Do you think people will be more likely to take term time holidays next year?

[SunnyUpNorth]

I’m wondering if people will be more relaxed about taking term time holidays next year partly because kids have missed so much school and will more than likely catch up over time, so a missed few days/a week is unlikely to do much damage. Or because people will have suffered financially this year and may not be able to afford term time holidays next year?

I was just looking at some flights for next year which would cost around £1k for 4 of us, but the week before would be around £250!

Trust
Here's an article that explains it.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36277836
You probably wont believe it but hey ho.
people clearly do care - Yes I agree - on here. In terms of you using these arguments when fined - nobody will give a toss. Hope that clears things up for you.

My KS3 students will have 8 lessons a fortnight next year - that's almost half a unit if they go on holiday for 2 weeks!

@HP that’s interesting. Could you explain that a bit more please ?

Right fine. If it's down to the LA I will still complain. I don't care whether they give a shit. I'm still going to do it. I'm sure they'll still fine me and I'll pay it but I am not going to silently accept it.

We should always point out things that are unfair. Like I said if you always roll over and accept things nothing ever changes.

Why do you have to be so aggressively against speaking up against things?

Perhaps if enough people write to their MP someone will have to give a shit about it.

I agree, Genie, with all except this bit, "Perhaps if enough people write to their MP someone will have to give a shit about it."

Tory MPs usually have their kids in private education, and private schools don't stop parents from taking their kids out for whatever reason they want. Interesting, isn't it, how two weeks off for Child A in State Comp is an educational disaster, but two weeks off for Child B in Private School is entirely unremarkable.

Personally, having taught in private and state, I've never had a child take a holiday and it cause a problem. It's only annoying when the parent expects a load of teacher's time to be given over to catching up what's been missed, or giving them work to take away. That's unreasonable. Or taking them out during mock exams, or controlled assessment (back in the day). Otherwise it's fine.

trust
I'm not aggressively against speaking up - for example I would and have written to my MP about the funding of state schools, about lack of support for SEN pupils, about schools opening too early and the risks to children, staff and their families. So you will write to your MP and say what? You want a golden ticket to allow you to take your child on term time holidays because they missed school during the pandemic?
You are also advocating arguing with some public servant who has no say or discretion that its OK for you to break the rules because EVERYONE's children lost learning time due to a pandemic. Utterly pointless but if it makes you feel better do go ahead.

I think if schools are back in face to face teaching then missing more schooling is absolutely daft. Using the logic theyve already missed some so why does it matter is incredibly detrimental.

If anything when schools go back to f2f teaching they will be playing catch up, so attending and not missing school will be even more important then it is normally! As theres still a chance that school will potentially be disrupted for a few weeks here and there is children/teachers test positive and therefore classes have to self isolate. Theres a huge difference between everyone missing f2f teaching and the assumption when schools go back they will need to cover everything again, to taking your children out of school were they miss lessons the other children will be receiving and the gap in knowledge will be even larger then prepandemic as I imagine alot of content will be taught quickly with the onus on students to solidify their knowledge outside of taught sessions.

@Myothercarisalsoshit

trust I'm not aggressively against speaking up - for example I would and have written to my MP about the funding of state schools, about lack of support for SEN pupils, about schools opening too early and the risks to children, staff and their families. So you will write to your MP and say what? You want a golden ticket to allow you to take your child on term time holidays because they missed school during the pandemic? You are also advocating arguing with some public servant who has no say or discretion that its OK for you to break the rules because EVERYONE's children lost learning time due to a pandemic. Utterly pointless but if it makes you feel better do go ahead.

Ah right so you don't want schools to open. That explains a lot. Got it.

It's nothing to do with making me feel better thanks.

You realise the it used to be fine to take a holiday, right? That up to two weeks would be authorised? What has changed, other than the arbitrary rule?

I went to Florida for two weeks during my a levels. Still got three As. Cos I, you know, did some extra reading and copied up my mates notes when I got back. Easy.

I took term time holidays most years and still got really good GCSEs. It was a totally normal thing when I was growing up to take term time holidays. I remember in primary you usually got work sent with you and you had to write a postcard about where you'd been etc.

Theres a huge difference between everyone missing f2f teaching and the assumption when schools go back they will need to cover everything again, to taking your children out of school were they miss lessons the other children will be receiving and the gap in knowledge will be even larger then prepandemic

Apparently bitesize and twinkl are a fabulous substitute for actual teachers. Why will that be different come September?

(I don't believe that at all but that's what a lot of teachers have been saying that at home learning is just as good)

Yes. I am sure LEAs and heads will still insist that missing any days of school means the child will be forever scarred and have a gap in their education from which they can never recover, but it's not going to fly after all this, is it?

@TrustTheGeneGenie

Theres a huge difference between everyone missing f2f teaching and the assumption when schools go back they will need to cover everything again, to taking your children out of school were they miss lessons the other children will be receiving and the gap in knowledge will be even larger then prepandemic

Apparently bitesize and twinkl are a fabulous substitute for actual teachers. Why will that be different come September?

