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.)

Beginning of the school year, new class, new teacher - oh let's remove our child at this crucial getting to know classmates stage because a holiday is so much more important. How's that for not relevant.

Libertarians believe business should be largely unregulated. Currently we're pushing back and away from this. Not a moment too soon as the myth we can do nothing but put up with stuff seems very strongly rooted with some

Looks like another question you're not going to answer then!

But the main lesson to take here is, don't confuse your 'should' with 'is'. People who are telling you how this actually works aren't necessarily supporters of a capitalist system. They've just noticed that they live in one, and also that our government doesn't control the world.

Regulation is the answer.

So tell us how the UK government could regulate Spanish accommodation providers.

@EmmaEmEmz it's good that your school is so understanding. Yes how London centric mumsnet is comes out on threads like this.

@TickingAlongNicely trying to research military leave holidays. Do you know of a website or something?

I think there is increasingly a mismatch between the values and behaviours held to be ‘right’ in society at large (individual rights and freedoms being paramount) and those necessary for a mass education system to work (a system of authority and rules that often prioritise collective benefit over individual freedoms).

I wonder whether it will be possible to re-align these or whether it would in fact be better to re-align expectations, processes and accountability so that each individual child’s education reverts to being the responsibility of the parent, with the school’s responsibility being only to deliver lessons (and only the quality of those being inspected) that the parent can use to fulfil a part of that responsibility

It would mean significant changes - a child disrupting learning would be returned straight to the responsibility of their parents, for example, and a parent failing to ensure that their child has a ‘full time education suitable for their abilities and aptitudes, in school or otherwise’ (as is the law) could be prosecuted. It could have significant freedoms - parents could take their children out of school, but also schools would no
longer be responsible for pastoral care, social care, feeding children or families etc etc - that could be perceived as beneficial
on both sides.

"Ask for some work that they can catch up on"…silly me! I thought children needed a teacher to actually teach them, but it appears they just need work given to them to do on their own…

I’m doing it because it’s cheaper but I would argue that it is educational as well. Seeing different places is educational for a child, even if it is lanzarote. I’m only taking my dc out for a couple of days though to make the flights cheaper.

This is such an interesting, well-made point.

Well, that's exactly what happened recently when my DS was off for two days due to a broken boiler. He was given work to do, no teacher supplied!

Honestly, and I say this as an ex teacher, a couple of days off once or twice in a school career is no biggie.

Its in the Armed Forces Covenant.

I agree about a couple of days here and there, but some parents take far more than that. They factor the cost of the fine into their holiday.

I don’t know how old your son is, but a young child can’t just do the work on their own if what they’ve missed is a new concept being taught to the rest of the class in a carefully designed series of lessons, especially in a subject like maths.

You don't need to go on a foreign holiday abroad do you?

They are not the problem. If you've ever book truly direct ....

Not sure what this means. Do you believe no non-UK accommodation provider booked directly rather than through a package or holiday company is ever more expensive during peak season? I have some unfortunate news about Air B and B if so. Who I detest, but let us not confuse our feelings with reality.

Yes they are. We went to a hotel we loved in tenerife just before our oldest started school in termtime, booking direct with hotel and then flights seperate. We looked at going again in may half term, was 3 times as much booking direct than when we went in termtime. They aren't stupid, they know a big chunk of their clientele are from the UK and they look at our holidays before setting prices

Here are some examples in addition to the one @Bushmillsbabe has just given us.

At the dearer end, Ikos Majorca price for all inclusive direct through their website is 7672 Euros for 2 adults 2 kids (aged 8 and 6) in 1 room from 25/04/25 to 02/05/24. No travel included. Same break is 12,369 Euros from 27/07/25 to 02/08/25.

For something more budget on the same island, note this price calendar from a 3 star family resort, Hotel Ariel Club Resort. It's dearer in the summer months, peak season. Same family size, 131 Euros a night in April for 4, 311 in July and August with min 3 nights.

https://www.gavimar-hotels.com/booking1?sid=ef2be2a8-2f10-47ee-943f-39e93c658116&namespace=gavimararielchico

Because the people in the Spanish tourist industry aren't stupid. They know when people are most likely to want to come, and when they can charge more. These are just the first two that came up when I was looking for different price, but it's rather unlikely they're the only two resorts in Spain run by people who've noticed the way supply and demand work.

Oh yes the great success of the regulated industries, they are a constant headache, so may problems - the railways - that worked well didn't it, so much so that it's now back in Gov hands. The Water industry isn't doing very well either - hard to call whether that's going to go back to UK Plc.

But I am wondering how hotels, villas, airlines etc, even package companies could be forced to sell their products to the UK consumer for half the price when they can access world markets and sell to the rest of the world for twice the price. Even if the Gov could enforce this (they can't) secondary markets would spring up to take advantage - where it would be cheaper for French people to buy their holiday accommodation via Britain and it would be cheaper for Brits to buy their off peak holiday accommodation through non-UK markets - not a problem? it is for the businesses who use the summer high prices to subsidise the winter lows, people don't run businesses for charitable reasons - they need to make profit. Let's not even get into the problems associated with price setting - what's a room worth? Who would decide? Price regulation in the holiday market is not possible, it's such a stupid idea.

That's railways argument makes no sense.

Markets ruling us with intervention from government has been a problem for many a year

AirBnB the famous unregulated accommodation.

No she wrote : “I didn’t make sense” in my answer.

If your op is a judgment, then you open yourself to be judged though. Works both ways.

That sounds like throwing the baby out with the bath water.

England just needs to unclench. Education systems in similar comparable countries work because they don't treat kids like robots.

Your solution sounds like treating kids MORE like robots.

Because you didn't make any sense. I said you were welcome to not comment, your reply to that said you had commented. I don't know if English is your second language, but it's certainly coming across that way.

I was actually thinking about the education system in Shanghai as I wrote it (because of discussions I had both with Shanghai maths teachers and with colleagues who visited schools in China). My understanding was that teachers taught the lessons (only in the mornings). In the afternoons, they coukd work with individuals or grouos of children if needed. It was the pupils’ responsibility to turn up to the next day’s lesson fully fluent on the previous day’s work (whether through homework or through work with a tutor). The Chinese teachers were genuinely astounded that I taught the full curriculum, all day, and that if a child had not understood it was my job both to mark their work outside the lesson and to change the next lesson to accommodate them.

That.

Judgey and can’t take a comment back.

Good luck with yourself 🌺