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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:
Bugsy2 · 09/03/2006 11:55

Depends who's rules they are in the first place!

Enid · 09/03/2006 11:57

nazi germany!

lol that is quite mad sorry franny

Original poster
zippitippitoes · 09/03/2006 11:57

I think the government is keen to stamp on the assumption that some parents believe that at the start of each schoolyear the head is saying you have 13 weeks holiday plus another two weeks/10 days of your own choosing, if that was the case then in fairness all children should have those extra two weeks to fill as they wish when they wish..but put like that it is nonsensical..400 children taking 10 days off during term time at different times at their parents' convenience

OP posts:
soapbox · 09/03/2006 11:57

But Harpsi - what are your principles in regard to this matter?

That you will take your children out of school without authorisation and risk a criminal offence?

The parent concerned did not go to prison - only because the case had gone on for so long. The clear message from the judgement was that had it not done so she could have been imprisoned!

So Costa del Sol can soon become Costa del Cell{grin]

Enid · 09/03/2006 11:57

"life is complicated.
you have your principles and you stick with them
you listen to your conscience and do what you think is right"

exactement mes enfants

soapbox · 09/03/2006 11:58

I didn't say you had mentioned your rights - I said this 'thread'!

Bugsy2 · 09/03/2006 12:01

So, its up for debate - but those of us who disagree with you are hysterical or conforming rule adherers HC!!! I don't think that is the case. Some of us just happen to think that absence from school for a holiday is hard to justify. In actual fact, at the moment we are not even conforming to a rule, because currently the rules allow 10 days out of school at the HD's discretion.

iota · 09/03/2006 12:01

Well the rules at ds1's school as advised to us by the Head at our introductory meeting were:
if you want to take term time holiday, please try to attach it to/ overlap it with school holiday, in order to minimise the no of days off your child takes.

We booked a holiday for Oct (2 weeks straddling half term) and had to book it 15 mths in advance to get the flights.

The rules have changed in that period - so I guess it will be up to the school whether they grant the absence, but the holiday is already booked and so we will be going.

Original poster
zippitippitoes · 09/03/2006 12:02

the head however has clear guidelines fro dfes to follow

which expressly exclude cheap holidays

OP posts:
crazydazy · 09/03/2006 12:03

We have booked a two week holiday in May, the first week is the school holiday and the second week DD will miss school, I have got permission from school and its fine. She is only 6 atm but when she gets to the age where she is taking exams we won't be taking her out of school for a holiday.

Original poster
zippitippitoes · 09/03/2006 12:04

interestingly, it seems that it is the head teachers who are flying in the face of the guidelines, very few people have said that they have been refused permission to take a cheap holiday in term time

OP posts:
GDG · 09/03/2006 12:07

Our school is refusing.

soapbox · 09/03/2006 12:08

Zippi - I think that we might now see the policy being tightened up, now that it is possible to legally enforce the policy determined by the school.

I don't think there is much sympathy within the teaching community/head teachers for taking holiday in term time, other than in extenuating circumstances. I would expect the policies to change to reflect that over hte next year or so!

Enid · 09/03/2006 12:09

I have said this earlier in the thread, but I am sure my head lives in fear of upsetting parents in case they freak out and go privately.

soapbox · 09/03/2006 12:10

Enid - IME they won't get any joy in private schools either!

Original poster
zippitippitoes · 09/03/2006 12:11

I agree Soapbox I mentioned earlier that I thought this law with "teeth" would encourage schools to change their policies, I think it will be a case of local authorities issuing clarified guidance

also it is in no one's interest to withdraw it altogether becuase if for example your parent has been serving in Iraq then a term time holiday might be very appropriate but that is an exceptional circumstnace

OP posts:
cutekids · 09/03/2006 12:12

cannot believe this thread is still going! at the end of the day, why don't we all agree to disagree. if you don't want your children to miss a couple of weeks of school....don't take em out. if you don't mind, book your hols! no one is going to win here. we all have different reasons for doing what we do.

Original poster
zippitippitoes · 09/03/2006 12:14

it does mean that people might thinking twice about booking holidays though as refusal mught be expensive!

OP posts:
harpsichordcarrier · 09/03/2006 12:22

soapbox, I have absolutely no idea
it is an impossible question to answer in principle isn't it?
just like it is a nonsense to say it is always wrong to take holidays in term time
I might, for exaple, choose to take my "little darlings" (because, natch, I am hugely precious abou them Smile) to see a relative who had a terminal illness.
or if they were involved in a sporting/musical/dance competition or soemthing

GDG · 09/03/2006 12:29

But that would be allowed HC - we are talking about just going on holiday for the hell of it.

GDG · 09/03/2006 12:29

But that would be allowed HC - we are talking about just going on holiday for the hell of it.

iota · 09/03/2006 12:31

GDG dance competition not allowed in court case:

"She had removed the three girls for a week’s holiday in November 2003, which included participation in the finals of a dance contest, even though the school had refused permission for them to be absent."

Bozza · 09/03/2006 12:33

Why are these contests being held in term time?

FrannyandZooey · 09/03/2006 12:33

'Beneath contempt' - blimey, that's a first!

My post was intended to be a bit of a send up, as I expect most people realied.

However it does raise the obvious point that we shouldn't always obey rules, just because someone else says we should. I find it hard to get very fussed about the term time holiday issue either way, actually, but I am intrigued as to why people are so hot under the collar about it. Do you think having been taught not to question authority at school yourselves, has made you feel uncomfortable to do it now?

spidermama · 09/03/2006 12:35

I must out to the shops now but I'll leave this thread with the words of A.E. Houseman especially for you GDG ...

The laws of God, the laws of man,
He may keep that will and can;
Not I: let God and man decree
Laws for themselves and not for me;
And if my ways are not as theirs
Let them mind their own affairs.
Their deeds I judge and much condemn,
Yet when did I make laws for them?
Please yourselves, say I, and they
Need only look the other way.
But no, they will not; they must still
Wrest their neighbour to their will,
And make me dance as they desire
With jail and gallows and hell-fire.
And how am I to face the odds
Of man's bedevilment and God's?
I, a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made.
They will be master, right or wrong;
Though both are foolish, both are strong.
And since, my soul, we cannot fly
To Saturn nor to Mercury,
Keep we must, if keep we can,
These foreign laws of God and man.

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