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.

It's a sledge hammer to crack a walnut and doesn't sort out the truants who will still truant.

Kids get time off school for G&T Courses,music performances,sports fixtures etc,etc.

Oh and the friends I have in private don't do longer hours just clubs,tea and prep(which my dc call home work and do at home).

The short terms hack said friends off big time.

Devilinside - do you think the travel industry would take notice if everyone boycotted the expensive summer holidays? It would hit them in the pocket, which is the only thing (other than pan-European legislation) that would have any impact on them, I think.

Noblegiraffe - interestingly, ds3's school did once have a week's worth of inset days, at the end of the autumn term - so he broke up a week early for Christmas. I don't think it was very popular with parents - it certainly wasn't popular with me, as it meant I had him underfoot for an extra week at a busy time of year - and we couldn't have gone away anywhere, as ds1 and ds2 were in secondary school, and didn't break up until the normal time. They were with jealousy, too!

I don't think the school has ever done that again.

"....and we couldn't have gone away anywhere, as ds1 and ds2 were in secondary school, and didn't break up until the normal time."

You could have done, SDTG, if you'd requested a week off in term time for them

As an ex Education Welfare Officer, I won't be signing either I'm afraid.

I also won't be taking my DCs on holiday in term time.

When I was a nipper my parents took me out of school for one week when my Dad was on holiday from the factory- he had no choice when he took holidays. We didn't go away as we couldn't afford it but it meant we all spent some time together. Surely there should be an exception in circumstances like thse?

I won't be signing either. As a general principle I disagree with term time holidays. If there is a good reason why a child should take a holiday during term it is up to the school use its discretion.

The argument about wanting to take them to Egypt etc is a bit mad - most children don't go to Egypt or Mexico at all. The only place I ever flew to whilst I was at school was Spain and that was during half term for one week as a teenager.

std, a boycott of expensive summer holidays would be exactly what's required. Unfortunately, while the rich get richer and the rest of us get poorer. It's never going to happen

Lolol @ flatiron!

My issue with this is the indoctrination of a small political view upon all parents. We all know that through supply and demand the school holidays are an expensive time to do anything. This policy undermines all parents by demanding as close to 100% attendance as possible and banning holidays. Personally I have chosen to educate my children through travel, this year we visited south west Spain including the oldest continually inhabited city in Europe (Cadiz) - we did so in May and had an authorised one week absence from school. The same trip would have cost four times as much in august and would have been too hot to explore. This special time together as a family brought us closer together and showed our children several aspects including culture, religion, different food, swimming etc. I know this is a privilege and I feel that through this 'nanny state' policy I will be unable to afford this type of luxury and my children will miss out on this valuable extra curricula education. This policy should have been delayed and launched with either effective head teacher responsibility, staggered holidays, or reduced tax and a review of holiday pricing.

But really a big issue here is that schools are being very limited in the degree of discretion and flexibility they can now use.
I wouldn't generally take my children on holiday during term time, especially now they are both at secondary school (though I really appreciate the occasional facilitating afternoon before half-terms), but I still strongly feel that parents should be trusted more to make decisions that are good for their children and families, and especially that schools should have the discretion to consider requests for leave with a degree of flexibility.
I don't see why it has to be a slippery slope, or why a blanket draconian policy is needed. What is the problem with authorized absences with the child and family's best interests at heart ?

Can you start a petition for every child to receive a free school dinner regardless of parental income while you are at it?

We used to live overseas and visit the UK when all the british kids were in school. It was fantastic! There was a council run wave pool near my Mums house that they used to turn on just for my kids. There would be some toddlers playing in the shallows but my teens and i would basically have the pool for themselves.

Isn't it a bit of an anomaly, that given the push for schools to have greater autonomy through gaining Academy status, HTs' ability to use their discretion in the running of their schools has now been diminished by this change in the regulations?

YABU! We are so privileged to have free education. There are millions of families around the world who would sacrifice ANYTHING for the opportunity of an education like is offered here. Maybe instead of going on a luxurious two week holiday, they should visit a country where education is a luxury - there opinions would probably quickly change.

So if you did take your Dc out for a week and some thing was missed and I'm talking about the 'all important secondary' year. If your dc did miss some vital information and the teachers were waaaaaaaay to busy to help your entitled child, could said child not ask a friend what they did, check recourses, use Internet, follow home work plan, read the books, go to home work classes, the list is endless!

One week or two and the future of the child is doooooooomed, doooooooomed I tell you! Every one needs to stick to camping and count them selfs greatful that our wonderful government knows what's best for us

All get on an orderly line to follow the rules please!

I'm sure I've seen another very similar petition which reached the 100,000 signatures, was reviewed by government and declined!

My niece missed out on long division at primary, but because it had been taught by a supply teacher when she was away, no -one realised she had not been taught it properly for over a year... it has caused untold problems with setting etc... and confidence issues... but hey she had a naice holiday in Florida....

Luxurious 2 week holiday- I wish.

Education isn't free,we pay for it in our taxes regardless of quality.

Made what a load of utter tosh.

As a teacher myself I can say I've never had a class where every single child didn't have areas which needed work on as um kids are all different.

You constantly assess(so I don't buy that this particular gap went unnoticed) and often revisit concepts.

As a parent I've had to teach hoards of things at home my dc haven't done properly in school which they should have done- they've had hardly any time off school- ever!

Yes, but we don't pay anywhere near what we would have to pay to get the same education privately, do we? Bearing in mind that only a part of our taxes gets spent on education.

By the way Florida is ace!

should... mmm I know - we went in the school holidays...

made I'm glad your financially better off than we were Jesus talk about bragging

We went in the school holidays after holidaying with family in this country for the past 6 years ( in the school holidays also) then inherited some money after my dad died and decided to splash out on a trip of a lifetime... I'd rather still have my dad

I agree with the rules, so waited until we could afford to go within the constraints of those rules and stuck to my own principles...