Teachers of today

I am a bit puzzled by the heading of this thread. Why is the blanket criticism implicit in the heading followed up by an uncredited remark by an unknown, male teacher stating the that "It is not the kid's fault etc"? The OP then wonders "How the kids he teaches will end up like"(sic).

IMO teachers are there to teach the 3Rs initially and then individual subjects at secondary level. How the future of the next generation depends on teachers opinions and not their parents upbringing puzzles me. Teachers only see children during school-time they can only shape children's opinions in a very limited way in comparison with the children's parents.

escaped - possibly LAs differ- my experience is in Kent.

I’m a mother, grandmother, retired teacher and , until recently, a school governor so I can see this from many points of view. I wasn’t teaching when my children were young and we took them away every June for 2 weeks ( adding a week on to the half term so they missed 1 week of school. The reason was different from other equally good reasons already mentioned. My DH felt that he and I were the ones who needed a holiday. He worked long hours in a stressful job and found it difficult to get time off in the school holidays. He had to deputise for his boss and was governed by his schedule. Whilst I feel that nothing is more important than education for a child there are other aspects of a family’s situation which are also important. The solution would be to allow a period of time (perhaps a week ) each year for a child to be on holiday.

I'm confused, this is from our current Devon County Council page.
For a request to be authorised by the school then it must be evidenced that the request meets the criteria of ‘exceptional circumstances.’ The law does not grant parents/carers a right to take their children out of school during term time. Only Head Teachers can authorise an absence.
Only Headteachers can decide.
The fines set by the LEA are a separate issue.

I have one DGC whose Head has agreed an absence this summer, yet her sibling, in a different school, has not had it authorised by the Head.

You are correct * LovesBach*. Headteachers have no authority to agree absence in school time.
The local authority, not the school, sets fines and makes any decisions regarding legal action.

escaped

That would certainly be one option 25Avalon. I've heard there are so many children being homeschooled now that the LEAs can't keep up with checking on them anyway.
Another option is, of course if you can afford it, to send the child to an independent school where they can't be fined.
The business of authorising absences is down to the individual Headteacher. So, as I see it, it all becomes very subjective with variations as to who will or won't be fined.

I was under the impression that a Head Teacher cannot authorise absence in term time. Parents can't be prevented from taking children out of school, obviously, but it would be recorded as unauthorised absence. The class registers are posted online to the Education Authority on a weekly basis, and any notification of fines or legal action is made by the LEA.

Galaxy

No one in education gives a toss about children taking a week off to go on holiday. We have children who have attendance of 30 %, worrying about holidays would be like worrying about a lightbulb needing replacing whilst your house is on fire.

Exactly so.

My grandchildren went to Japan for 3 months when they were in primary school. The teachers wished them well and said they would learn more in that 3 months than they would in school. They were right,too. They loved the Japanese culture and learnt to speak some of the language and to read the road signs which were in Japanese. Two of the are at uni now and the youngest is doing her final year at high school.

That would certainly be one option 25Avalon. I've heard there are so many children being homeschooled now that the LEAs can't keep up with checking on them anyway.
Another option is, of course if you can afford it, to send the child to an independent school where they can't be fined.
The business of authorising absences is down to the individual Headteacher. So, as I see it, it all becomes very subjective with variations as to who will or won't be fined.

A family in the west were fined nearly £500 for taking their 3 primary school age kids out of school for 4 days. They have also been threatened with a criminal record and possibly prison if they do it again. So they have deregistered them all from school for a term and are homeschooling so they can have more days off. Not sure they will getaway with it unless they do homeschool. I homeschooled my disabled son but had to prove to the LEA that he was getting schooling.

No one in education gives a toss about children taking a week off to go on holiday. We have children who have attendance of 30 %, worrying about holidays would be like worrying about a lightbulb needing replacing whilst your house is on fire.

1976 and a few years after I took my 5 & 7 year old daughters out of school for a holiday, my husband died 1976, I did this because of costs, we were living in Wales and went on holiday in Wales, I wanted them to continue having that week by the sea.

