School Term Time Fines

mspig

blueberrypie wrote: »

This describes so many of my children's friends' lives :-(



Erm, that would be me...we home-educate and "get away with it" (because it's a valid legal option!) I think (well, I hope!) that you probably didn't mean home-educating families, but it does get a bit grating when "no school" is assumed to mean "no education" :-/

no i didn't mean those children who are home schooled,(god know i have nearly come to doing that with my kids on many occasions) i mean the young kids like where i live that hang around on their bikes or in one of their houses, smoking, drinking, misbehaving all day causing agro and the amount of times i have seen the police come and take them back to school and yet they still do it daily - these are the kids and the parents that should get the fines, not those wanting to spend some quality time with their children on holiday when they can afford to go - i think that if there is a law to state you can't take your kids out in term time then the government needs to inforce a law to stop travel agents etc putting up their prices in the school holidays.

tigger2000

pollypenny wrote: »

Pont wrote: »

An unauthorised absence is only a pain in the b**t for the school records, it doesn't matter one iota to either the child or the parent. A record of taking one day off, or indeed ten days off, isn't going to cause major problems in the child's future (unless a parent is irresponsible and removes their child through exam time).

Although I sympathise with parents who want to take the occasional holiday in school time, it is not quite correct to say that taking 'ten days off' isn't going to make a difference.

A pupil who has missed work will have trouble understanding the rest of the topic or important concept, as in case of maths or science. Do these parents then expect the teachers to give up their own time for extra lessons to help child catch up?

I would not even ask to take my children out of school if I thought they would suffer or have difficulty in catching up, in fact most of the time my children are bored due the level of work presented to them. My son has a maths age 2 years more than his actual age and is above average in science. I am not writing to gloat merely to point out the unfairness off not being allowed a day. I would not expect teachers to help them catch up and would be more than happy to do that myself, if given the option!

sturll

They dont mind when they go on strike because they only get 30 k over a 9 month year, or when the shut it for teacher training.

Or today, when there is an inch of snow and they decide to shut for 3 days.

PasturesNew

Every time somebody chooses to remove their child from school:

- the child learns that it's OK to ignore rules you don't like
- all the other children lose out when the child returns because they missed some lesson times and the teachers will have to get them up to speed with the others
- the teachers end up working for free to prepare/check work covering the time the child was absent.

Parents need to look at how it affects everybody, not just their own kids.

mspig

my school doesn't work for free as they give us work to take with us that they will be learning whilst we are away, and as for the child learning thats its ok to stay off school - oh come on i went away every year for two weeks when i was at school in the school time(as my family couldn't afford school holiday times) and i never once bunked/skipped school or thought that it was ok to have time off - all i thought was i'm going on holiday for two weeks to enjoy myself with my family - no more too it - you really think that kids minds work like that!!!

pollypenny

sturll wrote: »

They dont mind when they go on strike because they only get 30 k over a 9 month year, or when the shut it for teacher training.

Or today, when there is an inch of snow and they decide to shut for 3 days.

When was there last a teachers' strike? 1986 - and then it was odd half days.

As for these 3 months holidays! I always went back to place of work(ie school) before my OH after Christmas. Of course, I had thoroughly enjoyed writing sets of Y11 reports after December mocks and catching up on Y10 and A-level coursework. Summer hols - three weeks, then in for results days and prepare for coming year.

If teaching is such a jammy job, why are there not more people trying to be teachers?

The decision to close a school because of snow is made by the LEA, usually because of problems with school buses. Staff have to go in.

vikingaero

PasturesNew wrote: »

Every time somebody chooses to remove their child from school:

- the child learns that it's OK to ignore rules you don't like
- all the other children lose out when the child returns because they missed some lesson times and the teachers will have to get them up to speed with the others
- the teachers end up working for free to prepare/check work covering the time the child was absent.

Parents need to look at how it affects everybody, not just their own kids.

You're so right PN. Every parent who takes their kid out of school makes it harder for those who may have a more valid or more moral reason to obtain authorised time off. But then those who do take them out don't give a monkeys !!! about their fellow man. Interesting that people seem to think that a holiday is a God given right and not a privilege.

dwileflunker

pollypenny wrote: »

Pont wrote: »

An unauthorised absence is only a pain in the b**t for the school records, it doesn't matter one iota to either the child or the parent. A record of taking one day off, or indeed ten days off, isn't going to cause major problems in the child's future (unless a parent is irresponsible and removes their child through exam time).

Although I sympathise with parents who want to take the occasional holiday in school time, it is not quite correct to say that taking 'ten days off' isn't going to make a difference.

A pupil who has missed work will have trouble understanding the rest of the topic or important concept, as in case of maths or science. Do these parents then expect the teachers to give up their own time for extra lessons to help child catch up?

I took my daughter out of school for 2 weeks holiday virtually every year of her education as I was unable to have time off during schoool holidays. She easily managed to catch up without teachers giving up their own time for extra lessons. She attained 11 top grade GCSE's and 4 top grade A levels and this was nearly 20 years ago when exams were considerably harder than they are today. She went on to get a good degree and a good job so I have no doubt that our enjoyable family holiday was a benefit and not detremental.

mspig

it is my right to have two decent weeks with my family laughing and joking and enjoying each others company,not having anything else to do but relax, we earn the money to do so, but its not fair on families that like us do want to take our kids out in the school half terms but can't afford to do so because of the travel agencies putting the fees up so much(were talking 100's and even 1000's of pounds more).

As for those having a valid reason to take their kids out - i have two disabled children who have lots of appointments, hospital stays etc weve never had a problem getting the time off to do so, so wheres the difficulty in doing so.

dwileflunker

pollypenny wrote: »

When was there last a teachers' strike? 1986 - and then it was odd half days.

Try 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7325000.stm
or 2002 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1870698.stm

pollypenny wrote: »

As for these 3 months holidays! I always went back to place of work(ie school) before my OH after Christmas. Of course, I had thoroughly enjoyed writing sets of Y11 reports after December mocks and catching up on Y10 and A-level coursework. Summer hols - three weeks, then in for results days and prepare for coming year.

I know a number of good teachers not least my son-in-law, and even if they do go in for a few extra days during their extensive holidays they would not agree with your moans. If you think you are so hard done by I suggest you get out of the job, but you might come down to earth with a huge bump if you do.

pollypenny wrote: »

If teaching is such a jammy job, why are there not more people trying to be teachers?

Probably because they don't want to work with whingers like you.

pollypenny wrote: »

The decision to close a school because of snow is made by the LEA, usually because of problems with school buses. Staff have to go in.

Our local headmaster makes the decision to close his school because of bad weather, not the LEA.