Parents taking children on holiday in term time.

My kids are long grown up, but we did occasionally take them away during term time.
On one occasion we went to the USA, a once in a lifetime for us. 3 days in New York, then 2 weeks in Florida. The boys were 7 and 9 at the time. One of them was studying USA as a subject on the curriculum.
Guess which one was NOT authorised?
We also had a letter from the Headmaster some months later, encouraging parents to look on education as a responsibility of the whole family and that includes trips away.
He was and still is, a complete control freak.

Don't blame the schools. Blame the Government, they introduced the policy. The other problem schools have is these count as absences, so when OFSTED visit they are accused of having poor attendance.

Anniebach

Take a child out of school for a holiday is disruptive, so are teachers strike disruptive

'44,000 teachers left the state-funded sector in 2021/22, up by 7,800 since last year. This represents 1 in 10 (9.7%) of all qualified teachers' That's disruptive.
Govt figures published 19 June 2023 explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2022
Having your child taught maths by a PE teacher all year or a series of supply teachers is disruptive too.

Yes of course there are many holiday lets in the UK. Next week my DD will be going to a caravan in Devon with her DH and our GS who will miss 6 days of school. Of course this isn’t an ideal scenario especially for this education conscious couple. However she enquired about the cost of renting this basic caravan during school holidays and its £1900. She can’t afford this. Prices are ridiculous.
I’d also like to say that as a retired teacher I’m not in favour of term time holidays but I do feel that holidays are not just for the children who would manage perfectly well with outings in their home area. The parents also need a rest and many prefer somewhere comfortable to stay. My BIL always used to say that if he couldn’t stay in a nice hotel in a pleasant area he would rather stay at home. Camping and other options don’t necessarily give the adults the rest they need.

Germanshepherdsmum

Why is nobody content with a self catering holiday in the UK as we always had?

Have a look at the prices and compare term time to school holidays.

It’s not all about going abroad, it’s the affordability of any holiday, even campsites and caravan holidays can double in price.

We don't go abroad any more but I assume that it's the British weather puts people off.

Are there no holiday lets in this country now ?

Why is nobody content with a self catering holiday in the UK as we always had?

Doodledog. 👏

Take a child out of school for a holiday is disruptive, so are teachers strike disruptive

My objection is to the fines. I am not arguing for taking children out of school, but against making it even more difficult for poorer families than for the better off. It is that unfairness that I find objectionable.

That objection does not mean that I don’t ’support’ teachers either. As soon as people post anything remotely critical about a system (whether it is NHS GP appointments, the lack of dentists or something about schools) posters with children working in those areas take it personally and rush to tell us how hard those children work. Nobody is saying otherwise. It is perfectly possible to support teachers (which I do) and also oppose a system which exacerbates the fact that those with money can do things with their children that those without can’t.

Annie teachers' strikes mean the whole class misses the lesson, so teacher adjusts subsequent lessons accordingly. That's totally different.

I used to say to my secondary pupils 'Imagine if everyone in the class did what you just did'. It might have been being very noisy, walking round the class when they were told to remain seated, shouting out etc.
So imagine if each of the 30 pupils in a class took 1 or 2 weeks holiday, and across the year, there was never a full class...

How many weeks learning was lost during the teachers strikes

I am amazed that the overall opinion seems to be only those who can afford a holiday in school holidays should have one.

One week or even two weeks missed is not the end of a child’s education. Maybe save your concerns for the 1,000’s of children who are lost from registers and schools since lockdown

Many years ago my husband,a serving police officer, was on a drug dealing case, car crash took his life, our daughters were 5 and 7.

4 months later I took them out of school for our annual weeks holiday, big change from a detective sergeant’s salary to a widow’s pension .

God given right ? No.

Or the girls the Taliban refuse to allow an education.

Children from some third world countries ! Long way to travel every day

I see education as a wonderful privilege and that is why I get really angry with the kids who don’t give a toss. Give their place to someone who would really appreciate it , especially those in some of the third world countries who would give their right arm for the chance.

People seem to think they have a god-given right to a nice holiday, and a cheap one at that. I have news for them. Children have a god-given right to an education.

We were in Salou two weeks ago and I know it was not school holidays but the place was overrun with school kids. It's is very expensive in term time and apparently its a lot to do with the airlines charging more. On the other hand some holiday companies offer free child places all year round.

GSM and GG13 exactly.
One parent, well known locally for his achievements, took that to the newspapers. He was incensed that his fine wasn’t going to the school who would have to deal with the fall out from his actions.

That seems sensible. It’s the staff and pupils of the school who have been affected by the unauthorised absence.

Nanatoone
Thank you, re support for the teachers, even though it’s a bit off track from the OP. The people who know most about the higher costs of holidays during school holiday times are school staff, whether they are cleaners, office staff, kitchen staff, lunchtime supervisors, TAs or teachers or heads.
If anyone in any of those groups want to take a holiday in term time, even if it was allowed, they would have to take it as unpaid leave and be fined for taking their children out of school and have it recorded on their attendance record, and have to listen to the endless comments on long school holidays (at the most expensive times of the year.

Please be clear that am in no way denigrating teachers or any other teaching staff.

If the fines are to be issued they should go to the school not the County Council