School Holiday Fines

ViolaLass

glodrop wrote: »

You are very assuming of society aren't you. Put everyone in the same boat. Not everyone has a job in London on the stock exchange. Most of us are hard-working parents who are currently working or have at some time paid well into the tax system prior to or after having children. Many of us despite the fact that we are working or have a business, work this round having our children. We still have to make the school run in the morning and fit work around this. Some of us even have working lives and homeschool their children as an alternative after having given up on this country's poor educational system. However many of us do not have a cushy enough job to pay for the increasing price rise in well-needed holidays. So choose cheaper holidays. Lets not forget we don't have a 6 weeks break from our jobs - we just have to carry on 24/7 - in our intelligent way - and I truly believe that many parents out there are intelligent enough to take their kids out of school and homeschool them themselves. There have been accounts of single dads with 4 children homeschooling their children to an educational level on a par with certain other country's higher educational standards and getting them through University.

Then home-school. But if you want to be in the state system, you have to abide by its rules.

glodrop

The state system is and has been for some time clearly not recognising the true role parents play in upbringing their children on an educational level day in day out. The state system is underestimating parents and undermining their role as an educational and care provider. There is much that is 'unseen' or ignored in what we do as parents. Yes there are some when they go on holiday - just go for a booze-up at the Costa Brava - but there are many who provide cultural and educational holidays where the school does not do enough in those areas. Many parents are actively involved in their childs education on a one to one level each and everyday. Yes this goes much further than books. There are those who also involve their children in exterior activities for example theatre classes, geology, astronomy clubs - (something which generic schools do not provide) as well as giving them extra tuition themselves, within the family or a friend. The state system is not set up to help parents in the modern day environment. Parents and schools should be working together as there are many skills that parents have and do offer their children every single day which the school cannot - realistically with an average of 30 children in a class, meet. If the holiday is educationally and culturally important to the child's advancement. If the child has a chance of learning something in a way different than simply staying in the box, within a set of rules as defined by the government and even the British society - then surely this is the best way forward. To leave it to the intelligent parent to decide - to have a more openness to education and broad mindedness rather than living within a defined set of rules which hinder the child's future.

pollypenny

Of course children do their best when school and parents work together.

This usually means the child being in school.

militant_mum

Hi, I paid £240 fines in 2015 for 1 weeks family holiday. Other than that my children's attendance was excellent. I am today drafting a Small Claims Application to apply for a refund (the Council have refused to issue one) based on the Isle of White case. All the information you can provide will be very useful. We have also approached our local MP, who seems to be sympathetic. This is a really unpopular bit of legislation! I can post a draft copy of my application if anyone wants it.

glodrop

I'm glad you say usually there PollyPenny. I know of one open minded state school of which I won't mention here who prior to this year had a child who for 4 years went to school for 2 out of the 3 terms, spending 1 term in India going to a paid International school. The two schools had excellent communication, both sharing and learning about each ones education system and curricula. There were very positive reports about this child sent to the local authority, regular parent-school meetings and online video conferencing. The end of year reports showed that overall across all the subjects the child is a top performer in her year group.

phillw

Arenasarenas wrote: »

You missed one... parents removing children from school are wasting tax payer's money - State schools are not free, hard working tax payers have contributed so kids can be educated.

If education was the main emphasis then it would be pretty easy to work round absence.

State schools are about testing and targets and learning to follow rules.

pollypenny wrote: »

What a load of tosh and slur on millions of state school teachers! :mad:

All teachers I know regularly give up time to help pupils catch up. This is in spite of normal class sizes bring twice those in most private schools.

You talk of strikes as if they happen regularly, rather than rarely.

I'm not saying that all state school teachers are bad, but a huge number of them are. The good ones are often hampered by the bad system.

If the pupils can catch up then being away from school shouldn't be a problem. If they can make exceptions for sickness and religion, then holiday shouldn't be a problem.

It's often not about cost, some people can't get holiday during the summer break because companies would end up short staffed. There are laws that say that you have to be able to take time off, but not when. It would be discrimination for people with children to have more rights of when to take holiday, so it makes more sense to be more flexible with term times than less.

Teachers do regularly strike

October 2014
July 2013
September 2012
June 2011

That seems pretty regular to me. Regularly doesn't really mean what you (or the person who wrote the education act) thinks it does. Which causes a problem if you use it as an argument where the meaning is important.

Guest101

Its fairly simple:


1: Lazy, dead beat parents weren't sending their kids to school.
2: Govt passes a law which says that children must regularly attend school - fair enough


So far so good.


The school could authorise leave for children who exceeded and wouldn't be as heavily affected.


But the dead beat parents complained they could travel to Ibiza with little Chardonnay on the cheap....


Now we have this...

Janwan63_2

Can I take my grandchildren to the theatre for an afternoon show on a school day, no other time options?

jackieblack

Janwan63 wrote: »

Can I take my grandchildren to the theatre for an afternoon show on a school day, no other time options?

Define 'can' ?
Parents 'can' keep children from school for a variety of reasons, but that doesn't mean the absence will be authorised.

If you are asking whether you will get 'permission' from the school, I'd say it's highly unlikely.

Of course, if the school wants to take children to the theatre that's entirely different :whistle:

peachyprice

Janwan63 wrote: »

Can I take my grandchildren to the theatre for an afternoon show on a school day, no other time options?

That's easily worked around. Pick them up after afternoon registration so that they get both present marks for the day. Once they've been marked as present that can't be taken back if they leave before the end of the school day.