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Original poster

taking children out of school for holidays is ILLEGAL

588 replies

zippitippitoes · 08/03/2006 10:03

interesting news report here \link{http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2075270,00.html\ High Court Ruling}

so will anybody still be taking those unauthorised breaks and days off?

Will schools get tougher

and does your school say no at the moment?

OP posts:
Rhubarb · 14/03/2006 14:06

So can teachers take their holidays during term time?

Rhubarb · 14/03/2006 14:06

I have unpaid holidays btw.

julienetmum · 14/03/2006 14:08

No they can't. They take their holidays when their employer (the LEA or the school) tell them to which is obviously always out of term time.

All employers are entitled to tell their employees exactly when they can take their holiday if they want to.

cutekids · 14/03/2006 14:09

as i've posted much earlier on in this thread, i really do believe that there's a difference between the parents who take their children on a week/fortnight's holiday (within the school's "10 days per calendar month")and those who show their kids that they don't care if they take the odd day off here and there for no apparent reason or if they're always late in the mornings etc.

Blandmum · 14/03/2006 14:10

No, they can't have time off in term time.

My MIL was a teacher and she was refused a days unpaid leave to watch her son (my dh) graduate as an officer in the RAF.

I know not to bother to ask for days off in term time.....it would be unprofessional for me to ask.

Rhubarb · 14/03/2006 14:11

julienetmum, which is exactly why some working parents don't get time off during the school holidays to take their kids away somewhere!

cutekids · 14/03/2006 14:11

per calendar year i mean!!!Grin!!!

oliveoil · 14/03/2006 14:12

OMG is this still running?

Rhubarb · 14/03/2006 14:12

I get school holidays btw, but my employers do not pay me for this time, I get no paid holidays. So feel sorry for ME!

cutekids · 14/03/2006 14:12

EXACTLY!Rhubarb!

Blandmum · 14/03/2006 14:14

And I have a DH is the forces, who has leave at set times, and is often away for months at a time and I can only take holidays in the school hols, so pity me Grin

crunchie · 14/03/2006 14:15

YES I AM A MOTHER WHO TAKES THE PISS :o

And do you know what? I don't care really.

The last 3 years I have taken holidays in term times, using a max of one week, we have done ski-ing, centre parcs and disney :) All the evil ones bar Mark Warner :)

And do you know what I think parents who don't take up teh opportunity for a cheaper break, when it is less crowded, are daft :) If we all did this, the demand for holidays in holiday times would drop, and the holiday companies would be forced to lower their prices for peak season, thus helping out the impoverished teachers who cannot take holidays out of term time. I don't get teh arguement about teaching your kids school isn't important, neither do I getthe jealous other pupils stance. To be fair THE ONLY people I do feel for here are teh teachers. But my kids are 7 and 5, their teachers told us not to take books and to go and have fun. SO WE DID :)

I wouldn't do it in exam time, I wouldn't do it near SAT's or whatever else, I do it with the blessing (!) of teh school. LONG MAY IT CONTINUE :)

julienetmum · 14/03/2006 14:16

As I said below, it caused huge problems locally when the schools first abolished the local industrial holidays in June and many parents faced a difficult choice. Many chose to still take thier children out of school for their 2 weeks annual holiday.

the lcoal industry is declining now and very few people work in it anymore but it was an issue.

I'm not arguing against term time holidays Rhubard, I have always said I would take my children out of school if necessary, especially in the circumstances (dance contest) of the original court case.

Parents of children who perform are discussing this issue hotly atthe moment.

niceglasses · 14/03/2006 14:17

Bit circular this innit?

There IS a difference btwn a weeks hols in term time for an otherwise pretty switched on family who would not be able to afford a holdiday otherwise - either time wise or financial wise (any sort of holiday they want I would have thought) AND a repeated misuse of days and weeks off which is clearly not on. I don't see anything wrong with that at all.

Blandmum · 14/03/2006 14:18

Just as an amusing aside....None of the parents who I chatted with last parents evening knew that their kids had taken a modular exam the day before the meeting!

With modular examinations common, how many parents actualy know the dates of their kids exams I wonder? And they run through years 10 and 11 btw

SenoraPostrophe · 14/03/2006 14:19

I think that the real issue is that some of us think that a holiday is somehow a god-given right, and the more sensible of us don't think that.

Original poster
zippitippitoes · 14/03/2006 14:19

I can't see how the government can dictate how much holidays cost, they can't even guarantee free dental care

and if they staggered the holidays then everyone would be up in arms as children in a family who crossed leas would have different breaks and everyone would say that they were penalised from seeing family elsewhere in the country by nature of having moved areas looking for employment

it's a fact that holidays are now more affordable for more people than ever before, that is one reason why we are heading for environmental catastrophe..

OP posts:
Enid · 14/03/2006 14:20

I cant get my head round the importance of holidays tbh

We aren't having one this year and we will all live I expect.

crunchie · 14/03/2006 14:20

MB onthe last thread I supported you, as a teacher of secondary school I think it is muchh much harder on you, I wouldn't do it if my kids were older - however for the time being they aren't so I will :)

BTW ENID, are you saying you like me!!!! :o

niceglasses · 14/03/2006 14:20

Not a god given right, but something we should be able to decide on for ourselves, within the bounds of reason.

crunchie · 14/03/2006 14:22

Ooh yes it is my right to demand AT LEAST 3 foreign holidays a year - if poss 5 star with personal maid :)

julienetmum · 14/03/2006 14:22

Incidentally I WOULD take my children away during SATS as a protest against them having to sit them.

Luckily they will be going to a school that does not do SATS.

Rhubard, your contract of employment with no paid holidays would be illegal in the UK.

julienetmum · 14/03/2006 14:22

Incidentally I WOULD take my children away during SATS as a protest against them having to sit them.

Luckily they will be going to a school that does not do SATS.

Rhubarb, your contract of employment with no paid holidays would be illegal in the UK.

beatie · 14/03/2006 14:23

"There IS a difference btwn a weeks hols in term time for an otherwise pretty switched on family who would not be able to afford a holdiday otherwise - either time wise or financial wise (any sort of holiday they want I would have thought) AND a repeated misuse of days and weeks off which is clearly not on. I don't see anything wrong with that at all."

Please define the difference to me. I fail to see it or fail to see how this can be defined. Why is bowling and shopping a misuse of time and not a holiday????

Kathy1972 · 14/03/2006 14:23

Enid, don't you live somewhere quite rural though? If we were in the city I would be desperate to get away for a few weeks.