To ask if you agree with term time holidays to please sign this petition...

[TermTimeHolidays]

here

It needs 100,000 signatures before it can be discussed in parliament.

Yes *snowmummy I think skiing is great. I love it. It's a great holiday.

If you are taking your DC out of school for a skiing holiday I think you are not being honest with yourself or your DC if you are telling them it's 'educational' in your justification for it. Why can't you just be honest and tell them you're taking them out of school for a holiday? Because it is cheaper and less crowded. Which are the reasons.

snowmummy read my precious post about tennis. My children have never played badminton as far as I know so I don't have to 'justify' that

If the reason that this new policy has been introduced is because of the disruption caused to classes and disadvantages caused to holidaying children, then why are there exceptions?

Child A has 10 days unauthorised leave to go to Magaluf - causes disruption. Bad child.

Child B has 10 days authorised leave because mum is a soldier - doesnt cause disruption? Good Child.

Child C has 10 days authorised leave because dad is a policeman - doesn't cause disruption? Good Child.

Child D has 2 days unauthorised leave prior to half term to go on holiday early - causes disruption. Bad child.

Child E has 2 days authorised leave prior to half term to go to Grans funeral - Doesn't cause disruption. Good child.

Either it disrupts or it doesn't. The reason the child is off makes no odds.

No, don't get rid of the 6 weeks holiday. It's blessed respite from school and all the problems that go with it.

But if they tighten up the reasons then it leads to less disruption overall. Still not ideal but some leeway was needed for extreme cases.

I don't understand why they didnt just reduce it to 5 days allowed at the discretion of the head teacher but at the same time tightening up the guidelines for when it can be taken (time and circumstances).

for some families having term time holidays is the only option not for monetry reasons for other reasons, jobs, family etc.

Family life is not valued in this country and it shows through the society we live in.

Education is important, but education isn't important at the cost of other important factors of society

this is not a thread about "holidays in the UK good, going abroad bad" it has nothing to do with whether it is a fortnight in magaluf in June or a week in Skegness in November. Lt Eve you forgot to add in your list Child F - takes 3 weeks off for religious reasons - good child. to all those of you posting that you wont sign wait until your partner cant get leave in school hols because everyone else that works with them and has kids also wants it or you swop jobs and are told no hols in school holiday time term time only.

Good for you, FeckBloodyPets. I note that you have two adults to carry the tent, camping equipment, clothes, food and toiletries for a week/two. In this house, there is just one. Believe me, it's not possible.

If you are not allowed to take holiday in school holidays times then you can't go on holiday to any place on earth or the moon - you just can't go. if you can't take children out of school for a wedding on a weekday then you just can't go.

That says that family life is not important, time with family is not important and special occasions with family are not important.

Teacher here (Secondary) and parents who take their children out during term time do NOT have their best interests at heart. Skiing FFS. When employers or universities require a qualification in skiing, I will agree that parents could help by teaching it. But no. I have to teach "Macbeth" grammar, a course leading to an exam. And you are going skiing? FFS. Yes. Educational. Relevant. No.

And yet, when little Camilla or wee Tarquinius wants a place at University, you will be the ones who conveniently forget that you went skiing for a week a year and blame ME when the cumulative effects mean their grades are shit.

Rant over. Not signing. Too many kids off this week (All inclusive, Tenerife and other educational trips) and I am in Scotland so they only have 3 more weeks until they get a cheap fortnight off.

Sorry....the red mist descended again....

I will sign as I think the law as it stand s at the moment is ridiculous.

Parents in jobs where they can not get time off in the holidays are left with the option of no family time.

I think the previous head teachers discretion worked, and the government were utter fools trying to fiddle with it. They waste the time of EWO's up and down the country who could actualy be delaing with proper truanting problems. Instead they are redirected to the easy targets.

This issue is not just about money, some of us just can't take holidays in the school holidays, my family have a farm, school holidays are traditionally the way they are due to children and families being free to help on the farm, these are our busiest times the times when we just can't leave. If we did not go in term we would not have a holiday it is as basic as that nothing at all to do with money. DH works seven days a week for all but two weeks a year.

Surely if the children should be entitled to Term Time Leave so they can have cheaper holidays, then it is only fair the teachers are allowed it too??

