School Holiday Fines

badmemory

sulphate wrote: »

I think one of the biggest mistakes parents make during the course of their child's education is assuming that their grades are the only things that matter.

Isn't it governments that are making that mistake as they seem to see getting grades as the only thing schooling achieves.

Spendless

maman wrote: »

Whatever justifications are put forward, it almost always comes down to money. Parents want a cheaper holiday and can't cope with delayed gratification by saving up for a bit longer to go in the school holidays.

Apart from it doesn't. For most people 'life' doesn't fit into the same 13 weeks the school is closed.

Reasons for taking a term time holiday, include where you cannot get time off from your employer during school hols (very common - most places have restrictions on when and how many employees are off at the same time). Illness, either of the child or the parent. I currently have a good friend going through Chemo, it will be September before the current bout of treatment is over. Presumably she should say 'stop the treatment that may save my life, I can only go away this summer'? In the case mentioned a few posts up, the poster has an autistic child who often they don't cope well with crowds. Then we have people who have families living abroad celebrating a special event. I have heard of a child punished at my kids school because he went to attend his Grandmother's 90th birthday who lives in a different country.

The campaign group Parents Want a Say (who campain for the rules to be changed back to what they were prior to Sept 13) have requested many times on media that they talk about reasons for people wanting to take their child/ren on term time holidays for reasons that are not financial. In most if not all cases, their request to talk about this has been refused. The Government knows that once this topic isn't about the price of holidays they don't have an argument.

FBaby

I think one of the biggest mistakes parents make during the course of their child's education is assuming that their grades are the only things that matter.

You missed the point of my post. I actually agree with you! Grades are not everything for the child. It is for the school. There are many ways to be educated than through the school curriculum. For some children, the most valuable learning experience will be what helps them realise what they are interested in and naturally skilled at and that will only come from expending their horizon.

My point is that you can help your children with the above AND still support them getting good grades.

onlyroz

As a counterpoint what do people think about schools that reward 100% attendance? At my daughter's school they actually give out a medal for it and at my son's school they get a certificate. My kids would both have achieved 100% this year if it wasn't for taking a day out to attend their grandmother's funeral - and so no medal for them. On another year my son missed out because he had a piano exam.

While I don't think people should take time out of school for frivolous reasons, at the same time some absences can't be helped and I don't think there should be a reward simply for not being sick or not having any relatives die that year.

Spendless

onlyroz wrote: »

As a counterpoint what do people think about schools that reward 100% attendance? At my daughter's school they actually give out a medal for it and at my son's school they get a certificate. My kids would both have achieved 100% this year if it wasn't for taking a day out to attend their grandmother's funeral - and so no medal for them. On another year my son missed out because he had a piano exam.

While I don't think people should take time out of school for frivolous reasons, at the same time some absences can't be helped and I don't think there should be a reward simply for not being sick or not having any relatives die that year.

He shouldn't have missed out for that. There is a code for 'being educated off-site' that should have applied. It was used when my son used to attend a local Uni on an outreach scheme that he'd got on to via his school participating and is used when my daughter takes drama and musical theatre exams that take place during a school-day. Did you get a letter from your son's music teacher confirming his exam and take it in to the school.

Re funerals and illness - I'm seeing a lot of debate about this and some schools have stopped awarding for a full year's attendance for this reason and instead do either a weekly, monthy or termly award instead.

Re - the comments about Disney. It's only this week that my daughter's new speech and drama teacher (an elderly lady still teaching in her late 80s and regarded as the very best in our area) suggested to my DD that she chose Walt(er) Disney to talk about in her next communication exam as an example of a remarkable person due to the acheivements he made in the cinema world. She didn't just suggest him, she also suggested Elizabeth Fry or Nurse Cavell. I know there's a mini film about his life at one of the parks in Florida but unsure about Paris because it's some years since I last went. The first thing I remember about DLP is that the songs are sung part in English part in French, making it very easy to remember what the equivalent word/phrase or sentance is in the opposite language. Educational yes, likely to turn up on a GCSE exam, probably not and that's where the issue is lying, it's only seen as worth knowing about if it has the potential to be an examination question.

onlyroz

The thing about the piano exam - I think it would have been ok if he'd been in for morning registration, but as the exam was mid morning I didn't want to faff about taking him to school, collecting him an hour later and then going off to the exam. Either way, I've tried to persuade my kids that a medal for attendance is worthless and isn't anything to be proud about getting.

Cheeky_Monkey

My grandson is only just 5 so is in the Reception Class. This week, he was one of the children in his class who were given a 'treat' for good attendance with a trip in a limousine. This was despite the fact that he had to have a week off school following an operation.

maman

onlyroz wrote: »

The thing about the piano exam - I think it would have been ok if he'd been in for morning registration, but as the exam was mid morning I didn't want to faff about taking him to school, collecting him an hour later and then going off to the exam. Either way, I've tried to persuade my kids that a medal for attendance is worthless and isn't anything to be proud about getting.

So, in effect, it was you that prevented him getting the award and then in a variation of sour grapes tried to run down its value.

Spendless wrote: »

Re - the comments about Disney. It's only this week that my daughter's new speech and drama teacher (an elderly lady still teaching in her late 80s and regarded as the very best in our area) suggested to my DD that she chose Walt(er) Disney to talk about in her next communication exam as an example of a remarkable person due to the acheivements he made in the cinema world... I know there's a mini film about his life at one of the parks in Florida but unsure about Paris because it's some years since I last went.

I agree there can be lots learned from travel whether to Disney or anywhere else but these attractions aren't only available in term time.


Of course, I'm aware that not all parents can take time off from employers whenever they want. but the vast majority will be able to take some time off during the 13 weeks allocated.


The law does have flexibility for exceptional circumstances like family illness or bereavements but different headteachers seem to apply it in different ways. Maybe further guidance is needed.

onlyroz

maman wrote: »

So, in effect, it was you that prevented him getting the award and then in a variation of sour grapes tried to run down its value.

Yawn, whatever you think. Rushing around going backwards and forwards from school several times in one day just to ensure he got a medal doesn't seem worth the hassle to me.

And my point still stands - denying children an award because they have to attend a funeral, music exam, or get ill doesn't seem to be very productive and can be actively divisive. I once read an article about a school that took the kids with 100% attendance off to a theme park - denying the trip to somebody who had taken time off school after her mother had died. I just can't see the logic in rewarding something that many people have no control over.

Spendless

onlyroz wrote: »

The thing about the piano exam - I think it would have been ok if he'd been in for morning registration, but as the exam was mid morning I didn't want to faff about taking him to school, collecting him an hour later and then going off to the exam. Either way, I've tried to persuade my kids that a medal for attendance is worthless and isn't anything to be proud about getting.

It would have been ok if he'd missed morning registration if you'd handed in a letter from the tutor/examing board and it was reasonable you couldn't collect him part-way through.

My daughter's exam earlier this month was at 9am and she had to be there 20 minutes early. Her school starts at 8.50am 5 miles away from the examination centre. Her nerves got the better of her and she ended up having to go in and complete after the other candidates, so it was the afternoon before she returned.