School Holiday Fines

maman

I think the reason for the extreme defence may be because threads like these almost always end up as teacher bashing. Most parents are happy with their own child's school and teacher but still bash teachers in general. I believe it's because most parents know it's not a good idea to take children out of school in term time so they resort to denigrating teachers by saying that their child will be wasting time at school anyway or extolling the educational virtues of a week in a theme park.


I'm not sure that having long holidays is a privilege. It's a choice or a trade off for relatively poor graduate pay and a huge workload in term time. Increasingly teachers are leaving because the trade off isn't worth it. 40% leave after one year and 20% within 5 years. The government is having to advertise on TV and in newspapers because not enough graduates are taking up training. Many people would say 'if you don't like the job get out' which is exactly what's happening either to leave teaching completely or go abroad where conditions are better. It's very similar with what's happening with doctors.

FBaby wrote: »

I believe that one of the failing of our society nowadays is children failing to learn delayed gratification and that has much more of a negative impact on their adult life than anything else.

You're right but surely saving up for a holiday for a bit longer to afford the peak prices would fall into that category.

FBaby

Most parents are happy with their own child's school and teacher but still bash teachers in general. I believe it's because most parents know it's not a good idea to take children out of school in term time so they resort to denigrating teachers by saying that their child will be wasting time at school anyway or extolling the educational virtues of a week in a theme park.

That's your experience which is totally contradictory to mine. My friends and I don't denigrate teachers. I have had issue with one teacher ever since my kids started school, and overall will say that they've had fantastic teachers. Some of friends are teachers, but all (friends as much as teacher's friends) don't think taking 'some' kids out of school is a problem.

You're right but surely saving up for a holiday for a bit longer to afford the peak prices would fall into that category.

But that could mean going twice in 10 years rather than just once. I don't know anyone who take their kids away for one week or more every single year, it's usually circumstantial, or something planned for longer than 12 months.

Then there is the issue of other family members, especially when it comes to separated families, commonly, the new family has children under the age of 5 so want to benefit from a holiday outside of school holiday times, but don't want to go without taking the half-sibling. In my case, the reason for having taken my kids off school was never financial but circumstantial.

I totally agree with you about the turnover issue facing teachers and workers, but I don't see the correlation with parents choosing to take their kids out of school for one week every few years.

foolofbeans

Kit1 wrote: »

Well said Maman. l have read and listened to this for years and wasn't going to post but l just hate all the poor me, me, me attitude.:mad: l have always said some parents would love to take their children to school when they are 4 and pick them up again when they leave school that way they wouldn't need to look after them but remember when you have a child you do need to look after them some of the time. A child registered at a school HAS to attend the school or they get a fine....so it's a bit annoying to hear teachers moaning the fact that parents send their kids to school for childcare purposes.....it's not for childcare it's to oblige the law and to keep you in a job.
Yes we do get more holidays than other types of jobs but tell me how many of you:-
Stay behind every day for approx 30 mins or more to clear up/look after a child who's parent is late again? (support staff do this every day)
Give up some of your lunch hour each day to sort out a problem
Give up 1/2 your lunch hour a week to support another collegue
Go back to work 4 or 5 evenings a year for 2 or 3 hours each time to support events
Give up a Saturday to help with an event at your place of work
Take a group of people away for 3 or more days and provide 24 hour care (you might get a few hours sleep but this is your only time out)
And so much more...................... and that is not just the teachers, support staff do this too.
Get into work at least 2 hours before you start
Work during your holidays, weekends and evenings
Buy your own supplies and a few extras for your collegues
ALL EXTRAS ARE UNPAID

Yes to most of the above. And I don't get 13 weeks holiday a year and moan about it constantly.
I could say more but l think l have said enough and l am sure l will get lots of people moaning but l am used to it l get it most days :rotfl::D:rotfl:

Probably because we all know a teacher who moans constantly about their workload then enjoys the fact they have 13 weeks holiday each year.

FBaby

We're back to the black and white view of the world!

Just to point out that I was very touched that most of the GCSEs teachers agreed to come for a full half day a week, many doing two or even three sessions during the Easter break to support pupils with revision. It wasn't paid, it wasn't forced, they did it because they really wanted to help the pupils, so I get annoyed when teachers are portrayed to only doing the bare minimum and not actually caring about the education their pupils are getting.

I guess I stand somewhere in the grey, believing that most teachers and parents genuinely have the children's best intentions at heart in regards to their education. It's the few who don't who seem to give parents/teachers their bad reputation which we end up focusing on here.

