they have seen a significant uptick in the last week. Highest ever number of cases yesterday.

Graph attached.

My prediction? They’re soon going to have either a lockdown or very tight restrictions on travel and business, so you wouldn’t want to go anyway. You might not even have the choice tbh.

I’m astounded again that on this thread only 2 posters have mentioned travel insurance.

And all over all types of media .

OP your greatest consideration should be regarding taking your family overseas without valid travel insurance.
FCO is clear .. non essential travel only . Therefore any insurance you have is invalid at the moment.

I am horrified at the news of people arriving in Spain etc at the weekend “ the Costas are opening etc “
These people have no insurance cover .
Do they really not know or care ?

Perhaps I’m more horrified as I have lived overseas a lot of my life and know many a sad tale of people not bothering with insurance “ it’s ok we have an E111 “ etc ...

It’s not enough sometimes, it really isn’t

It is a shitty situation all round.

However, it's been reported that they are in discussions with Croatia and given their low death rate and eagerness to reopen for tourism, I'm quietly confident that there will be an air bridge in place soon.

Hopefully FCO will keep don't travel advice for countries without an air bridge in place so then

1. If no air bridge, you can claim on the insurance due to the no non essential travel advice or
2. There's an air bridge, no quaratine required so no issue.

This would solve the problem for all who my be affected at work.

Can you get private tests done on return?