Call for government action over increased holiday prices during school holidays

[CatherineHMumsnet]

Following the story today on how a father's Facebook rant about how travel companies increase holiday prices during the school holidays encouraged 143,000 people to sign a petition calling for government action, we were wondering what Mumsnetters' opinions were on the subject.

Are you sick of being forced to pay dramatically higher prices to take a holiday when schools are out? Or do you see it, as ABTA do, as a straightforward issue of supply and demand?

Horton House in Yorkshire is a great and cheap place to go with kids. It is run as a co-operative, has a play room and provides all the ingredients you need to cook with as well in the price.

it's hugely expensive to get to by public transport from where i live locally though sadly. i wanted to meet some friends there for a weekend once but was stunned at the rail fares even in long in advance. obviously wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.

Actually, any youth hostels I've stayed in over the last 10 years or so have been around the same price as B&Bs and less conveniently located than them. I don't think they are a cheap option any more. Also, the family rooms are fine if there's four or more of you, but in numpty's case she would be paying for beds she isn't using. Look, numpty doesn't sound like an idiot to me and she has said it's cheaper and more convenient for her to go abroad. Why not just take that as read and work from there, rather than trying to convince her that actually she could have just as much fun sharing showers with 500 German hikers or carrying a trailer-full of camping equipment across the country on her back?

thank you wallison. i really am not an idiot i do not need some do gooder to inform me how i should holiday or how easy i should find it to do things their way.

ds is now six - much more useful than he was at say 2. at the airport he can take charge of a wheely hand luggage sized case (we travel everywhere hand luggage only saving us a fortune) and he doesn't require a pushchair, a constant hand hold or nappies and special foods etc. our last term time holiday 'abroad' was to go visit a friend in ireland - our flights combined cost £40 all in and i gave my friend a few euro to ensure she wasn't out of pocket feeding us for the week.

the time before that was a 'big' holiday - something we've done on average every two to three years. we spent £500 on flights and rented a fully equipped air con apartment yards from the beach for £100 and spent possibly a tenner a day on food and activities - a grand total of about £750 all in for 2 weeks in egypt in july where ds had a fabulous time.

that one was expensive by my standards but i think it's clear to see that even then it was certainly no more expensive than trying to book accommodation for 2 weeks in england in july, get trains and pay the cost of living in this country to feed and entertain us.

let's say i went to youth hostel by the sea and could in fact get a family room in summer holidays for £25 per night for the fortnight (doubtful) - that's £350 gone on accommodation, say £85 on train fares, we're at £435 before we've even left our delightful youth hostel and eaten anything. that would leave me £315 for two weeks for food, entertainment, transport from the inconveniently placed youth hostel to anywhere we wanted to go, things to do on rainy days etc. a budget of about £23 per day for the two of us out of which everything must come.

for the same price as two weeks in egypt eating lovely food in beautiful surroundings with a lovely apartment by the sea and guaranteed sunshine and free swimming, snorkelling and pottering enough to make anyone happy.

sorry to bore everyone with details but those are the facts.

And while everyone is looking at term time holidays and getting riled the Government are quietly putting through a bill through the Houses of Parliment that is the BIGGEST change to Special Educational Needs in over 10yrs....

It's not passed but is in it's final stages & some changes are in already.

Gone are the 'should' and 'must' for LAs and schools and welcome the 'best endeavours'

The masses might not think it applies to them but then you are seriously naive... This change is massive, schools are drawing lines in the sand they never have before - THATS health, THATS social care so we won't do it... And health and social care aren't ready... There is going to be less statementing, more integration and all against a back drop of teachers not having adequate training in SEN and schools needing to manage their own SEN funding.

If

Whoops...

If I was a cynic then I might say the Government want parents to be looking the other way at the moment

That, Doris, is extremely interesting and something I could get worked up about.

They have form for distraction. Unqualified teachers ok, announced on Olympics opening ceremony day. New Year's Eve, a paper on making schools more like the army. Now...

It's happening... All the major players like IPSEA and Contact a Family are concerned and have challenged as must as they can...

It will be in by the end if this academic year...

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/special-educational-needs-sen-code-of-practice-and-regulations

I fed into this at a local level via a group and as an individual but it seems to me only parents with children with SEN are remotely interested and most of them are knackered / disaffected (with good reason) / don't feel they have a voice so it hasn't had the attention it should...

So frustrating when every day in my FB newsfeed I see 'shared' posts for term time holidays with thousands and this is scrolled past uncommented on...

Agree totally Doris, I wrote at some length to my MP about it last year (he is on the relevant select committee) but don't hold out any hope that it is going to do any good. One reason I wouldn't dream of taking my DCs out in term time is that one of them has SNs and is at enough of a disadvantage as it is without missing chunks of school unnecessarily. I also cannot afford to give anyone (school or LA) any ammunition in the question of whether we as parents are doing enough to support our child's education.

Unfortunately many parents without children with SNs have no idea about any of it. I tried explaining the statementing process to one this week and her jaw hit the floor. She had no idea that it wasn't automatic and mandatory for children with SNs to get the extra help they needed.

And yes, parents of children with SNs have got enough on their plate already without having to fight new and damaging legislation.

I think they should make it that a child needs to attend a minimum of 80 /85% of school days (with exceptions for DC with serious illness/Sn) for them to be able to pass the grade. This puts the onus on the parents to ensure their children attend to be able to progress, but also gives them discretion in using the days they can miss for what ever reason they like. Give responsibility back to parents and less of the nanny state.

Exactly WhoKnows

Whilst everyone is gasping over Centre Parcs prices and jumping up and down this is quietly gathering speed.

And I agree about unauthorised absences.... There is NO WAY I would risk one! Oh for the luxury of saying 'I don't care - I'll pay the fine'

One think is absolutely certain - when this hits EVERYONE will feel it... And the majority will be totally bemused as to what happened and why!