My DD's school sets out on it's website how 'Every Moment of a School Day is a Learning Opportunity Not to be Missed'.

I recon if i added up all the:

• repeated lessons due to a supply teacher being bought in who doesn't know/care what the class are meant to be doing that day,

or

• 'Video' lessons ... the class is made to watch some pointless film because lesson planning is up the spout there's no work today.

or

• no work being set because the rest of the school is off skiing,

or

• teacher was off sick and no replacement was bought in in time,

or

• cant do that today as the resources needed are being used elsewhere/that room is being used for an exam,

... then it would add up to a good number of school days altogether. The examples i've given are all genuine - and before anyone says i should take my DD out and put her in a better school - this school is one of the top 7 in the country. The amount of school hours wasted is horrifying. I've seen it first hand in the primary i worked in too.

It makes me when i'm told by the same school that 2 or 3 days out on holiday with us will ruin my DDs education.

Writerwannabe83. it is not all about cheaper holidays. see the all the thread. there are whole groups of us who cannot take holidays in school holiday time because of the nature of the work we are in. It wouldn't matter if holidays in term time were double or triple the cost. this is still the only time that I and many working parents can go. Tinlegs my kids aren't called ridiculous upper class parody names and we aren't upper class either. Camilla and tarquins parents will still take them out of class because they can afford the fines. Georgia and Bens parents wont because they cant. this isn't about class stereotypes.

I know part time teachers who do.

The fact is teachers don't have holiday childcare bills and have other advantages. Sooo they can't take their dc out in term time,other jobs have other disadvantages.

Thanks OP. I will sign this petition.

if no one has said this before, if the schools do their own holiday times during the year as the Gov suggest, then the airlines/holiday places are not going to lower prices at all during year, theyll just keep them hiked up all year long.

agree with kinkyfuckery on page one.

Here is a line to our 365 day a year guidelines

We've also moved this thread to our petitions topic
Thanks
MNHQ

Lets face it the maj of Tories will probably use private education and get the advantages of cheaper holidays as their terms are shorter so they'll be in favour of this as less riff raff cramping their style.

Given that if I took my kids out for 10 days they'd still be in school waaaay longer than the maj of their privately educated friends it's ridiculous.

Olivia can you tell me why this has been referred to guidelines. I thought it was an interesting informative thread.

I was only being Devils Advocate mummymesiter

I do think children should be allowed to have holidays in terms time, not only because of cost but also for the reason you said, convenience to parents and employers. In my last job all the women with children used to fight for Annual Leave over the 6 weeks because understandably they all wanted a family holiday. However, due to working in an all female team it was a good 50% of the workforce all wanting time off at the same time and our bosses just couldn't accommodate it. I always felt schools should be a bit more lenient in relation to holidays. They were when I went to school, I had holidays during the school terms and I turned out ok

The thing that really, really pisses me off about this whole term time holiday thing is that private schools have much longer holidays than state schools, so those who choose/can afford to educate their kids privately can take advantage of the cheaper rate before the prices shoot up for the main weeks, breaking up early July rather than end. Personally, I wouldn't dream of taking my kids out of school for a two week spell, but I do think that is very unfair.

Fluffieraggies - I do see what you are saying about the amount of time that may not be well used during the schoolday, but if you take your children out of school, you won't be able to guarantee that the days they are out of school correspond to the days where there are supply teachers/resource/room issues etc, so you will be putting yet more disruption into your child's education.

Runningchick, you sound jealous of something but I cannot fathom what it is.

I'm not jealous of anything. I have travelled across Europe, to the Caribbean, to the Indian Ocean and to parts of South America and my children have been to some of those places with me BEFORE they started school. I don't wish to go abroad anytime soon so am not jealous of people having foreign holidays.
My kids like activity holidays in the UK so that's what we do. We go for short breaks usually during half terms or over a bank holiday leaving on Friday after school. We don't need two full weeks to feel like we have had quality time, several short breaks works better for us.
I'm not jealous - just sick of some kids using additional teacher time to explain missed work when they come back from 2 weeks holiday.
My priorities changed when my children started school as I don't think it's acceptable to take term time holidays. As a teacher stated up thread the parents who take annual term time holidays don't have their children's best interests at heart.