Parents need to stop lying about term time holidays

[Ljcrow]

If parents want to take their kids out of school for a term time holiday because it's cheaper, I wish they wouldn't give the bullshit that it's an "educational experience". There's an article about this on the BBC today, but working in a school I've heard it all before. Can we not pretend that an all-inclusive to Lanzarote or similar is a rich cultural and educational experience?! If you want to take your kids our because it's cheaper that's up to you but don't try claim the moral high ground, no one's falling for it. (Fwiw I think holiday companies shouldn't be allowed to hike their prices up in school holidays, it's disgraceful, and as a parent myself I have no choice but to pay those inflated prices. It sucks.)

Seriously? You might learn about, different cultures, food, language, currency, tides, timetables, waves, swimming, running, beach games, religions, feminism, stranger danger, map reading, poverty, wealth, patience, turn taking, budgeting, family, hygiene,…

In likelihood, yes, but that would be the parent's choice. If you pay for your child's education then, yes, you should be able to use the service as you wish, including taking holidays when you want. But if tax payers are footing the bill, then you have a moral and social responsibility to ensure that your child attends.

No you don't, which is why home schooling is an option. If, however, you want to benefit from the publicly funded schooling system then you you have a responsibility to not interfere with others schooling and create more work for teachers just because you fancy a holiday. It is selfish to take a holiday during term time.

(And it also evens out over time. If you can afford to take holidays when your kids are young, you pay more then and benefit from lower prices at other times before you have kids/ after your kids have grown. If you can't afford them when your kids are young then you forego for few years and just benefit from the low prices - which are effectively subsidised by those who do pay for peak season holidays. Companies make their profits in peak seasons. If they couldn't charge the prices they do then they'd all go out of business and you wouldn't have any cheap holidays.)

Quite..people forget holidays are a luxury that many people don’t have or have access to, it’s not a right, it’s a privilege

But missing out on childhood holidays because parents can't afford them is extremely sad.

Many kids are in that position, because their parents can't afford even an off peak overseas holiday. What's sad is there are kids whose entire lives are living in poverty. Let's focus on making their lives better.

Teachers’ unions made it clear that attendance wasn’t that important when they insisted on closing down schools during lockdown despite the very low risk.

It’s hard to argue now that an extra week off will be catastrophic.

The entire primary, secondary and tertiary education system changed to make allowances for that. Online teaching was implemented, exams were cancelled, university applications were adjusted. You can't compare the two.

You seem to be putting ‘parents’ and ‘the taxpayer’ in separate categories. I am a parent. I am also a taxpayer.

I actually pay for online tuition thesedays, could not cope with any more shitty state school crap.

Thanks for your response.

You are missing my point, I think. The issue is the breaking of the social contract between parents and the state. The contract means that we have free maternity care, free dental care when pregnant, etc., a right to mat leave, statutory mat pay, etc. In return for all of this, and more besides, the state (which includes tax payers) expect parents to ensure that their children make use of the education system that is freely provided to them.

You make a good point about the NHS, and staying healthy, but that wasn't the point I was making.

And it’s supply and demand economics!!

they maybe don’t hike prices..that’s the price unless you go off peak when it’s cheaper

I often see parents with school aged DC in school times, shopping.

Mine often had hospital appointments during school hours. Depending on the timing it made no sense to take her out of school then drop her back. We tended to take a morning or afternoon off. One regular appointment in particular was quite harrowing for her so we would take her to the toy shop for a treat.

Well they should be a right. Life is not just grey, miserable, go without, work till you drop. It’s like everything, the rich can afford it so will keep having these lovely experiences, the poor cannot, and when they manage to make it happen somehow then they’re told it’s not a right and judged and sneered at for the type of holiday they can afford.

But you get to take advantage of cheaper holidays ‘abroad’ (which is a pretty wide scope) due to the difference in school holiday dates, whereas the only advantage English families get is ‘cheaper holidays in Scotland’. My children’s grandparents don’t live in Scotland, they live in Spain, so waiting until the Scottish kids are back at school confers no benefit on me. That’s why I go in (English) term time.

Where did I say that? Of course I wouldn't expect that, I'd ask for some work that they can catch up on. The world doesn't end when they miss a lesson in a certain subject you know.

Travel broadens the mind. It is absolutely an educational experience.

Yes, Lanzarote and Ibiza too. Just because they’re beloved of sun-seeking Brits doesn’t mean they’re without culture and traditions and history to be appreciated.

The OP who is a teacher is judging.

Schools should relax the rule to let parents take their DC last week before holidays as the schools do very little with regarding lessons - playing games, watching films etc

Taking my children to Disney and beaches soon and his school said how fun when I told them. They do see the benefit of holidays. Unless it’s gcse years I fail to see the big deal as a parent. The UK are way too comfortable having tight control over people, covid being a prime example.

100%!! What’s the actual benefit of the last week?

We are going away first week in March because due to various things we can't do it any other time this year. I'll tell school and take the fine on the chin if they issue one.

Yep 100% the main blame falls with the holiday companies hiking their prices. It should not be allowed

Would like to see parents who weren’t able to book annual leave due to other colleagues booking the time off during school holidays and/or restricted to when they can book off leave. To go to the media explaining why they took their holiday during school time.

My DH is a teacher. So yeah I have an idea. He doesn't teach any differently because someone missed 5 days of school no. He sends missed work home and expects them to catch up, occasionally having a child stay behind at the end of lesson to ask for a bit of help if they didn't get something. It doesn't change his week, he has always told his pupils his door is open at the end of lesson should they need to ask him anything. And that's only occasionally. He doesn't make a drama out of it and he doesn't judge anyone. He also doesn't feel the need to self-justify anything, it's that simple.

If schools did that, demand for that week would increase and then prices would too

Well this is it in a nutshell.

I did this and got totally caught out when a staff member saw us!!