Term-time holidays to be banned, with fines.....

[LilyBolero]

Discuss

[Sparklingbrook]

Work to take on holiday? WTF? Sounds like conscience easing to me.

[CleverlyConcealed]

Excuse me whilst I regain my composure

I wonder who Gove thinks will administer the increased amount of paperwork and fines. Our EWS has been decimated in the recent round of public sector job cuts. Most primary schools locally won't even have an Education Welfare Service to speak of come September.

[Feenie]

And hang on, Gove wants a reduction in the summer holiday aswell - so we'll all be fighting for the same four weeks at extortionate prices. Except private school families, of course. Marvellous.

[CleverlyConcealed]

He's a twat.

[ledkr]

mandy some good points but i will say agin that of course a holiday isnt a right,but the chance to experience things the same as peers from richer families should be.Why should my children si and listen to their friends exciting stories of planes and other countries just because i have less money than their parents. There are many pleasures in life that arent a right or we could do without but we dont.Life isnt all about hard work.

[Sparklingbrook]

Foreign holidays aren't 'all that' IMO.

[ClothesOfSand]

I hope this means that headteachers will no longer be able to take children out of school on holidays during term time. It will save me hundreds of pounds a year on school residential trips, and more of the school year will be spent actually teaching the children.

[Housemum]

Not happy with the reasons behind it (ie I don't think banning holidays will do anything towards truancy rates - not the same thing at all) but I do think that we should be careful not to assume we have a "right" to a "good" holiday. I had fab childhood holidays, but all in cheap self catering UK accommodation as that was all my single-parent mum could afford. She to this day has not borrowed anything, except for a mortgage when she finally bought a house about 15 years ago - now repaid in full. I was about 15 before we went on a week's foreign holiday to Italy - in the school hols, she saved up for it.

People who can afford private education also get to afford the cheaper July holidays before the rest of us - life sucks sometimes, but I have to deal with it. This year I looked at package holidays but campsite it is again - because I will not take the DDs out of school for more than the odd day.

What this report doesn't cover is the rest of the authorised absence - what about funerals, weddings, music/dance/skating/whatever exams, modelling/theatre work etc?

[ledkr]

Yes but thats your choice sparkling We love ours,it gives us something to look forward to and we have even learnt spanish which we practice when we are away.

[Feenie]

Our residential trip IS spent teaching children - it's part of the curriculum, ClothesOfSand - how can you teach outdoor and adventurous activities at school?

[Sparklingbrook]

I wouldn't want DS1 to go on his German trip in June without any teachers.

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

I'll have to hope elderly family members in Ireland have the decency to die during the holidays when the time comes then And God forbid anyone over there gets married...

[poorbuthappy]

Agree about the residential trips. My dn can't understand why he can't have 1 day off to do his sport thing, but the school skiing trip can have 3 days off around half term.

[ClothesOfSand]

Lots of trips that parents take children on are also educational. If schools are allowed to take children on trips in term time, then so should parents if they can demonstrate the educational benefits.


The cost of DD's school trip last year was more than the amount we would normally spend on our family holiday, so as a consequence we didn't have one. So basically we paid the school for them to take our daughter on holiday and DS had no holiday as a result. This year, my parents had to pay for DD's school trip. It seems to have very limited educational benefits to me - we could provide better if we were allowed to take DD out of school for that week. If my parents didn't pay, she would have to sit in the year 3/4 classroom all week as the whole of year 5 and 6 are going.

DS is having a really wonderful week long residential trip this year (and actually the teacher has organised it so that it happens out of school time); I am not saying they are all a waste of time, but neither are all family holidays. Schools and parents should have to meet the same requirements to be allowed to take children out of school. It is as if we're all seen as incompetent at providing any kind of educational experience for our own children.

