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

jamesd

The travel industry is just responding to demand, since there's fixed stock available and price is how the filling of the stock is matched to demand.

The fault lies with the school system and the avoidable concentration levels of holidays. Reduction in demand peaks can be achieved by spreading things out in different areas and by handling the of cases where children in the same family happen to be at school in different regions.

Things like Easter and Christmas are on the same days in all regions but holidays around them can be deliberateby spread to more before in some places and more after in others to reduce the size of the peaks.

Pop_Up_Pirate

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.

Education has been messed around with so much and its the children who are suffering.
Certain stats are expected and funding giving on the back of them. This doesn't improve education. It dumbs it down to ensure the maximum is awarded.
The standards are atrocious.

Teaching in itself is easy to get in to these days.. The job, however, is something different entirely.

Many decades ago there wasn't a shortage of teachers. Good teachers could take a class and expand the minds of the youngsters in such a way they would be curious and willing to learn. They had a certain amount of control. They were mostly respected. Children mostly behaved and if not punishment was issued, backed up by parents.

These days, teachers are held back by guidelines, bureaucracy , and have to stick to a set curriculum. They are subjected to abuse, stress and disrespect from children, with NO back up from parents. Their 'power' to keep order for the good of the whole class is gone.
The guidelines have become more and more rigid as the standard of teacher diminished.

Many parents wouldn't want to home school, which is understandable. Either they don't have the confidence or they have to work/prefer their free time.
Added to which, many parents will not be aware that they can take their children out of school legally and home school them without any checks whatsoever.

Many people do become governors and join parent groups. Doesn't really do anything to improve standards of education though,

FBaby

Parents have the choice to pick an academy school by which, at least in my town, means the school that holds the reins on deciding whether to refer to the council for fining or not. Took my DS out of school for 8 days last year. Didn't mean too, got my weeks wrong so thought that half of it would be school hols (trip booked 12 months earlier). I was prepared to pay the fine even if I didn't agree to it, no point fighting the inevitable. However, I never got fined! DS has an excellent attendance record, 100% or 99%, is very academic and works hard, homework always done on time etc... the school must have deemed that this holiday wouldn't be detrimental to his studies. So glad the school decided to become an academy!

maman

FBaby wrote: »

Parents have the choice to pick an academy school by which, at least in my town, means the school that holds the reins on deciding whether to refer to the council for fining or not. Took my DS out of school for 8 days last year. Didn't mean too, got my weeks wrong so thought that half of it would be school hols (trip booked 12 months earlier). I was prepared to pay the fine even if I didn't agree to it, no point fighting the inevitable. However, I never got fined! DS has an excellent attendance record, 100% or 99%, is very academic and works hard, homework always done on time etc... the school must have deemed that this holiday wouldn't be detrimental to his studies. So glad the school decided to become an academy!

I'd be surprised if that was the case.


This week's case has gone on and on through various courts and schools have been reluctant to impose the fines until the case was concluded.



The law applies to academies as well as local authority schools. Some uphold it so strongly that they ask parents to sign an agreement to no term time holidays when accepting the place.

mumps

Can parents insist that they stop disrupting education by having sports fixtures during school time, school holidays that aren't in anyway educational, messing about for the last week of term when they seem to do alot of watching videos or rehearsing concerts.

mumps

mgdavid wrote: »

Exactly.
Even better can you imagine the howls of anguish from parents if their children were sent home from school because a teacher had decided to take a week or two's holiday during term-time?

When my kids were at school they had supply teachers on many occasions, teachers going on a course, teacher ill, and on one memorable occasion a teacher celebrating a wedding anniversary (I think it was silver) and another one who decided to get married in term time. The world didn't end, no one was bothered, in fact we were hoping the one who was long term sick wasn't coming back in a hurry because her replacement was so good.

mumps

x-caitlin-x wrote: »

When I was a kid we went on camping and caravan holidays, except for one special trip to Disneyland Paris, which my mum spent months saving up for. Now I have children, we go on one holiday in the UK each year, and other holidays are spent doing day trips. The kids get plenty of culture, and we have lots of lovely family time together. I've never understood why people think they have to go abroad to spend time as a family.

I am so tired of this argument. We took our kids camping every year but some years my husband didn't get leave approved during school holidays. It wasn't about money, it wasn't about going abroad, it was about spending a couple of weeks together doing things we liked.

maman

mumps wrote: »

Can parents insist that they stop disrupting education by having sports fixtures during school time, school holidays that aren't in anyway educational, messing about for the last week of term when they seem to do alot of watching videos or rehearsing concerts.

mumps wrote: »

When my kids were at school they had supply teachers on many occasions, teachers going on a course, teacher ill, and on one memorable occasion a teacher celebrating a wedding anniversary (I think it was silver) and another one who decided to get married in term time. The world didn't end, no one was bothered, in fact we were hoping the one who was long term sick wasn't coming back in a hurry because her replacement was so good.

Why is it that any discussion on school holidays always end up as teacher bashing?



If the job is so cushy why is the government spending £16 m on television and newspaper adverts and offering bursaries to try and persuade graduates to enter the profession?


I could explain why schools organise competitive sports fixtures, residential visits, musical and drama performances and send teachers on training courses but what would be the point.:(

mumps

maman wrote: »

Why is it that any discussion on school holidays always end up as teacher bashing?



If the job is so cushy why is the government spending £16 m on television and newspaper adverts and offering bursaries to try and persuade graduates to enter the profession?


I could explain why schools organise competitive sports fixtures, residential visits and send teachers on training courses but what would be the point.:(

Apart from saying a supply teacher was better than the class teacher, which was a fact that every parent in that year group agreed with, where did I bash a teacher?

It is a fact that children miss lessons if they are in sports teams, my GS is in two sports teams and his missed loads of lessons this year as they are through to at least 2 finals in one sport and one in the other. If they are playing at home they miss a couple of lessons, for some of the matches which have been 90 minutes away they have missed all but one lesson.

It is a fact that children go on holidays that aren't anything to do with their studies, mine all did, activity holiday in the South of France, camping in Cornwall, skiing in Austria to name but a few. All good fun and I supported the school doing it but they were no more educational than any holiday I took them on.

As for a relaxing week at the end of term, again it happens all the time, I support it as I think the younger children in particular are normally on their knees by the end of term. Personally I would welcome shorter terms but working parents would kick up a fuss about losing their free childcare.

Two of my kids are teachers, both think kids missing 2 weeks for a family holiday is no big deal. Both expect kids to make up the work, the most they do is tell them to have a look at friends books and copy up work and maybe give them an internet link to some material relevant to the lessons they missed (my DD tells me she will give out the links anyway as if any child gets home and finds they can't do the homework it is better for them to have a look at online material than get in a state about their work.)

So do enlighten me about the teacher bashing.

Just to add when my kids were at school sports fixtures were on a Saturday, I remember it well as I used to help with the refreshments. Where I live they never happen on a Saturday now and they can't do winter sports after school due to dark nights and in the summer cricket takes too long particularly if you have a 3 hr round trip. Just so you know I do know why the fixtures happen when they do, doesn't stop it disrupting lessons though does it?

I didn't have a problem with any of the teachers who took time off in school, anniversaries, weddings etc. Everyone is entitled to a private life.

maman

mumps wrote: »

So do enlighten me about the teacher bashing.

maman wrote: »

I could explain why schools organise competitive sports fixtures, residential visits, musical and drama performances and send teachers on training courses but what would be the point.:(

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