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.

With rights come responsibilities... we need to ensure the kids go to school - it is not negotiable in our house - no having time off just because we want to.... you go to school, do your best etc..

My kids still have a childhood, they still get to have that sense of wonder and have been to many places we want to go.. and there is a lifetime ahead of them for travel.....

my kids find wonder looking at the dragonflies hatching over the pond at home, building dens in the garden with their mates, we don't need to physically go away somewhere every year....

good news 5 madthings. wish our heads took the same view. seems like there may be a light at the end of the tunnel if commonsense comes into it.

I work in retail and am not allowed time off over Easter or Christmas..... so we don't go away over Easter or Christmas......

I love the spring and the winter for holidays - my favourite time to go away - that doesn't mean I HAVE to take time off in term time... just that for now we don't get to go away at those times of year..

Madeofstardust. absolutely with rights comes responsibility. that's why I take responsibility for my children and how well they do at school. that's why I still check homework even though they are teenagers. that's why I take them to plays and help them revise. and that's why I want some family time with them because it is my responsibility to produce rounded responsible educated adults. and in my opinion as their parents I can achieve this by taking them away on a holiday which I can only do in term time. in the past 6 years only one of my children has had time off sick - 2 wks with swine flu. other than that its school all day every day except for a family holiday once a year.

madeofstardust. that means you can still go away in feb half term, May half term, 6 weeks school summer hols, first May bank holiday and October half term so you have no problem with picking time in these weeks unless of course you work with lots of other folks with kids who also want these weeks. I and many others work in industrys where you cannot have ANY school holidays off.

Lacking a certain something will almost certainly be in spite of having the right bits of paper, not because of it, Backinthebox
It most assuredly doesn't follow that lacking the right qualifications imbues you with that special something extra, which is the logical progression of that argument.

I absolutely agree that education is about more than just taking tests, morethanpotatoprints - but the way that someone's education is measured is purely by test results - and the sad fact is that access to a lot of things will depend on having those test results.

Speaking for myself, I would far rather take the children on holiday in school holiday time, than have the stress and work of either getting them to do school work on holiday or catch up on what they have missed afterwards. I remember trying to get the dses to write a diary of their holidays, and how much they whinged about having to do a maximum of half an hour of drawing and writing each day. The thought of trying to get them to do school work as well - !

I think these threads are interesting in terms of how many people see school as so important, rather than looking at educational value.
Parents have options and rights in the type of education their child receives and school isn't really important in the scheme of things.
It is a building housing a system, teachers help to provide dc with an education. It doesn't stop here though and so much can be learned outside the classroom and curriculum that is beneficial to dc which enhances the education they receive at school, and prepares them with life skills too.

SDTG I would far rather take my kids on holidays in school holiday time but unfortunately I have to work. it isn't just about the choice. it is about recognising that families are different. the previous system of trusting the head who knew the family well worked. why has it been tinkered with? because politicians find it easier to re arrange the deckchairs on the titanic rather than tackling the huge issues like why so many kids come out of school not being able to read or write. why the skills that schools give and the bits of paper don't equip young people for employment etc.

So so true Mummymeister

As I said in an earlier post, mummymeister, I have a lot of sympathy for people who, due to work commitments, cannot schedule a holiday in school holiday time.

it has been tinkered with because instead of heads only ever being asked to give permission for special cases, EVERYBODY now thinks they are special... "It is the only time we get off work" IS a valid excuse, "we are going to a family wedding" is as well....

but EVERYBODY is saying these things (when only a few actually do mean it) when what they mean is we want to go away with our kids when WE want to go away with our kids, not when you tell us to

Heads are having to decide who is "most" special or have tons of people going away ALL the time..

My parents always took me out of school for 2 weeks for our annual holiday. My father employed quite a lot of staff in his business and always had to take the weeks no one else wanted ( he was very nice).
Two weeks isn't much, my brother and I never had any problems with being off. When my two were at independent schools they were allowed time out for holidays, though we seldom took it as the school holidays in independent schools are longer and we could go in the very last bit of mid season before the state schools broke up. Those who went in term time were usually off skiing or going somewhere exotic where they had t avoid monsoon season, the sheer force of the parents personalities would have prevented any requirement not to go.

I strongly suspect the "fine" is less than the savings on going off peak. If I was in that situation now I'd just go and gladly pay the fine. Stuff the petty bureaucrats.

What about the staff - its hardly OK to say to them that they're going to be missing children from their class every week due to holidays being taken out-of-season, so they'll have to try to work round that, but can't take any time off themselves when its less expensive.

The "2 weeks isn't much" argument is not totally valid though is it - that presumes that the child will not be ill, there will be no family emergencies - or any other reason that they will be off in that year.

"
but EVERYBODY is saying these things (when only a few actually do mean it) when what they mean is we want to go away with our kids when WE want to go away with our kids, not when you tell us to"

Damn right.

If someone dictates to me on what I can do, I will do the opposite.

So, following your example, when your DCs are told to do some homework or hand in an essay they will tell the teacher where to go, nice.

Exactly.

I also refuse to adhere to the 5 items only rule at supermarkets. I always sneak a 6th in...

It tends to be rules that make no sense that I flaut, rather than ones that are beneficial.

You are a girl after my own heart MarmaladeTwatkins

Yabu. Not signing either. Holidays weren't allowed in term time when I was at primary so you are not being deprived of some privilege that government ministers had when they were young!

State schools are paid for by the tax payer so that we will have an educated nation of workers in the future. Not fair that the education is diluted by parents selfishly wanting to upgrade their holiday ambitions by going in term time. A 'holiday' can simply be taking time off to spend a couple of weeks at home with the kids, joining in their activities during the summer or going on day trips. I had one of those 'holidays' when I was a child. I also had holidays in caravans in Bognor Regis - whatever my parents could afford at the time. Nowadays, all parents seem to want two weeks in Spain/Greece/The Caribbean and a skiing holiday in the winter and try to justify going in term time to afford it!

YABU. I will not remove my child from school for the sake of a holiday. It is disruptive to their education, it is disruptive to the teachers and it sets an appalling example to children.

What is the position on funerals? I have read somewhere that time away from school for funerals will only be for direct relatives - parents or siblings.

Is this correct?

Funeraals can be treated as special circumstances by head teachers... any funeral. But as with our own adult employment rules, permission is MOST LIKELY if it is a direct relative, USUAL for next level - grandparents/aunts/uncles, but not likely for your brother's wife's aunty....

MGM and cardamom. you are again assuming that all parents have the opportunity to take time off in school holidays and they do not. there are lots of us that cant. it has nothing to do with wanting cheaper holidays abroad and everything to do with employment of the parents. I too take caravan holidays in Wales, Cornwall and elsewhere but can only do that in school term time. my DC's education is not disrupted. I take responsibility to ensure that. cardamom - you will be against teachers striking then or closing school for the weather or inset days or enrichment weeks. ivykaty depends entirely on how your head reads the rules. locally its a no unless its for a parent or sibling.

We haven't had a holiday away for two years. Its really not a big deal. It would be nice but we just can't afford it (dont feel sorry for us we are privately educating our kids which is why we cant afford a holiday ).

We took a fortnight off this summer and just spent it with the kids at home. it was nice

The point of this post is just to say that a holiday is lovely but not the be all and end all. It certainly shouldn't be a 'right'. I expect the head teachers are delighted not to have to make the decisions about holidays any more. Must have been a pain having parents asking all the time and having to deal with the fallout if you said no.