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 😅

You do realise that teachers are held accountable for the progress of their students? They would end up having to catch them up so parents can take cheaper holidays (that teachers would never be able to take during term time).

My kids can't do it so why should yours? Ironically you probably earn more than we do.

@WithACatLikeTread interesting argument … my children can’t go to private school who why should yours? My children can’t go to Maldives so why should yours? My children can’t have xBox so why should yours? My children can’t have dairy so why should yours?

Two weeks every school year is a lot. All you need is your child to get tonsillitis and a stomach bug and they’ve missed another week. Lots of children would struggle if they were missing such a big chunk.

I am not going to sign any petition but I’m not against the fines being removed.

The only part that is BU is to ask the teacher when is a good time to miss out or what the topic is. It’s not fair to put them in that position. If you choose a holiday, you don’t get to discuss it with the teacher unless the teacher wants to.

Is there a petition for no time off during school time please unless in certain cases. One of my friends has lost her husband and her daughter been allowed to dip in and out when needed and supported re the death of her dead. She's 7. Spent alot of time in the beach, writing his name in the sand. In that case if similar yes yes yes time off school is needed. I'm shocked apart of cases like that that someone thinks school and teacher time is worth so little. Worse thing I have read on mn. Has to be an April fool.

Holidays are NOT a human right. Education is.

Hth.

Holidays aren't a right. Take them out of you want but just factor the fine in. It's not a big deal paying a few quid extra.

I am a secondary teacher and I had a boy last year who went on holiday for 2 weeks in year 11. In that time we completed half of their NEA (coursework) which was worth 15% of their GCSE. Of course he missed huge parts of it, including practical parts which meant that he then struggled to do the written work as he didn’t have anything to write about.
He did absolutely abysmally in that piece of work, we didn’t have time to spend any more class time on it as the class then had to start their next NEA. At the end of the course he achieved a 3.
I honestly think if he hadn’t gone on holiday, he would have got the extra marks to push him up to a 4.

I also notice there is a lot of discussion about parents rights- nobody has mentioned the rights of the child to an education and what is in THEIR best interest.

@Londonrach1 for sure. 230 thousand people beg to differ

I asked for the link earlier @Somethingneedstobedone dont know if you saw?

This will make teacher's lives even harder.

Here’s an interesting article about grades for those who wonder https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/psychology-yesterday/202011/why-are-we-told-good-grades-lead-success-in-life

i kind of agree and disagree with this one. I think there’s more to life than just grades thb

The only way it would work, so that the teacher wasnt constantly playing catch up with students is to make it so that the students would all be off on the same weeks

oh wait…

@Firecarrier oh sorry! I must have been caught up with the debate going on! Here it is https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/658365

@FallingDownARabbitHole works in so many other countries so why can’t it work in Britain?

Students already get 12 weeks holiday per year, which is more than enough. If you have an issue with anyone have it with the greedy holiday providers for charging more during school holidays.

Children do not need away holidays. There is no need to take them out of school. If you can’t afford an overseas holiday, then don’t go

@FallingDownARabbitHole we sort of established that in a free market that’s never going to happen

I struggle to comprehend that you actually think something like that could be regulated.

If I own a hotel and can sell all the rooms at £1,000 per week in August and only £200 per week in January, but which gives me an average of £500/wk at which point I can continue to operate successfully, what do you propose legislation would do?

If the August rooms are sold out at £1,000 but you're legislating they can only sell for £500, are you going to hold a lottery to decide who gets the rooms?

Since I need to average £500 per week, what do I do to make up the balance since I can't sell the rooms at even half that rate off-season?

@BrightLightTonight well some children might need it some children might not. Parents should be able to decide beaded on their family circumstances. For some families it would be meeting their relatives or going to weddings/funerals, celebrating certain holidays. Travelling is great for broadening horizons, meeting new people and experiencing what life has to offer.

Then don’t have a holiday. It’s not worth risking your child’s education so you can have a week in the sun.

it’s not the teachers responsibility to catch a child up on what they have missed as off for a 2 week holiday times 30 children. They have a hard enough. job as it is.

I wouldn’t be happy if my child’s education suffered due to their teacher trying to catch up students who missed two weeks of school.

if you want a holiday have it during the designated school holidays or pay the fine

Perhaps it's the holiday companies that should be petitioned

@FallingDownARabbitHole I’ve stipulated it earlier… there are plenty of people who do it in your children’s school but they just lie that their child is sick. Fines don’t really help the problem. My point of view is that parents can and should take the real for their children’s education and help them to catch up on what they have been missing

Why do so many people think they are entitled to a holiday
If you can't afford it, you can't afford it
Do they teachers get to say teach yourselves, I'm off for a fortnight.
Today's attitude to holidays being some sort of necessity is ridiculous

@kitsuneghost pwahahaha I agree! We should all return to the slave labour!! Were born to work for the capitalist and not to have an opinion ourselves, right comrade! … wait, what?!