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!

So who is being hypocritical? The people on the front line or the people who introduced the system?

The local authority mostly and yes the government.
Gene - so it's socialisation you're so bothered about? In that case ALL children will be in the same boat (except the children of key workers and the most vulnerable)

It's not all Im bothered about. It's my bigges issue. No, other children have siblings.

I said just because others are unreasonable or arrogant or whatever, you don't need to be that too

I don't think taking my child on a term time holiday and writing to my mp about the ridiculous fines is being unreasonable. That's all I'm going to do?

@Trust my daughter cries every day for her friends. I think it is a profound concern and I feel your frustration

Thanks @NeverTwerkNaked

@NeverTwerkNaked that’s really interesting, my DS mood has been very low. We’ve been doing lots of crafts/sports as well as the worksheets. We’re looking into getting a tutor too.
Maybe we need to consider private school. We are sending an email to the school politely enquiring if the school can provide additional support/resources. There were only maximum 8 key worker children attending - so the lack of support/interaction is disappointing.

Trust, English is not my first language. I don't think I can articulate clear enough for you to understand what I was trying to say. Do whatever you like. I don't think taking your child on holiday during term time is unreasonable. People think different. But what I was trying to say is, this thread is wrong in a way. People shouldn't use the current closure of school to justify term time holiday when they are angry about children missing education. But that's my opinion. I really couldn't careless about others who think otherwise.

Seems like a realistic possibility OP. I could also see people taking a punt that there'll still be no effective vaccine or treatment and so there might continue to be advice about quarantining if someone is symptomatic, which could provide a convenient excuse.

That be a concern in most workplaces too. We could predict who’d be first off and the most often with contact after contact

@Pomegranatepompom
An inbetween option some of my friends are trying are the online only) schools. From year 4 up I think. They do online interactive lessons and I think you can pick topics or do a full curriculum (may vary between schools). They are cheaper by some way than private school.

There's also places running interactive online adhoc lessons /courses (places like la Jolie Ronde but also outschool which has so many courses I felt pretty overwhelmed by the choice but my daughter has tried some and really enjoyed them )

I am a teacher and I’ve never had strong feelings about term time holidays. Some children go on them and catch up with no issues and also benefit from the cultural enrichment. But for others every day in school really does matter for a variety of reasons. It depends on the child.

And let’s not forget that whilst this situation isn’t fair and children aren’t all on a level playing field, they never have been. There is such inequality in our society that many children are disadvantaged in their early years and this has a profound effect on their whole childhood. Schools are not equally good even when they are all open.

And they won’t miss six months - lots of that is holiday.

Indeed user.
It seems that some on here have deluded themselves that even a so called ‘outstanding’ state school Can compete in any way with private education. Those parents are literally buying privilege for their kids. Yes. Even now with a pandemic raging. This is why public school parents have made damn sure you know that they’re getting a better ‘service’.

Not at all deluded. Acutely aware of the gap and therefore of how much the gap is growing right now.

Well, I've taught in both, so fairly aware over here.

you might be unpleasantly surprised by the standard of teaching in a lot of private schools

Gosh! Started this and then forgot to check back as usually my posts get very little interest!

For what it’s worth, I’m not one of the people who have been moaning about schools being off, we very rarely take any time off school, maybe the odd pickup early on a Friday afternoon if we have to travel to the grandparents a few hours away. But that’s maybe once a year. My children are rarely off sick and both do very well at school so missing a day wouldn’t be an issue, not that we do it.

However last winter they both ended up having about 3 days off sick each (around the time of the mysterious flu that was going around and over half the school were off!) and they didn’t really miss anything. It also annoys me when we diligently book the more expensive flights going out on a Saturday at the beginning of half term to then discover they’ve only watched movies and done craft all day on the Friday.

I was thinking that if a vaccine isn’t developed and we end up having to have a new reality alongside coronavirus that things might be very different at school anyway. Children may have to be off self isolating for a couple of weeks if they or a family member have symptoms, or if people in their household are shielding. So there may have to be some kind of ongoing distance learning provision anyway in future.

Our school haven’t been horrendous but also haven’t been great. We had a lot of worksheets and oak academy sheets. I’m not demanding the schools go back either, I’m happy keeping them safe at home. But for their sakes I’d like them to go back even part time as they love school and they miss their friends.

We don’t go away ‘just for a week in the sun’. We enjoy many types of holidays and go to have unadulterated family time together. My DH is away a lot with work and works long hours, we lead quite hectic lives between after school activities and weekend plans. We enjoy our lives and being busy but also really value time spent just us and the luxury of being able to devote time to the kids as we haven’t got chores to do etc.

As others have pointed out no two kids or schools are the same. Our council doesn’t fine, and luckily I have no concerns at all about my children falling behind.

I’m just interested to see if peoples views will be different. I agree some may get more of a ‘seize the day’ attitude. But quarantining after travel may also scupper being able to travel at all for some people.