Holidays

[dubsie]

Holidays are becoming more expensive and this is especially the case during school holidays.

Thanks to the education act we are forced to cramming our holidays into just a few weeks a year and holiday companies know this and can pretty much charge what they want.

A week's holiday in Croatia has just cost me over 2500 for a family of three in a threw star hotel bed and breakfast in May/June The same holiday a week earlier was just 1300.

Isn't it it time that parents are allowed to take their children out of school for a couple of weeks a year so we can enjoy a break together. They are our children and they don't belong to the state .

No, having children missing school at random different times throughout the school year would severely impact teaching and learning.

I get your frustration but what you are proposing would be highly disruptive and isn't viable.

Don't you think having a holiday is an important learning experience. There are many families now that can't even afford a camping break in the summer because even those are becoming increasingly expensive.

Learning is as much about life as it is school, and when I was at school it was pretty common for children to go away during term time.

I'm not saying take your kids out of school for weeks but a week a year would make no difference.

The biggest impact on children's learning is actually poverty which is now startling reality in most schools. Children coming to school hungry and tired because their parents are working two jobs and earning so little the benefit system stepping in.

Move to Wales. HTs can approve up to 2 weeks of term time holidays for children provided there are no other concerns about absence levels.

It’s not about 1 person doing it. If all 30 families in a typical primary school class all took different weeks off during term time the teacher would constantly have to try to play catch-up for everyone who was missing, increasing the workload and slowing the progress of all.

HTs in England can and do allow term time absence when there is a good reason like seeing family overseas etc. but having a blanket policy allowing people to travel during term time to save money isn’t tenable.

Don't you think having a holiday is an important learning experience.

I always giggle when I see this

Travel is an important experience for children as is playing with other children. We saw the lock down results on children's development.

And that was the state once again forcing a lock down on children. Thankfully mine still went to school because I'm an emergency worker. Whoever, thought children should be locked down should face disciplinary action....there was never a risk to children....and most patents.

I think the state is over stepping its role. Let children and parents decide.

So now we’re on to lockdown and not cheap holidays? 😂

My son is only three but I've already resigned myself to being fined each year for taking him out of school for a family holiday as the fine will be much less than the extra cost to go in school holidays.

I get that attendance is important, and if for any reason my boy had missed lots of school then I may change my mind but I think if a child has good attendance with no other concerns over learning and behaviour then discretion for 5 days without fine should be allowed.

Experiencing time in a different place/country, with family (especially if you work full time) without the day to day stresses is really important. And in our case we go with grandparents too which is so so precious. It may not be the curriculum but it's still learning and experiencing the world. Maybe different in exam years but whilst he's in primary I think it should be allowed with the caveats I mentioned.

Ok as a minimum wage TA can I also take a couple of weeks off so I can afford a holiday ?

I agree completely. Travel is education & it broadens the mind! I'm in Ireland & we can take the kids out. Mine missed a week in January to going skiing. The package trip was 2000 euro cheaper than the midterm. Plus the slopes were very quiet.

No, it is not time.

You can travel and broaden the mind at less expense than that cited in the op. Hell, you can broaden the mind without travelling at all, if the mind is your focus.

It is highly disruptive to have to catch DC up - fair enough if it's illness because that can't be helped. But adding 60 weeks further disruption per class (2 weeks per DC in a class of 30) is just madness.

I think if a child has good attendance

I think that as a criterion would fail the Disability Discrimination Act. And it would be really shitty for families with a DC with health issues to watch from the sidelines as others got cheaper holidays.

Private schools mange fine, during covid the kids had to mange, with the teachers strike kids are also having to manage with work books.

It's supply and demand OP whilst people pay these prices.....

Just because that's your situation. Our life doesn't revolve around your annual leave. There's pros and cons to being a TA.

With all due respect you could get a different job and pay for wrap around childcare (horses for courses).

4/5 of my daughters’ lessons each day are ruined by a boy whose only purpose seems to disrupt the lessons. He’s on a “positive behaviour plan”, apparently, which means the other 29 children just have to put up with him kicking off and teachers shouting continuously.

I said I’d stop taking DD out in term time in high school but there’s hardly any point her being there at the moment for all the learning she actually gets to do.

By the same token, policies on holidays in term time don't have to revolve around your situation - we could equally say you should get a job that enables you to pay for term time holidays.

Private schools don’t manage with missing term
time education! Everyone still has to take holiday when the school has term breaks (these are just different at times to state school term dates). There is no disruption to learning / catching-up, which is the issue.

Also, schools aren’t doing fine post-Covid disruption. Children are really behind academically…

Just take them out, I went on hols every year with my parents during term time & not once during my uni education did I think ‘If only my parents could have waited until break’ I still got a good education

@Singapore4 that message was for you

extended holidays is the normal in Australian schools, links in with the long service holiday allowance for workers. It’s been going on for years and I don’t see a population missing out from weeks of formal education.
The practice in England of fining parents is ridiculous.

That's just how it is.

I'm a teacher and I'd love to be able to go on holiday say, in the middle of September.
If I wasn't, I'd just take the fine and go.

The fine is there because parents who don't value education very highly take the piss and go on multiple term time holidays.

One or two weeks out of a school year is fine.
If you're wanting more than that than you're doing well to go on that many holidays to be honest.

You can’t expect them to be at the same point as those that came before them, though.

Every time I have to get a child up to speed in class because they’ve missed school is time taken away from other pupils. Think about that.

As a teacher I am totally happy for you to take them on holiday at any time as long as you don’t expect me to help them catch up or hold me accountable for results. You see that week - or two - could be when we did multiplication or revisited some grammar I knew your child didn’t get. I can give you a list of what I was going to teach them
and you can crack on.

Exactly @Notinhampshirenow although because we’re decent human beings and care about the kids we will help them, but we’ll be cursing the selfish parents 😡 (as our lessons are disrupted and time taken away from helping other pupils)