To want more people to sign the petition?

[Somethingneedstobedone]

Allow students to be taken out of school for two weeks a year without penalty? I know each school is different but resent government’s directive to toughen up on attendance really grating on my nerves. Now, my children have 98% attendance, bar a few days for illness and docs appt I’ve always taken them on holiday during the break. However a lot of families simply cannot afford even a caravan break. A week in Cornwall in a caravan for £2000?!? Really?! A lot of places in the world do not have such strict guidelines and I, for one, has always been an A+ student even though we were travelling a lot. So I find the argument that 100% attendance is the main factor for children to succeed in their education pretty silly. Parental involvement is by far the most important factor. But teaching people how to be involved in their children’s life whilst working the said people to the ground is too tough. Rant over, thank you for reading 😅

Ha, I see the post I quoted you have now edited "every" to "most".

Except ther isn't. A lot of the parents in my kids school do not give a single shit about their children's education

This.

Responsible adults who can’t spell ‘there are’. ‘There’re’ isn’t a word.

Some points from a teachers perspective with 15 years experience.

Those parents who take their children out, are generally not the ones who will catch up their children, they are likely to be the ones who will blame the teachers for students being behind. Lots want the destination holiday at bargain price, we aren't talking of those who are heading to a caravan in Cornwall.

Whilst there is a curriculum and ours is detailed by week, for various reasons my class may or may not be quite on track so its adding workload to the teacher to liaise with parents about what they need to do, I don't teach via powerpoint so its not just a case of sending on my lessons.

School trips aren't as impactful, if there is a year 10 trip out if I have half the class missing I recap topics rather than start something new. If these absences are every week and only a handful then I crack on with the teaching.

The reasoning of 'they are my children so I can do what I like' I understand, don't disagree, but with these choices comes some responsibility to accept there is an impact and its not the schools fault - sadly this is often not the case.

It may well be the case that you were taken out when you were younger, however these days the curriculum is so packed (rightly or wrongly) missing two weeks might mean in my subject missing a whole topic.

@MrBouc bear in mind that these directives come from the government and via Ofsted. It isn’t individual schools, or schools as a collective who make these demands, but schools are the foot soldiers who have to make very effort to comply with the directives they are given.

@Noodledoodledoo is absolutely right.

This. More shit for teachers to deal with. You really have no idea how disruptive that would be for the whole class.

Yes, I realise that this comes from above, doesn't not directly from schools, and certainly not from single teachers.

I don't know enough about the UK system, but I presume that the teachers are not in favour because society ( government/ parents/ofsted?) tend to hold teachers personally responsible for outcome of single children, and the curriculum and how it is accessed is based somewhat on this.
However, where I live I know that there's not so much of a sense that it's solely a teacher's responsibility to ensure a child achieves a certain level, certainly in primary school.
It's a difficult balance, because here there can be an element of almost "shaming" families who do not participate in their young child's education, and just leaving it up to teachers is seen as not being collaborative and therefore not in child's best interest.
However, when it comes to holidays, the children do not have school holidays outside festive celebrations of Xmas and Easter, and are very short, so taking a few days off occasionally is not discouraged and is part of school life.

@MrBouc as everything is data driven and Ofsted are still pursuing single word judgements, a lack of detail or missing data or limited progress of child or children, can significantly affect the outcome. Missing a unit or possibly two, is going to have an impact.

best you take your dc out of school and home school

You dont want to follow the rules of schooling, you've agreed to send your dc to school and partake in the bits you're not keen on.

@Somethingneedstobedone so you'd be cool with your kids teacher taking their own kids out of school for a hol? Disrupting gcse learning too?

Works both ways. ,

I haven't taken my children out of school for holidays. I did say that in my post.

So basically, if you are rich and can afford to stay at home to homeschool, then that's ok. You can choose how to parent.

But if you can't afford to do this, then you have to allow the Government to decide how to parent.

That's basically it. It's down to money then. Rich people can do what the hell they want. Stuff all of us minions who have to work. We just have to conform to rules about OUR children.

I'm pretty sure that I, and I only gave birth to my children. I'm also pretty sure that their Dad and I were the only people there in the making.

No, thank you. People have become so entitled. Nobody is interested in your forin holiday!

@Somethingneedstobedone I would love to sign it, do you have a link? Sorry if I missed it.

I think some people are very naive in believing how much “critical” education is going to be missed by a term time holiday.

There are plenty of threads on mumsnet by teachers who are complaining (rightfully) about the behaviour in schools and saying they’re wasting a lot of teaching time to pastoral care, behaviour management and so on.

Let’s not kid ourselves that our DC are accessing a top dog , enriching curriculum that vastly enhances their lives. That’s just not true.

As per my pp, when DC are unable to attend school for unmet SEN or mental health, NOBODY cares apart from the parent. Yet a short term time holiday will suddenly cause havoc? hypocrisy at its finest . I’ve been on the other side of this and it just does not wash with me.

@Somethingneedstobedoneso you'd be cool with your kids teacher taking their own kids out of school for a hol? Disrupting gcse learning too?

Haha, they probs won't care as long as they can quoff a few cocktails in the sun.

As an aside, I wonder how people view children in special needs schools taking term time holidays? (a genuine question, not goady).

These schools do not follow a mainstream curriculum.

Well ...that could open a whole new debate.
😁

Well isn’t that the point ? Teachers teach a whole class , they don’t have time to catch up individual pupils , and certainly not set work to be done on holiday. Which will no doubt not be done anyway.
Chaotic

Yanbu.

I've never taken mine out but I'm very aware that some familes simply would not be able to afford a holiday otherwise and logistically some parents cannot get time off outside of certain times either. Family time and memories are important and I think that outweighs a week or two that can be caught up.

I either taught my classes online during lockdown, or I was in school teaching the key worker children.

The amount of children who didn't show up for online lessons (where their parents or carers were responsible for making that happen) was huge. I don't think those parents are going to keep them on track with their learning while they're living it up in Benidorm.

No. Send your kids to school and seek out holidays you can afford or don't take them. I do not want my kids disrupted because the teachers are having to repeat lessons. 2 weeks a bloody year? 2 days, ok, but not 2 weeks.

Presumably you mean for their parents to 'catch them up'?

What about teachers who have children? Is it ok if they don't turn up to teach your kids because they've gone snorkeling for a week?

As long as I can do the same and take my child out of their school for two weeks.

You cool with your child missing their English Teacher for two weeks? You then cool with them missing their Maths Teacher two weeks later and then their Science Teacher (insert other subject) especially at GCSE?