Kit1

foolofbeans wrote: »

Probably because we all know a teacher who moans constantly about their workload then enjoys the fact they have 13 weeks holiday each year.

Most teachers work during the holidays too after all most schools are open several days/weeks during the holiday periods so that teachers can prepare for the next term after all they can't do it all from home - so not 13 weeks holiday to do as they wish

Schools are often looking for volunteers to help - a few hours would soon let you know what is like to work in this type of environment. You just have to remember no toilet/tea breaks until playtime/lunchtime (but you best be quick because you need to have everything ready before they return):)

foolofbeans

Kit1 wrote: »

Most teachers work during the holidays too after all most schools are open several days/weeks during the holiday periods so that teachers can prepare for the next term after all they can't do it all from home - so not 13 weeks holiday to do as they wish
Schools are often looking for volunteers to help - a few hours would soon let you know what is like to work in this type of environment. You just have to remember no toilet/tea breaks until playtime/lunchtime (but you best be quick because you need to have everything ready before they return):)

A toilet break after four hours? Sounds bliss! I've worked in catering and waste management and jobs usually involved standing on my feet all day, working in extreme conditions and little or no breaks. I didn't moan about it as mostly I loved my job.
I admit I wouldn't want to be a teacher today and I don't believe the role is 9am to 3pm and all the breaks are sat in the staff room. I do have a lot of sympathy for teachers.
It does rub a bit though when teachers moan constantly about their job and it makes me wonder what sort of people are teaching my children when they seem to have an intense dislike for their role. I have friends who specifically chose teaching as it enabled them to spend time with their own kids during the holidays and yet they still moan they have to work some of the holidays, maybe they don't get 13 weeks a year but it's a fair bit more than the statutory minimum most people get.

gregg1

Sportinguista wrote: »

We are taking my son out. My husband is from abroad and this is the only way we can visit that side of the family. My husbands mother is too badly off to afford it and we cannot afford to pay for her and step father in law, my husbands father is ill and cannot travel either. It is also two family occaisions for which relatives from other parts of Europe are coming. Despite this the school have insisted that we could have done this in the school holidays. My son has had 100% attendance for the whole of the three years he has attended school and is doing well. We will pay the fine as it's still cheaper. At least one of the days is an inset day and the other is Eid which if going by last year 95% of school will not be there (we are not muslim but most of the other children are) and they ended up watching DVDs and playing with lego:mad: not happy! They also miss another day for the second Eid celebration in the year, so that's 2 days missed due to someone elses Sky Fairies. He will gain far more from going on holiday, the opportunity to spend time in 2 countries and practice those languages, he will get taught history and archaeology by visiting sites in those countries, his reading and writing as we take note books etc. And I will ask his teacher for notes on what they will be doing.

The problem is other parents are more !!!!less, many in our school take the kids out for months at a time to go to Pakistan to see relatives so all leave is refused now whatever the circumstance.

And there you have it, that small sentence slipped in almost as an afterthought " I will ask his teacher for notes ..." you remove your child from the classroom and create even more work for the teacher? If you are that concerned about what your child will be missing then don't take him/her out of lessons!

SC2016

my child has been excluded (due to lack of available places) from a year 9 pgl adventure trip due to take place just before the summer term ends. What are the implications of taking my child out of school while his peers take part in a non-educational trip?

Spendless

gregg1 wrote: »

And there you have it, that small sentence slipped in almost as an afterthought " I will ask his teacher for notes ..." you remove your child from the classroom and create even more work for the teacher? If you are that concerned about what your child will be missing then don't take him/her out of lessons!

You know what. Mine have never been given work for a lesson missed. This includes time being off for a week due to swine flu, for the 3-ish days per year that son went out of school to a local Uni on an outreach scheme that school told him to apply for, so please don't give me it's creating more work as that has never been my experience.

gregg1

Spendless wrote: »

You know what. Mine have never been given work for a lesson missed. This includes time being off for a week due to swine flu, for the 3-ish days per year that son went out of school to a local Uni on an outreach scheme that school told him to apply for, so please don't give me it's creating more work as that has never been my experience.

Did you request the work? I was replying to someone who had chosen to take their child out of school and thought the teacher should provide notes for missed lessons. Maybe that has not been your experience. However, it is certainly the case in the school my OH teaches in where the teachers are expected to get the kids back up to speed when they miss lessons. So I can quite confidently say that it actually DOES create more work!