...then start up your own thread on it dayshiftdoris so it gets the prominence it deserves. not tack it on here. many people will see 9 pages of replies and not bother to read or post and clearly they should. thanks for flagging this up. something else for me to write to my friend Mikey boy about.

Can someone please post some GOOD studies (i.e on more than groups of about 5 people) that show that having a two week holiday in term time once every 1 - 2 years has an effect on grades at school please? I keep seeing it but no one has provided the evidence. I went to a pretty nice school, a huge percentage of my year went on holidays in school time for two weeks (back then, the school allowed an authorised absence of ten days per year) the GCSE pass rate was 97% in our year.

Sorry Mummy...

I thought it was very relevant to the topic & any post about it on FB that I have seen have been ignored I kind of tried a different tactic...

Apologies - I read the OP as a discussion rather than someone's personal issue.

There have been loads of threads about the proposed new SEN legislation, but I suppose they have all been on the SN boards. To be honest, it's all so complicated that I struggle with it even with a fair amount of prior knowledge, let alone trying to explain it to people who have no experience of SNs.

That's the problem is talked about in the SEN world and no where else!

Numpty not trying to convince you that you would be better off camping just in disagreement that it is unfeasible.

You can pick up tents very cheaply, even on freecycle. I may have splashed out about £35 to get a slightly more spacious yet lighter model. I've only ever gone to places where water is available so never carried that with me, we only take minimal food as we can buy food where ever we go or eat out. I've never used a taxi on a camping trip and rail fares are cheap (even in holidays) with a friends and family railcard. Cycling is cheaper still.

I understand that going abroad can be cheaper.

I never took the train until I was better off. I used to go everywhere by National Express and that can be really cheap. The train is always relatively expensive.

Quick question, that I think is relevant. Some of you feel it is not harmful to take children out of school for holidays in term time. The government does, hence the new rulings and fines.
Q is, if you disagree with a law, does that mean you disobey it. I'm asking about if you think it is okay to be selective about which your stick to and which you don't. Or should we just stick to the law. For example, if you think the speed limit on motorways shuld be 80 not 70, do you break the law. And following on, do you think being fined for it is wrong, because you disagreed. Or you might think you can talk safely on a mobile whilst driving, so disregard the law. Would you then think the fine is wrong?

I ask, because there seems to be a matter of principle at stake here, about obeying the law, as well as the specific issue of time off in term time.

Chocolate - the issue of speeding is a poor one. my failure to observe the speed limit puts others lives at risk. up until 6 months ago I took 5 - 10 days off a year with my kids in full agreement and cooperation with the H/T. the H/t told me when so as to minimise disruption and we buddied up with other kids who scanned the work they missed and they read it nightly whilst away. What has changed in that 6 months? I am a responsible adult and parent. I don't just take my kids out when I feel like it. I have always discussed it in depth with the school and come to an agreement. The principle at stake here is that I am the parent. I actually do know what is best for my kids and I also know how to manage the work they have missed because I work in partnership with the school. on the one hand I am being told to take responsibility for my kids, what they learn at school, how they behave etc but on the other I am told I and the h/t are too stupid to use our discretion as to when we can have time off. If a law is manifestly stupid then no, sorry, I wont keep to it. nothing Gove has said has persuaded me otherwise and I have a letter from him where he says as far as he is concerned I should be allowed time off as exceptional circumstances yet the h/t are being told by the LEA that they shouldn't. so if fracking became law you would just let it happen under your house chocolate because all laws have to be obeyed? thought not.

Mummymeister, sorry if what I asked annoyed you. I still think it is a reasonable question.

Perhaps my examples weren't the best. We could use any law to illustrate the point though. Some people don't think their children should have to educated at all. Some people think they are capable drivers once they have drunk a few pints. Some people think its okay to let their dogs poo on the pavement. It is all lawbreaking, with legal consequences, aimed to deter the behaviour or punish. Im not sure that the law havi g recently changed is very relevant either. It used to be allowed to drink and drive, not educate your children etc etc. then laws were introduced. Everyone is under the law, because a system cannot work if we can all pick and choose which bits we like and agree with. So yes, even if I disagreed I think I would stick to the law. I can't afford the school holiday period for going away, and I accept that, even though it doesn't suit me. And I explain the law like that to my children too. If I disagreed, I would write to the body concerned to express my view, but I would accept I am under law.
I asked the question, to genuinely see what people think. You answered it, by saying you do think it is okay to break the law if you don't agree with it. Thank you for answering.

Yy chocolate.

And mummy, it was your individual head previously that classified your absences as special circumstances (I think that was the old definition) - another head might not have done and you would still have been breaking the law.

Same heads doctrine - my kids are teenagers. It was never coded as special circumstances, ever. I just saw it as a partnership where we worked together to get the best outcomes. now I feel embittered if I am honest. and yes, you can say how pathetic over a holiday, but as a self employed person I feel as a family we do really need to spend time together not go off on breaks separately with one parent away with the kids whilst the other is working and vice versa. Chocolate - I have written lots of letters, lobbied my MP etc. there is lots of sympathy for my situation. you have to look at why this came in and what it was intended to do. have just read a FB message from a friend in another part of the country. her LEA have just been on the local news going on about how much money they have made from the fines and isn't this great. how does that help someones education then? What about the exemptions on religious and service grounds? if its wrong its wrong isn't it? I have done lots of background research and reading. the more I find out the more I realise this has nothing to do with kids taking term time holidays. watch out for Gove. the next "law" might adversely impact your life the way this one has done to mine. and before anyone says about the impact on my kids education oldest DD is taking 13 GCSE's this year all predicted A and A*.