Supreme Court: Parents CAN'T take kids on term-time holiday without risking a fine

Guest101

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

Putting rather dubious principles in front of common sense usually leads to a bit of a fall, as has happened in this case.

Having been through this in the not too distant past with our own children I know it can be frustrating to see how high high season prices can go, but we put our kids education above a cheap foreign holiday. Most of ours were taken in the UK but if we did go abroad we would chose places like Austria and northern Italy where high season was the winter skiing period, rather than high summer.

I think most kids are just happy to have a holiday, it's the parents who put their wants of a holiday in the sun ahead of education.

That's funny as both the magistrates and the high court agreed with him.


So the principles cant be that dubious can they?

unholyangel

bylromarha wrote: »

However, many kids I've taught are kept off for a sniffle, or they're "a bit tired today" (had this one twice the week before the holidays) and have attendence below 95%. But that's okay with the government.

The flip side of that is that many parents send their kids to school when unwell, which can affect other pupils. A friend of mine has a son that regularly ends up being blue lighted and spending weeks in hospital because of parents sending their kids into school sick.

Guest101 wrote: »

That's funny as both the magistrates and the high court agreed with him.


So the principles cant be that dubious can they?

I can't recall any of the previous courts saying its okay to take your kids out of school to save some money on the price of a holiday - the courts were ruling on statute, not on the fathers morals/principles.

Guest101

unholyangel wrote: »

The flip side of that is that many parents send their kids to school when unwell, which can affect other pupils. A friend of mine has a son that regularly ends up being blue lighted and spending weeks in hospital because of parents sending their kids into school sick.

- really, what are they sending them to school with?


I can't recall any of the previous courts saying its okay to take your kids out of school to save some money on the price of a holiday - the courts were ruling on statute, not on the fathers morals/principles.

So you can hold the moral principle high ground now that the supreme court has ruled on statute? But the reverse cant be said? - that doesn't make sense.

leespot

Unholyangel - I'd say your friend needs to have their child's health looked at because weeks in hospital due to illness contracted from another child is not normal! (that isn't supposed to come across as mean, it's a genuine concern for the general health of the child who picks things up so easily, there could be an underlying problem).

Mojisola

Pop_Up_Pirate wrote: »

The education in this country is diabolical.

But, when any tom !!!! or harry can get an academic degree these days, it's hardly surprising.

When I read posts like this, I wonder why there aren't many more people going into teaching (an easy job with all those holidays ); more people taking their children out of these useless schools and home educating them; or getting very involved with the school as governors or in parents' groups to improve the service provided to their children.

Guest101

Mojisola wrote: »

When I read posts like this, I wonder why there aren't many more people going into teaching (an easy job with all those holidays ); more people taking their children out of these useless schools and home educating them; or getting very involved with the school as governors or in parents' groups to improve the service provided to their children.

The first part is true, education system is failing massively


The curriculum doesn't prepare youngsters to life
The funding doesn't allow teachers to teach effectively


That is not a dig at any actual teaching or support staff, who do the best they can in incredibly hard circumstances

Pricivius

Just a couple of points having skimread through the thread:

- The Lion King is based on Hamlet. Probably a bit wasted on junior school kids, but very interesting to secondary school kids studying Shakespeare. Other modern movies are based on classic books so watching a film is not necessarily the waste of time you might think it is.

- I have a friend who takes his teenage kids out of school regularly for 'sickness', 'tiredness' and 'duvet days'. I was helping his youngest with his maths homework when he skipped a question because he was absent on the day it was taught so genuinely didn't think he had to learn or know it. I was aghast. He also didn't do one homework assignment because he was absent when it was set. The attitude was "how's he supposed to do it when he hasn't been taught?" Amazing.

- As a child, I remember being terrified of missing a lesson as I would be behind in the class and would have missed out on something important. My parents would not have dreamed of taking me out of school and I didn't miss a day for 6 years! I haven't missed a day of work for over 14 years so I guess the mentality has stuck. My friend's kids don't understand why I don't just take a day off sick here and there when I don't feel like going in to the office.

Malthusian

unholyangel wrote: »

The flip side of that is that many parents send their kids to school when unwell, which can affect other pupils. A friend of mine has a son that regularly ends up being blue lighted and spending weeks in hospital because of parents sending their kids into school sick.

By the time your child realises they are ill and you pull them out of school, they have already infected the other children (or someone else has).

I also wonder if your friend's son should even be in a non-specialist school if his immune system is that weak.

Guest101

Pricivius wrote: »

Just a couple of points having skimread through the thread:

- The Lion King is based on Hamlet. Probably a bit wasted on junior school kids, but very interesting to secondary school kids studying Shakespeare. Other modern movies are based on classic books so watching a film is not necessarily the waste of time you might think it is.

- I have a friend who takes his teenage kids out of school regularly for 'sickness', 'tiredness' and 'duvet days'. I was helping his youngest with his maths homework when he skipped a question because he was absent on the day it was taught so genuinely didn't think he had to learn or know it. I was aghast. He also didn't do one homework assignment because he was absent when it was set. The attitude was "how's he supposed to do it when he hasn't been taught?" Amazing.

- As a child, I remember being terrified of missing a lesson as I would be behind in the class and would have missed out on something important. My parents would not have dreamed of taking me out of school and I didn't miss a day for 6 years! I haven't missed a day of work for over 14 years so I guess the mentality has stuck. My friend's kids don't understand why I don't just take a day off sick here and there when I don't feel like going in to the office.

You must've been very lucky not to catch anything which could spread in 14 years

worldtraveller

Pricivius wrote: »

Just a couple of points having skimread through the thread:

- The Lion King is based on Hamlet. Probably a bit wasted on junior school kids, but very interesting to secondary school kids studying Shakespeare. Other modern movies are based on classic books so watching a film is not necessarily the waste of time you might think it is.

- I have a friend who takes his teenage kids out of school regularly for 'sickness', 'tiredness' and 'duvet days'. I was helping his youngest with his maths homework when he skipped a question because he was absent on the day it was taught so genuinely didn't think he had to learn or know it. I was aghast. He also didn't do one homework assignment because he was absent when it was set. The attitude was "how's he supposed to do it when he hasn't been taught?" Amazing.

- As a child, I remember being terrified of missing a lesson as I would be behind in the class and would have missed out on something important. My parents would not have dreamed of taking me out of school and I didn't miss a day for 6 years! I haven't missed a day of work for over 14 years so I guess the mentality has stuck. My friend's kids don't understand why I don't just take a day off sick here and there when I don't feel like going in to the office.

A good post and 100% agreed. I've almost been lucky enough to trump you on the zero work days missed by an additional 21 years, but I got a light dose of malaria when working in West Africa in my late 20's and was confined to bed for a couple of days.