School Holiday Fines

LilElvis

Guest101 wrote: »

Because as a society, we are supposed to be at the forefront of economically sufficient lifestyles.

What's a standard family? Can you define?

So should the State provide all benefits claimants/ those on NMW with a voucher entitling them to a week in the Costas? :rotfl:

A holiday in the sun is hardly a necessity.

scubajon72

It's fine when teachers can close the school for an inset day, which is just an excuse for sitting around for the most part chatting and drinking cups of tea, discussing where they're going on hols saying "I can't wait till the end of term to get away"! It's fine when they want to !!!! the school which is just the same as a parent taking their child away in term time. If the child has been a regular attender there should be no problem We always took ours out of school for hols and one of them has 8 "O" levels, 4"A" levels and a 2.1 University Degree. The other is a qualified plumber very successfully running his own business. I don't think their hols caused any problems. I would never had paid a fine, my kids attended regularly. Thisa is a case of tarring everyone with the same brush down to the lowest common denominator!

Guest101

LilElvis wrote: »

So should the State provide all benefits claimants/ those on NMW with a voucher entitling them to a week in the Costas? :rotfl:

A holiday in the sun is hardly a necessity.

Is that what you call a standard family?

Spendless

mrs_lala wrote: »

We are now in year 5 ,and the last 2 school years we have received the final school report 2 weeks prior to finishing the summer term, with GUESS WHAT ? 100% attendance filled in with 2 weeks schooling to go!
Now what would happen if we went on holiday then , officially we are still there !!

I *think* that the school attendance records run from May half term to May half term of the following year. I'm pretty sure I've had correspondence in the past that mentions this, though some years ago, so I don't remember if it was Primary or Secondary who sent me it. In the event you were off and they wanted to fine you, they'd do it and your child wouldn't show 100% attendance for the following year.

Greenhammock

An added complication is that attendance statistics are used by Ofsted as part of the school inspection process. An increase in term time holidays can mean the difference between an outstanding and a good (or good/Requires improvement) grading.

tony41

As the husband of a teacher, now retired, I would like to raise one point.
The hike in fares during school holidays affects teachers as well as parents and pupils. All our holidays in the past were taken at peak prices and at times when facilities were very busy. Not for us the off-peak holiday which others can enjoy. I can sympathise with parents affected by the high holiday prices but they can at least apply for leave of absence for their children. Not so the teacher. What would parents say if a teacher asked for time off so that they could have a cheap(er) holiday with their family?

LilElvis

Guest101 wrote: »

Is that what you call a standard family?

I never used that phrase. The old definition was husband, wife and 2.1 children. These days it could be any combination of sexes plus sprogs, single parents, stepchildren. It doesn't matter - a holiday abroad is still not a necessity. If you want one budget and save for it or go without.

Roystokes

If the justification for fines is that absence affects educational attainment why is the legal position different in other countries in the UK and indeed, non state schools in England? Either a child's education is significantly affected or it isn't. Not in favour of truancy, but discretion should be allowed.

Robin-o'-the-Hood

tony41 wrote: »

As the husband of a teacher, now retired, I would like to raise one point.
The hike in fares during school holidays affects teachers as well as parents and pupils. All our holidays in the past were taken at peak prices and at times when facilities were very busy. Not for us the off-peak holiday which others can enjoy. I can sympathise with parents affected by the high holiday prices but they can at least apply for leave of absence for their children. Not so the teacher. What would parents say if a teacher asked for time off so that they could have a cheap(er) holiday with their family?

Its a fair point but its balanced surely by the fact that teachers with children (most teachers?) have drastically less child care costs than most other people. My annual leave entitlement comes nowhere near the amount of school holiday time (even if all my AL was in school holiday time, which it isn't, because everyone wants to be off when their children are)

elisamoose

can I just clarify - inset days are not taken from the term time.There are still 190 teaching days in a school year just as there always were.
The inset days are actually part of the paid holidays for teachers.
As support staff in school some of us are paid for those 190 days plus 5 inset days. Those staff who do not need to attend the training offered ( such as office staff, site officer).arevnot paid for those extra days.

Usually the days are at beginning or end of the term, but when a specific training is needed it is not always possible for the trainer to be available then.In that case an inset day may be mid term. In 15 years in a primary school it has happened to me only twice.

Some may argue that whole staff training is not necessary and the training could be run in twilight sessions after school.However the school holidays would still be the same length and there would still be 190 teaching days per year !