Holidays and School Term Times

[SimonMac]

BBC News - Drop term-time holiday ban, urges petition

A petition demanding the government reverse a ban on schoolchildren in England taking holidays during term-time will be delivered later.

The 126,000-signature document will be given to the Department for Education.

Campaigners say many families cannot afford the higher cost of a break during the school holidays.

Shirley a better approach would be to A) Allow school to set their own term times, so there is less over lap between areas B) Ban Holiday firms from gouging prices which are much much higher than the rest of the year!

[Mich the Tester]

B) Ban Holiday firms from gouging prices which are much much higher than the rest of the year!

That would be difficult; are you sure they aren't just passing on the prices set by hotels and airlines? Hotel owners in southern Europe are smart enough to google school holidays in northern European countries and adapt their prices to fit demand.

[northernladuk]

Problem is, for a majority of parents it won't affect the childs schooling as they will put the effort to try help the child catch up. Unfortunately there will also be an undercurrent of parents who won't and expect everything to be ok and it 'only be a week'. That will be a week a year for up to 10 years for a start and that week can put a child back to the point it directly affects their grades, particularly in courses that build on other aspects of the year. Parents often just don't understand exactly how important a week is in their childs development. Some do and will work hard to correct it, many don't.

You can bet your bottom dollar it will be poorer parents that support this more who will also probably have children that will suffer from this week the most.

Bit of a moral maze this one.

[amcdonald]

That would be difficult; are you sure they aren't just passing on the prices set by hotels and airlines? Hotel owners in southern Europe are smart enough to google school holidays in northern European countries and adapt their prices to fit demand.

Easy impose a price controls over package holidays for the uk which we could have more control over, if people want to holiday abroad tough they have to pay more

It might help arrest the decline of sea side towns

[Mich the Tester]

That will be a week a year for up to 10 years for a start and that week can put a child back to the point it directly affects their grades, particularly in courses that build on other aspects of the year.

If that's correct then it would suggest the education approach is too fragile; many kids are likely to miss a week or so each year due to flu or other illnesses; are they then going to end up with a disadvantage?

[kevpuk]

Moral maze indeed.
My kids are 6 and 4, and we once took the eldest out of school for 2 days for a EuroDisney trip (youngest was not then in school). I can't see we would do this again, whether the current rules permit it or not, as term-time is term-time and I think there is plenty of holiday time in the school year.
Yes, the costs are notably higher in 'holiday time' but I don't feel that gives us the right to ignore rules on attendance, in general. Either we will pay what the rate is, or select a different option from the myriad of other choices, not all of which have to cost loads!

The irony is that the 3 days I didn't invoice for would've paid for the whole trip!

[Ticktock]

B) Ban Holiday firms from gouging prices which are much much higher than the rest of the year!

Whilst I have some sympathy with people who can only go away during holiday times (teachers and parents mostly) this is always held up as "they charge more because they know it's the only time lots of people can go away", rather than "they charge more because demand is higher".

So you could argue that it's simple supply and demand, and then start arguing whether you want government intervention in other markets too. At the moment, the only call you seem to see for this is when there's a perception that prices are not following supply and demand, such as the current arguments over energy prices.

Then again, the same can be said for train fares (peak vs off-peak pricing) where pricing puts the train companies at odds with government policy (getting people off the roads and on to public transport).

[eek]

Whats wrong with the current rules.

They are simple:-

if a child

• is dead,
• in rehab
• or parent is are being mobilised then they can have time off...

Everything else is unauthorised and should be persued via the local truancy officer to court.

*Before anyone asks this is the policy of 2 county councils....

[doodab]

We should do it properly. Take children from their families at age 7 and force them through an unremittingly hardcore communal education system. It worked for the spartans.

[Wanderer]

Shirley a better approach would be to A) Allow school to set their own term times, so there is less over lap between areas B) Ban Holiday firms from gouging prices which are much much higher than the rest of the year!

A) is a good idea I think. It would take the pressure off the huge getaway on the last day of school. Ban those stupid Christmas and Easter holidays too and allow people to stagger them throughout the year.

B) is a load of bollocks really. Holiday prices go up because the demand is high, simple as that. They will be moaning that the prices go up at Christmas next. It's not for the government to interfere with the market. If they can stagger the demand then the problem is reduced though people are always going to be moaning that taking a holiday in a resort in the peak mid-summer period is more expensive than in the middle of winter or that flights on a Friday afternoon are always more expensive.

Parents who really want to take the kids out during term time just phone them in sick "little Tommy can't come to school today because he has explosive diarrhoea" and off they go. The school doesn't ask questions otherwise it's put down as "unauthorised absence" and that reflects badly on the school. So the school would rather just turn a blind eye....