Schools are levying more 'holiday fines' on parents

rojones said:
Depends where you go on Holiday and how much sun block you use.
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It would only work if you went to some cold place with some children, my brother and sister tan straight away even in British weather.

I agree with above, what sort of example is that setting for a child to lie about going on holiday?
 
TinkerBell said:
It would only work if you went to some cold place with some children, my brother and sister tan straight away even in British weather.

I agree with above, what sort of example is that setting for a child to lie about going on holiday?
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Guess people wouldn't have to lie if the world and country wasn't so funked up.

But me personally i would just take the fine if i had to. even if the double it its still peanuts compared to the money you would save.
 
I'm surprised at how little has been said in this thread from a teacher perspective. Children being off sick or just bunking off is bad enough, but parents willingly taking their children out of education for a week or two to save some money puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on the class teacher as it completely affects the planning and structure of the lesson and the ensuing disruption that having to help a student catch up on work results in.

As a trainee teacher I'm experiencing first hand how awkward it is to be trying to teach a whole class a particular thing, knowing that those that weren't there last week are getting even further behind, and it'll take the whole lesson, if not more, to get them caught up.

Children should be in school during term time. End of.

Oh, and if you're looking for cheaper holidays, try sending your kids to an Academy school. a lot of academies are changing when their holidays are so that they don't coincide with regular half terms and easter etc.
 
Deiwos said:
I'm surprised at how little has been said in this thread from a teacher perspective. Children being off sick or just bunking off is bad enough, but parents willingly taking their children out of education for a week or two to save some money puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on the class teacher as it completely affects the planning and structure of the lesson and the ensuing disruption that having to help a student catch up on work results in.

As a trainee teacher I'm experiencing first hand how awkward it is to be trying to teach a whole class a particular thing, knowing that those that weren't there last week are getting even further behind, and it'll take the whole lesson, if not more, to get them caught up.

Children should be in school during term time. End of.

Oh, and if you're looking for cheaper holidays, try sending your kids to an Academy school. a lot of academies are changing when their holidays are so that they don't coincide with regular half terms and easter etc.
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While i largely agree with what you have said, there are certain things i dont agree with, such as...

Some people have set holidays and dont have the luxury of having time off when the kids do, hell its hard/very expensive getting them looked after when the schools are closed as it is.

I am lucky that i can take my holidays just about whenever i like, however my wife isnt able to take her holidays in certain months of the year, likewise, my and my wifes mother who would normally mind the kids when we are at work are both in jobs where they are not permitted time off during peak months (JULY,AUG, DEC) so things can become very difficult.

Obviously any decent parent will do what they can to disrupt a child as little as possible, however please bare in mind that not everything is as black and white as Kids go to school during term time no matter what"


Also this thread has gone way off topic now, the initial argument was about Unauthorised absences....not authorised ones and whether they are right or wrong.


Also i dont think its as easy as just find an academy school and send them there is it?
 
Imo kids should be allowed time off for holidays unless it's at a critical point in their learning such as exam times

there's more to life than education & work
 
I don't see the issue, we pay for school, so if we want we can take our kids out. and as said school is boring, he oppertunity of a holiday on the ottherside of the world cant be missed. you can make up work.

Missing lessons for the odd week does no harm in the long run, what about the kids that don't turn up all year round, go after their parents.

Those types of kids need the help, likely have scumbag parents that need a kick up the ass. not the rich ones going on holiday for a week but they stilll get all A grades.
 
starfighter said:
I don't see the issue, we pay for school, so if we want we can take our kids out. and as said school is boring, he oppertunity of a holiday on the ottherside of the world cant be missed. you can make up work.

Missing lessons for the odd week does no harm in the long run, what about the kids that don't turn up all year round, go after their parents.

Those types of kids need the help, likely have scumbag parents that need a kick up the ass. not the rich ones going on holiday for a week but they stilll get all A grades.
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Exactly

My 7 yr old nephew has just spent 3 weeks in NewZealand and that kind of experience is great for a child of his age , he's learned so much over there too
 
Teachers don't help you catch up with work anyway, since 13 it was a case of borrowing a friends workbook and copying the notes.

The crux of the issue is someone is having more holidays than teachers and they don't like it.
 
That would be my argument too.....

There are many reasons why people need to take children out in term time....money is just one reason.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult for me and my wife to get time off during the summer and Christmas. And what if you holiday with family abroad - and they aren't there during the summer - or the destination you go to just isn't suitable to vacation in during the British holiday time.

Money would probably be 80% of peoples reasons.... but for us - that wasn't the reason...It was the fact we could holiday at any other time other than the last 2 weeks in September.