(I don't believe that at all but that's what a lot of teachers have been saying that at home learning is just as good)

Exactly. Surely we can just print off some Twinkl worksheets and they will be fine to take a fortnight off school. After all, teachers on here are saying that is an acceptable education

took term time holidays most years and still got really good GCSEs. It was a totally normal thing when I was growing up to take term time holidays.

I also missed a lot of school and got good gcses but the curriculum is hugely difficult and much harder now. I honestly doubt I could've missed as much school and still walked out with my grades with the current gcse curriculum and I enjoy academia but even I find it overwhelming when I consider the expectations of 15/16 year olds now.
So we can really compare to bye gone days.

I don't get the logic from teachers that all children in a class will be behind to the same amount post pandemic. You must know that isn't going to be the case

• a slice of children will have had private tutoring
• another slice will have had teacher parents at home (who based on Mumsnet are all finding it " so easy" to juggle home ed and working and can't understand why working parents are struggling)
• another slice will have had furloughed or SAHP who can give them lots of attention

Any teacher who thinks they will all be starting in the same place is astonishingly naive.

Not sure I've seen many teachers saying that actually.
My young child is getting some twinkl sheets but unlike the teacher I would have no idea which ones matched up with what they needed to cover in that year and what had already been done in class and what they were moving onto.
Bit of a craft activity - no problem. Spelling or maths? No. But I don't personally care if anyone takes term time holidays it is no skin off my nose.

@NeverTwerkNaked DH and I are both key workers- sadly I think my children are disadvantaged because of this. Would have bee much easier to facilitate home learning if one of us was not working. We will get a tutor for both.

@PorpentiaScamander

Don't get your hopes up. I had a holiday booked for 1st week of July and got official cancellation email yesterday.

I would have no idea which ones matched up with what they needed to cover in that year and what had already been done in class and what they were moving onto.

If you really, really wanted, you could find out. The national curriculum info is online, and you could get a good idea of what the kids have already covered from talking to them. Plus we get told roughly what they're doing each half term in the newsletter.

I used to be a teacher so I admit I'm used to doing it, but the planning isn't that hard.

After all, teachers on here are saying that is an acceptable education

Your just being deliberately obtuse. Ofc that's acceptable currently as if you hadn't noticed theres a global pandemic going on, therefore twinkle and bite size are better then the alternative which is NOTHING. But if and when schools are able to go back f2f then the benefit from teacher lead sessions are much higher, as it's not just the content, but the specific nuances that are beneficial for exams which you cant get otherwise which you miss by missing teacher led sessions. Currently for the most part children will be on a level playing field when they return as teachers will not be expecting all children to have taught themselves next years curriculum (although anything they have is a huge bonus as it allows them to.cover more quicker), but they will be aware not all children have equal access to internet and technology. And yes doing something currently is better then nothing and yes using links and programmes are better then children doing absolutely no academic work and not keeping their brains busy.
But some children just wont get something that they will once its covered in class. And teachers know this.

We also dont know how this will effect the curriculum, certain things may be removed and they may only be examined on what they were able to be taught (although this will require lots of rejigging as schools teach subjects in different orders), therefore making it more crucial that children dont needlessly miss sessions.

Genie
Yes of course I want schools to open. I just don't want them to open too early and put our children, their families or members of staff at risk.
I hope to be proved wrong but we'll all know in 2 - 3 weeks won't we?
Any way, back to my planning as we are back in tomorrow. No time for arguing the toss with a whinger on the internet.

twinkle and bite size are better then the alternative which is NOTHING.

Nothing is not the only alternative. Dd's (state) primary is using two online learning sites for activities, plus Google classroom to set other teacher created tasks and give feedback. A couple of twinkle sheets so far, linked to topic, which I expect they would have used in class anyway. They have done an excellent job of continuing education during this time. While also providing key worker child care. I don't understand why some teachers / schools are providing so little.

Ofc not all children will be the same distance behind, that goes without saying. But they wont start jumping large chunks of the curriculum as they know not all pupils will be able to have covered it as comprehensively at home as others. But again this may vary depending on factors such as location, more affluent areas will be more likely to have internet and technology at home and children will have more access to resources then children from more impoverished areas who may struggle to access resources. Likewise some children in top sets who love learning will generally be more motivated to learn at home then some children in bottom sets who dislike learning. But teachers are aware not all children are going to have had the same opportunities and experience during lockdown, not all children will have managed to do endless school work, not all parents will have the time to spend hours homeschooling and therefore they will look at what point the children are at to ensure children who haven't had a much education are not left behind.

I'm not a teacher, but I've worked alongside education. And really it's common sense. None of my dear teacher friends would willingly allow any of their children to be disadvantaged. But a large part of it will be what the curriculum looks like come September, and one can hope any changes are made by people who understand education...

@Myothercarisalsoshit

Genie Yes of course I want schools to open. I just don't want them to open too early and put our children, their families or members of staff at risk. I hope to be proved wrong but we'll all know in 2 - 3 weeks won't we? Any way, back to my planning as we are back in tomorrow. No time for arguing the toss with a whinger on the internet.

Well you clearly don't do you.

I'm not the one whinging.

I am the opposite, they have missed enough school as it is.