School Holidays

MX5huggy

daveyjp said:

October holiday is the one which does change.

This school year October break in our area was the week before the clocks changed, next academic year its the week after.

Why would you try to predict October half term based on the clocks changing that happens on the last Sunday in October (not the 4th if there are 5) so between 25th and 31st inclusive? 

sheramber

Last September my local council considered changing the  dates of the Christmas holidays sp that they would finish earlier and go back earlier than had been Stated.

 But the responses they had about it were  all negative so they didn't go  ahead with it.

NoodleDoodleMan

Our schools holiday calendar is much the same year in, year out, for each academic session- based on Christmas and Easter etc.

The October week (or fortnight) seems to be a "movable feast" in some parts of the UK though ?

eskbanker

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Our schools holiday calendar is much the same year in, year out, for each academic session- based on Christmas and Easter etc.

The October week (or fortnight) seems to be a "movable feast" in some parts of the UK though ?

The October week/fortnight has to be movable, as it'll generally be aligned with a full Monday to Friday period, and so will shift by one day every non-leap year, and then needs to be moved by six days every five or six years in order to avoid falling right out of the acceptable window.

NoodleDoodleMan

Our local schools October holiday period always start the second Monday of the month.

 

Lavendyr

michno8 said:

We booked a holiday last year for this year to coincide with October half term and paid the premium . The school holidays have now changed for October so not only have we paid premium prices but we have to pay 120 for each  child so x 4 to take them out of  school. Are we entitled to any money back from the holiday  at all . Anybody done something similar . Thankyou 

You could cancel and rebook now and see if it is cheaper. 

Otherwise, no. 

jackieblack

OP, you should also probably be aware that some councils have recently stated that they may consider proceeding straight to prosecution instead of issuing a fixed penalty notice. I suspect this may apply to ‘repeat offenders’, rather than those for whom this is a one-off ‘first offence’, but this hasn’t been quantified.

CKhalvashi

jackieblack said:

OP, you should also probably be aware that some councils have recently stated that they may consider proceeding straight to prosecution instead of issuing a fixed penalty notice. I suspect this may apply to ‘repeat offenders’, rather than those for whom this is a one-off ‘first offence’, but this hasn’t been quantified.

I can only agree with this move.

It's hugely disruptive to both the education of the child and the education of other children for school to be missed unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The October Half Term is never dependent on clocks, it moves every 5-6 years and has for at least the last 25 years.

sheramber

Most parents consider a £60 fine is  a small price to pay to have their holiday.

NoodleDoodleMan

sheramber said:

Most parents consider a £60 fine is  a small price to pay to have their holiday.

Exactly - there can be significant savings by taking family holidays outwith schools official closures dates.

Also, some parents are constrained by when their employers allocate annual leave.