Iam in South Wales we called last week June first week July
‘Miners Holiday’

Here in the north west we had Mill holidays until about 30 years ago. The mill towns had designated Wakes Weeks. Ours were last week June, first July. We could go away so much cheaper and when places weren’t overcrowded.

Children should not be taken out of school. Their education is paid for by the state. Many children in the world would give anything for an education. In this country too much is taken for granted.

I get sick of hearing that holiday companies hike the prices during school holiday time, they don’t.

Like a gym membership Mon-Fri 10-4 off peak is always cheaper than 7 days 6am-9pm.

Holidays are cheaper out of term time when demand is lower, why wouldn’t this be the case?

We went on a cruise to the Fjords in term time last year, the ship was full of children, most of them didn’t even get off in port.

I do not agree with taking children out of school for a holiday.

Stillness

Years ago we took our children out of school each year for a week away, in June usually. There was no fuss about it and having worked for many years in school, I don’t think there should be even now. It’s not the end of the world. The children ‘catch up’, sometimes they don’t miss a great deal …and I’ve never known a child who suffered long term for having a holiday! My children went on to get first class honours degrees and now, they do occasionally take their own children out, if the dates for travelling clip a school term by a few days. I’m with the teacher I’m afraid. Let’s keep things in perspective.

That would be all well and good if it were not for the fact that part of schools “judgements” are attendance!

Also, it could be deemed “ok” to take your child out of school for 5 days each year, but many children have very scant attendance as it is.

Teachers have to suck up the additional costs of holidays in school holidays with their own families, and they are not exactly overpaid, especially Primary School Teachers, and if you’re an LSA it’s even worse.

Wyllow3

I think the problem is that if only a small minority as now take their children out of school and they have the ability to catch up, it's not significant. but if a large proportion of children are off at different times it would be absolute chaos in classrooms as regards delivering the syllabus..

Thats why in principle I don't support it

(except for the example of post GCSE time out which seems logical)

I agree

Luckygirl3

The teacher is right - it is certainly not the children's fault - it is a parental decision.

And the teacher is also right that the problem exists because of the massive hike in prices during school holidays. But travel companies are commercial enterprises and will grab a profit where they can.

I agree

I think the problem is that if only a small minority as now take their children out of school and they have the ability to catch up, it's not significant. but if a large proportion of children are off at different times it would be absolute chaos in classrooms as regards delivering the syllabus..

Thats why in principle I don't support it

(except for the example of post GCSE time out which seems logical)

A family holiday, particularly abroad, is not a necessity, it’s a luxury imo, I disagree with taking children out of school, they’re being taught rules don’t apply to them.

Years ago we took our children out of school each year for a week away, in June usually. There was no fuss about it and having worked for many years in school, I don’t think there should be even now. It’s not the end of the world. The children ‘catch up’, sometimes they don’t miss a great deal …and I’ve never known a child who suffered long term for having a holiday! My children went on to get first class honours degrees and now, they do occasionally take their own children out, if the dates for travelling clip a school term by a few days. I’m with the teacher I’m afraid. Let’s keep things in perspective.

Strange title. What have ‘teachers of today ‘ ( do you mean all of them?) got to do with holiday prices?
Of course it’s not the children’s fault.
In my opinion there are more important things to be shocked about.

I have not ever taken my children out of school and my daughter hasn’t with my grandchildren.

However this year is their GCSE year and they don’t go back into school when their exams are over so as a one off we are able to go on holiday this year to a resort we’ve been to before (and love) at the end of June instead of July or August . It is literally thousands cheaper so I understand why parents do it .

Of course that isn't the children's fault, they deserve to have all the experiences life can offer and price gouging is exactly why some families choose their holiday dates carefully or otherwise cannot afford to go.

It isn't just in school holidays, though.
DD1 and family are flying to a European holiday destination in June, and it's still very expensive then.