And who's to say a child wouldn't learn far more about real life on their holiday than they would in a class of 40 children in a low rated school ? Is school really that good ? I know mine wasn't. I learnt far more and got better education from my parents, from Scouts and from other places.
 
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RDM said:
What if they don't? What if the school has a completely anal approach and will not authorise anything?
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Tough luck. it's technically against the rules. I've already said I don't think kids should have holidays in term time.

In England, parents can be fined £50 per child if it is paid within 28 days, rising to £100 or a court appearance afterwards.

But schools are given discretion to agree up to 10 days holiday a year, only if they feel there are exceptional reasons involved.

"It's down to individual heads whether they give parents permission to take their children out of school but we back them in taking a firm line on unauthorised absence."
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RDM said:
(Like the pre-school that was mentioned previously in this thread, not authorising a holidy for schooling a child doesn't even have to attend!).
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As I already said I don't see how a nursery can do it.

divosuk said:
Money would probably be 80% of peoples reasons.... but for us - that wasn't the reason...It was the fact we could holiday at any other time other than the last 2 weeks in September.
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I don't know you could say perhaps don't go. Holidays are not essential. When you have kids you give up a lot of freedoms.
 
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When I was a kid, my parents never took me out of school during term times.

My Mum was previously a Teacher, so from her point of view, I can see how it would be annoying to have Kids pulled out of a class to go away on holiday. People proposing ideas about allowing good pupils to go away, or certain times off etc just doesn't work, you can't micromanage that and have Teachers having to work out who is away and who needs to catch up etc. It has to be one rule for all.

I mean, let's face it, most kids have a huge amount of time off over Summer, which is more than adequate for a holiday away. The only other times are Easter, Xmas and the holiday near the end of the year. Obviously the problem is holiday companies put prices up, but if it was your business, you would probably do the same, no?

There is an argument for saying that taking your child abroad is more rewarding... but there are plenty of times you could do that over Summer. Just how many of their parents do anything truly culturally rewarding though? I mean, I bet a lot take an Easyjet flight to somewhere like Majorca and eat Fish & Chips on the Beach for a whole week.

I've also noticed around London that there are a number of truancy vans that go around now, rounding up kids who are skiving. Though not related to holidays... it does have some relation to parenting.
 
Theres a good split in peoples opinions here.

Did the people who agree with "kids should be in school during school times" ever get taken out of school themselves? and vice versa for people that disagree?

A good point that was made was parents sometimes cant choose when they have time off work, is this a good enough reason though?

I think that the people saying it holds the class behind are wrong though, teachers just carry on teaching as per their scheme of work.
 
starfighter said:
Teachers don't help you catch up with work anyway, since 13 it was a case of borrowing a friends workbook and copying the notes.

The crux of the issue is someone is having more holidays than teachers and they don't like it.
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Bad teachers don't. A good teacher will go out of their way to help every single child in the classroom, even if the child has missed lessons because of going on holiday or whatever.

The crux of the issue is you don't have a clue what teachers think.
 
AcidHell2 said:
In my opinion you should not have time of, however you are allowed to and most people seem to be missing the point. This fine is only for unauthorised time and instead of prosecution.
But anyway lets get back to the topic of fines and/or prosecutions for unauthorised holidays.
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I object to it for a few reasons but the school is not designed to be purveyor of punitive measures against parents. If they feel that the childs education is being unduly compromised then they should go to the proper authorities, foisting this duty/authority onto schools is not a useful thing and surely compromises the role that the school is expected to play.

There's a reason why we as a society allow certain people or classes of people specific powers, extending this is a rather dangerous principle so while it may be relatively benign for the moment and schools may be reasonable in their application I am always wary about the possibility of abuse in the future.
 
I was never ever taken out of school for holidays of any kind, simply because there just wasnt any money for decent clothes let alone a family holiday.

I still dont believe that taking a child out of school for a week to go on a family holiday is going to be so detrimental to the childs overall education that they cannot recover.

I do agree that parents/children should be punished when UNAUTHORISED time off is causing issues.
 
Deiwos said:
Bad teachers don't. A good teacher will go out of their way to help every single child in the classroom, even if the child has missed lessons because of going on holiday or whatever.

The crux of the issue is you don't have a clue what teachers think.
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Well that was how it was for me and the other 1000 or so chilren in my school, not ideal but with class sizes over 30 and usually a couple of people off a day it didn't happen.


I would probably give my kids extra tuition anyway, so it wouldn't matter.

kids skiving off must account for much more lost education in the UK overall and these are the children that need help. (parents a slap).
 
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