Should parents be allowed to take kids out of school for a holiday?

Former_MSE_Debs · 21 January 2014 at 11:42AM

Poll started 21 Jan 2014

Last week, a couple were fined for taking their children on a term-time family holiday without the school’s permission. Headteachers can grant leave in exceptional circumstances, but it’s unlikely for a holiday and holiday prices soar in school holidays. Should term-time holidays be allowed?

Should parents be allowed to take their kids on holidays during term-time? Which of the options in this week's poll is CLOSEST to your view?

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ramblingtree · 21 January 2014 at 12:11PM

One issue is that some parents can't take leave during school holidays easily.

This is the most popular time to book annual leave, and there needs to be some workforce remaining! Should this mean that only parent's are allowed to take leave during the summer months? Or should this mean that those that can't take leave are denied a holiday with their children or at all? I think that both of these scenarios are unfair.

charliebrown_2 · 21 January 2014 at 12:22PM

My wife and i both work and i struggle to get time off during the set school holidays. We wanted to take them to Florida but the difference between the last two weeks of the holidays and the first week of term is over £1000.
We took them to Cyprus two years ago where we toured a local Roman ruin. Back in school our daughters class were learning about Romans and she was the only child to have seen some of the things in real life. They have also been up a volcano, another thing discussed in school.
It is important to do well in school, but it is also important to have strong bonds with your family, and holidays help create memories.

Bluesboys · 21 January 2014 at 12:28PM

Wouldn't it be easier if holiday companies weren't allowed to double or even treble their prices in the school holidays? We don't get any more or better services than if we stayed a week earlier or later. It is just unfair. My kids wouldn't get a holiday if we had to go in school holidays - we just couldn't afford it.

catmonkey85 · 21 January 2014 at 12:29PM

I've just read the comments on Facebook and a lot of people seem to be saying that the travel industry should stop ripping people off. While I agree that it is very frustrating, this will never happen. The travel companies - for example Thomas Cook, Thomson, Co-Op Travel, or anyone who is ATOL Protected - don't own all of the hotels, or all of the planes. They have to make a profit based on what they can buy the holidays for. So what you're asking is for all of the hotels, and all of the airports, and all of the flight companies and everyone in the tourist industry in the whole entire world to agree to charge a flat rate that is not variable on peak and off peak times. Clearly this is never going to happen.

Teachers have many targets and their careers rely on exam results. So it would be unfair to allow children to be off school at critical times or for extended periods.

However, holidays can be educational and I agree that children should be allowed to go on a 2 week holiday with their families during term time. As long as the teachers agree in advance that it is not during a critical point, and maybe give some extra work, or ask for a written holiday report in return, there should be no problem with this.

I'm not a teacher, parent, or employee of the tourist industry.

JTW67 · 21 January 2014 at 12:30PM

My wife is a college teacher. When a child is taken out of college during term time to go on holiday she has to help the child get back up to speed with the course in her own spare time. Despite public misconceptions, she works enormously long hours when you factor in evening work, marking etc. She needs a life, and not one spent grafting to help kids catch up so their parents can have a cheaper holiday by pulling kids out of college during term time

craggybuk · 21 January 2014 at 12:56PM

Children need structure and taking them out of school for a week or two will be detrimental to their progress. It will also be stressful on their return when they find they cannot do the work due to missing out some key information. If the teacher goes back over this work with the individual, the rest of the class then miss out.

My wife is a teaching assistant in a school and although she doesn't earn anywhere near a teacher, we can still only take our holiday out of term time, paying higher prices in the process. Even though we end up paying more, I believe that current set term dates is correct, anything else would be mayhem.

chrisfh · 21 January 2014 at 1:03PM

As a former teacher I have experienced times where, in a class of 30, 4-5 children were missing for 1-2 weeks over a period of about 6 weeks, all for holidays. They may miss the start of a new topic and planning was difficult knowing that, especially in May-June, so many children would miss 1 or 2 weeks schooling. Whilst I sympathise with parents, I think that a better solution would be a total overhaul of the school term dates - maybe schools in different areas having different holidays with overlap between adjacent areas. Could be a nightmare for exams though!

David_e · 21 January 2014 at 1:06PM

For those parents of school children voting in favour, are you OK with your child/ren's teacher taking holidays in term time?

Also, do you expect your child/ren's teacher to spend additional time with your child/ren getting he/she/them up to speed with what they missed?

Angelina_Soprano · 21 January 2014 at 1:10PM

i would understand it if the school was a grade 1 - they could state the kids were missing an education -
but even then - kids are educated at home - the law does not barge in there does it - in any case rich kids on set for acting have tutors - why can't the school provide learning packages - and in any case - online teaching will soon be the norm wont it?

toffifee · 21 January 2014 at 1:20PM

We used to take our two children on holidays abroad in September when it was cheaper but since they started school we can't afford the flights in school holidays, so we have holidays at the seaside in the UK.

I think it's much more important for them to be there for their education than to have a week or two in the sun. They both hate missing any school at all, even for music exams or illness, because it's hard to catch up. I wouldn't contemplate deliberately removing them from school for a holiday, even if the alternative was no holiday at all. There were years when I was little when we didn't have a holiday and I thought nothing of it. I don't understand why a holiday abroad seems to have become an 'essential'. (These problems never seem to be about a couple of weeks in Skegness.)

Should parents be allowed to take kids out of school for a holiday?

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