holidays

I find it all quite confusing
paying £120 - well, it is actually a fine, not paying for time off
and as for lying, well that is not right either.

I think some authorities are more draconian than others, however.

In my day the Grammar School I attended would never have put any of us in for 12 O levels - there just wasn't time on the curriculum. It's different these days with 'modules' etc which can be taken at any time.

All our exams had to be taken in a single go (unless the O level in question included both a practical and a theory exam, of course).

To go back to OP ;)

You can't just 'pay £120 to get child out of school' - there may well be other consequences- including possible social services getting involved, and possibly a place a the school for younger sibblings, etc.

As for lying about being ill- I'm quite sure the school will insist on a medical certificate when they see the children and parents dropping them off, with a great suntan- and the kids full of beans talking about Mickey and co. Surely!?
Again, there may well be other consequences, as in above- and probably forget about other sibblings attending the school is places are short, or getting a place on the over-subscribed trip, etc, etc. + loss of respect and goodwill.

Never mind the consequences of a child getting in the habit of lying and then saying 'but you told me to mum and dad- and you did to...'

Or twelve O levels as my DC did. Ducks behind the parapet

And being taken out and getting 7 o levels perhaps you would have got 9 if you hadn't Ddeeda

Any one who has worked in a large organisation will know the nightmare of trying to book time off in the school holidays, especially if they have a partner who is in the same situation. There are never enough holiday dates for the people who want them and trying to synchronise dates with your partner is well nigh impossible. Yes, that is another consideration - there were always those mums who 'winged it' and tried to get as much time off as possible in the school holidays, including building up flexi time and taking it off. Trying to co-ordinate with your OH could be very difficult indeed.

Valuing education and saying what the children were doing ie Christmas play is of no value and could be missed are two different things. If you don't think what the children are doing when they are at school and doing nothing about it is in my opinion not valuing education. And being taken out and getting 7 o levels perhaps you would have got 9 if you hadn't Ddeeda.

My parents always took me out of school for holidays because they didn't like going on holiday when there were crowds of people. I can't say it did me any harm - I still got 7 O'levels and went to college. My children never had holidays because we lived in Cornwall so why would we need to go away?

It isn't all about money. Any one who has worked in a large organisation will know the nightmare of trying to book time off in the school holidays, especially if they have a partner who is in the same situation. There are never enough holiday dates for the people who want them and trying to synchronise dates with your partner is well nigh impossible.

In the case of primary school children I noticed that school work ground to a halt at GS1's school for several weeks while they rehearsed the school play. It was great fun, but whether it was more valuable to the children than a family holiday would have been is debatable.

We used to take our DC out of school in term time ( without complaint from teachers/school) when they were at primary school but never once they went to secondary school. DH worked very long hours and sometimes seven days a week. Without the odd holiday ( that was never long haul ) they would have rarely spent any real length of time with him. DD is in a similar position with her DH's working hours. She most definitely cannot afford the extortionate prices out of term time and equally can't afford the fines that the schools are charging.
Our children's education did not suffer by taking them out then, so what has changed?

Sorry, meant to say 'I agree' Eloethan when I copied some of your post.

But given that a few people on here, myself included, have said they have in the past taken their children out of school to go on holiday, I think it is rather insulting of some posters to suggest that I and others don't value education
DD is a very responsible parent and will not be taking DGS out of school when he is at senior school. He has had experiences here that he would not have had at home, learnt a lot. Because of work commitments they cannot come in the long school holidays.
I took same DD out of school at the end of the summer term when she was 5 - the teacher said that she would learn more from a camping holiday in France than she would in the last two weeks of the year.

Brilliant analogy Elegran. I taught near a major airport before fines were introduced. Many of our pupils had parents who worked for airlines and could get very cheap stand by flights which were less available during school holiday time. As a result many had several holidays a year during term time and struggled to keep up with the rest of the class. Some parents would ask for work. Almost none ever bothered completing it and eventually we would give the holidaymaker a school exercise book with the request they made a holiday diary. I saw one in 20 years.