[Morebiscuitsplease]

Already in force in our schools. Those who have good attendance do not I think lose out missing one week in the back end of the summer term. Things do wind down. At the end of the day it is cost. My husband works hard and has suffered with stress, a decent holiday is very beneficial to him and the children love their holidays. It is quality family time together. We play ball at school excellent attendance, support school and if we take a holiday that is our decision. Will it stop the persistent truant ears.... I doubt it, it just penalises the rest of us.

[ClothesOfSand]

Feenie, my DS is in year 9 and has never done 'adventurous' activities on a trip. Is it compulsory then? Have his schools failed to fulfill their curriculum obligations because he has never been? What are the adventure activities that absolutely must be taught by law?

[maxybrown]

MrsHeffley - not all children have the chance to attend an after school club, some have to use a childminder and the Teachers who use childminders DO still have to pay for it all year round!

My Dh is a teache so we couldn't go in term time anyway, but we only go camping on cheap sites as that's what we can afford while I am not working.

Who said about Sun Hols? Well take a look at the Daily Mail breaks next time they do it, as they offer theirs in school hols too! We are having a week at Easter for £65 - that's not including the ent passes as we didn't want those as wouldn't use them.

[Sparklingbrook]

DS1 is going to Germany with the school to help with his German language. It is not somewhere I would choose to go for a family holiday.

DS2 is going on an outward bound type residential trip. Abseiling, and zip wires, and making rafts is not something that appeals to me.

If it wasn't for these school residential trips neither DS would have these experiences. I think the teachers that take them on these trips deserve medals.

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

Cost aside, I would like to know just how every household where there is a school aged child or a teacher is going to be able to access a holiday when suddenly you only have the choice of going in a six week period over the summer.

For one, many departments of perfectly ordinary, every day public services (doesnt have to be military or police, many hospitals or customer services work this way too)are run according to strict staffing numbers. If most of those employees have school age children they are all going to be wanting to take their annual leave in this 6 week period. Can you imagine the scrum for annual leave? Where both parents work then you can double this problem.

For another, there will simply not be enough flights/holidays to go round everyone, even if people could afford the inevitable hoik in prices. You would have to book 2 years ahead for both annual leave and holiday itself which isn't doable.

Finally, I don't want to see businesses and employees in family holiday resorts suffering because they are lying virtually empty during term time. They probably wouldn't be able to operate going from one extreme of demand to the other.

Altogether a ridiculous idea and I work term time in a school myself but don't lie with the "I have to do it so you should too" brigade.

[dreamingbohemian]

'Can't those with relatives 'overseas ' have them visit here instead?'

Oh sure, I'll just tell all my family in the States to get married over here instead. And that big 50th anniversary celebration, I'm sure 200 people can fly to Europe no problem. Including all the 90 year olds!

Home ed looks better and better.

[ClothesOfSand]

SB, I'm not saying that all trips are a waste of time; some are very good, as are many holidays that parents take children on. I don't know any Latin so certainly couldn't give DS the experience that DS's Latin teacher will be providing on the school residential but there are other experiences I can offer that the school can't. The same rules should apply for both school trips and family trips in term times.

Actually this will no longer apply to us anyway, because DS is starting GCSEs next year so will not be going on any term time residential trips with anyone, but it should apply to other year groups.

[megapixels]

"normally done to take advantage of cheaper package holidays" .

Like someone else said, I'd take them out and pay the fine. A once a year trip back to my children's country and culture, to be in touch with their heritate and language, to see older members of the family that they may not see again the next year, is more important to me than a few days of school lost.

[dreamingbohemian]

Curly this is why in France and Germany, maybe elsewhere, they rotate holiday times among different regions and districts. This keeps prices somewhat in check and distributes people much better.

Why can't they do this in the UK?

[MrsGuyOfGisbourne]

dreaming - I wondered that too as just returned form France whwere the feb half term is staggered across four weeks - was told by a teacher here that that would ot be acceptable here by the teaching unions as teachers with kids in schools on the edge of the regions would not get time off with their kids [puzzled]

[HJisthinkingofanewname]

Will the academy's/free schools etc HAVE to follow Govt rules on this? Or will it just be state schools ?