As to the cry that holidays are more expensive at peak times, I'm afraid the answer is to forego the luxury all inclusive long haul trip and have what you can afford at the proper time. My husband and I were both teachers and managed to give our children memorable, but inexpensive family holidays. Camping in the UK or France may not have been the last word in decadence, but we enjoyed them. [Oh for a holier than thou emoticon!]

So should a parent be fined £60 per child because they want their children to attend a family funeral?
Or should there be some leeway?

Of course, everyone has a different opinion and that's fine. But given that a few people on here, myself included, have said they have in the past taken their children out of school to go on holiday, I think it is rather insulting of some posters to suggest that I and others don't value education.

patriciaann was talking about a 5 year old. From what I've seen at the school where I read with the children, they spend a lot of time drawing, making cakes and models, discussing the importance of a healthy diet, watching films, etc. - all valuable activities, but I'm sure missing a couple of weeks of that wouldn't be disastrous. When you think about the huge progress in learning English that young children make within a very short time when they come to this country, I think it shows how quickly children catch up. There are children who, for myriad reasons, fall behind but, as I've said before, I would be very surprised if this was as a result of taking a holiday.

Its not a money making scheme. Its a damn shame that schools have to go to these lengths at all. Otherwise why bother having fixed terms at all? Why not just let kids dip in and out to suit parental views as to their 'rights' to a cheaper or more convenient holiday? Because education matters that's why. Don't blame the govt, schools or package holiday companies to justify such selfishness. Yes this will infuriate some but the excuses given so far have infuriated me as a responsible parent and grandparent. Plan ahead, save up and stick to the rules like the vast majority of others.

Many posters seem to disagree with everything that this government does, though
(except this)

I know what you mean, though, I am very pick and mix

Does anyone agree with everything any government does Jalima. Often it's a case of picking the best of a bad bunch.

I am sure kids would enjoy caravan holidays in Norfolk or Devon * Granjura* , no doubt about it , but we live in a global village - why shouldn't families have an expectation to travel further afield?

If I did not have expectation of different things than my Mother did , I would be taking a one week holiday at Butlins, 30 mins from my home. I would not have left the county , let alone the country.

EVERY family is different as is every child . So why should a one size fits all policy work? There should be leeway - some wriggle room.

I think this policy benefits schools about as much as traffic cameras benefit road safety. They are both money making tools.

I am finding it very interesting that this is one thing that the Tory Government introduced in 2013 about which many posters are enthusiastic.

Why does absolutely every thing have to come down to money these days?

Interesting about the children going to a grandparent's funeral, granjura and that is quite right.
I heard that a child here in England was refused a day off to go to a grandparent's funeral and the parents would have been fined.
I don't think the rules are applied consistently around the country.

The reason some children visit for lengthy periods from Australia is that they would never see their families otherwise.

I would say, primary school - it's ok. Secondary school, no.

But I object to payment coming into this. How does that help the child? And the child should be the only concern.

Looking at scenery and making a diary does not compensate for lost classroom lessons
It depends what you do during the holiday. DD took DGS on some trips here which he would never have had the opportunity to do where they live, and which were educational. He goes to a private school.

Thinking about the cupcake analogy, the same thing can happen when several children are off with flu, chickenpox etc etc.
I remember when Asian flu went around in about 1957; most of the class were off sick except for two other girls and me, so we did very little for a couple of weeks. Then we succumbed only to return a couple of weeks later to find the others were back at school and had forged ahead (and started Latin lessons too!). We just had to catch up.

Re Australian school holidays, they get 2 weeks at Easter, two in June, two in September and a very long holiday at Christmas. It seems to work better with four terms.

DGS (primary school age) has just visited from Australia for four weeks, two were school holiday and two with the the blessing of the school. His teacher asked him to keep a diary and gave him some work to do. Very sensible imo.

I can quite see why children at public/private schools are less likely to be taken out of school to go on holiday. If people can afford private schooling the chances are that many of them can also afford to pay the increased price of holidaying at "peak time"
Actually, they get longer holidays so tend to break up in the summer before state school children so can take advantage of cheaper rates for holidays.