Should parents take their children on holiday in term time?

One solution would be to agree to stagger school holidays. In Germany, the Summer holiday might start in June for some and August for others. This is done on a state basis, so parents with children at different schools don't have to make separate holiday arrangements for each child, but does mean that the holiday period is extended across the country as a whole.

I personally do not think that children should be going on holiday during term time. When I was working, there was one person who regularly took her children away during term time. She and her husband earned in a month what some people do not earn in a year so cost could not have been the main factor. They had 2 children and could easily afford to take them away in August or whatever.

It is a difficult one. And even if there wasn't a price hike during school holidays, it would still be a problem for many people. It's easy to say that there is plenty of time to take holidays in the 6 week school break, but in reality most employees have to put in holiday requests - even if employers give priority to those with children (and that's not really fair on others, is it?), there are still only three 2 week slots available, 5 if you count them as staggered fortnights. Some are not able to put their requests in several months in advance if they're waiting on their partner's holiday approval as well. It is a real juggling game for employees and employers/department managers - and even worse if the company's busiest time is the school holiday period.
I really think this blanket ban will create headaches for so many people - allowing the HT some discretion was a far better idea.

I don't understand why children (or adults for that matter) NEED a holiday and have little sympathy for taking a child out to go to Disney Land. However I can see the need for flexibility for family occasions where either a long period of notice can be given (Weddings, etc.,) or a very short period is needed (funerals). I do feel it should be for the head to decide not this taking away of yet more of their professionalism with the state deciding.

I think there needs to be a complete review of the school year and the way the teachers are expected to work - but that isn't going to happen is it

What BlueBelle says.

No I don't think they should be taken out in term time except under exceptional circumstance ( got to travel to a grans funeral etc) With sickness time and other necessary leaves like dentists, doctors so forth they already lose time .... it s ok saying 'well I took my kids out and they learned more in our week away' etc etc but if every parent did that Where on earth would the school be half the children would be away

I do understand the price issue and think that maybe you have to bite the bullet and not have the big holiday while they re in school or save up and only have one every other year in holiday time and don't forget you can get permission for some short parts of a necessary holiday so maybe get permission to leave two days before term end or something Ike that

depends on the circumstances we never had our holidays during school breaks because that was our busy period in our family business So any holidays,( and they were few) we booked were for the last week of term when very little was happening in school ,never had any issues with teaching staff about it and our children didn't fall behind in anything,but we only had 5 summer breaks in 25 years so it wasn't a regular occurence

I think it depends on the time of year and the year group. I see nothing wrong in taking a primary child away in July because all the exams are over and the majority if not all of the curriculum has been covered. The last two weeks of term are pretty much filler weeks anyway and the last week is always spent sorting out the classroom and throwing stuff away to prepare it for the big summer clean. You have to be careful with Year 6 because it depends on when the secondary visits are. It's important they don't miss them.

Secondary children are different but even then they don't work much in the last week or so.

The same goes for the week before Christmas in primary school. If a parent wants to take the child out early then fair enough as the last week is only filled with concerts, parties and entertainment.

Travel is an education in itself even if it's only to a Haven camp or Disneyland. Meeting new people, experiencing new situations and having quality family time can only be a good thing.

I think it depends on the child , their age, their overall attendance etc.

I don't think the cost of holidays should be a factor BUT if the parents work in seasonal industries or there are other factors this should all be taken into consideration.

One size does not fit all in this case.

I took my daughters out of school for family holidays when necessary but must have been one of those odd mums who made sure they did work if necessary while they were away and that they caught up on their return . I believe it had a value outside academic achievement . They learnt about other cultures , experienced things not accessible here in the U.K. Practised their math on currency exchange and generally absorbed life skills.

They don't seem any the worse for it and have done well in life.

Of course teachers are aware it is just insensitive parents whingeing on about the dash to the motorway on the last day of term that they want to avoid that annoyed me! I am not a supporter of teachers who whinge either. It is a hard & demanding job but so are many others!!

Niobe the reference to 90% attendance was after taking the holiday into consideration. In the report I read, it was claimed the child had "more than 90% attendance during the school year" (90% being the threshold for regular attendance in that particular authority). The father took the action because his daughter "had otherwise perfect attendance at school".

It works both ways Penstemmon. Those who work in the tourist industry as a lot do, cannot take school holidays as that's their busiest time. Except for winter half term. A brilliant choice when you're on minimum wage! I assume most teachers are aware when they take the job that they'll be restricted ti school holidays. My teaching friends certainly are and appreciate the offsetting advantage of not having to pay for holiday childcare.
A bit of common sense and leeway is needed, but that's now gone out of the window.

I took my two daughters on holidays every June, I couldn't afford to holiday in August, we live in Wales and holidayed in Wales, we visited places of Welsh history and spent time on the beach. I think they benefited from this, what they learned in school in history Was far more interesting when we visited the castles, graves, memorials etc.

Of course us teachers,benefit from regular hols. but always pay top cost if we want to go away. No sneaking off early to avoid the jams/rush for them. Really peed me off when parents quoted that reason to me!

I think it depends on what's happening in school at the time. We used to take ours out a couple of days before the end of summer term in order to miss the horrendous traffic jams. Then those last two days were spent tidying the class room and bringing in toys to play with. I expect though that these days the last lesson will be maths. No fun sessions work, work right until that final bell!

Also, it depends what the holiday involves. Some can be wonderful learning experiences and parents are often prepared to take lessons with them so the child doesn't fall behind. A bit of give and take and common sense is needed. I don't like a blanket ban and fear it may be used as an excuse to send a poorly child into school rather than arrange time off work.

When I was a HT and we still had discretion to authorise or not it depended on all sorts of circumstances and I could respond individually. It was also permitted to allow police/firefightrs/hospital staff etc. who had to work a leave rota permission for term time hols.
. There were also many unrealistic requests /excuses for absence and some familes opted out very regularly..then said school was not worth it bcos kids did not learn. No undrstanding of cause and effect!
In the LA where I worked the head of pupil welfare (attendance officer) negotiated a 10%discount with a local travel company for families travelling in school hols. It was a positive gesture. If yhe government had the will they could tackle some of those price hikes but they are strong believers in market forces.

This particular father was bleating on about his child having a 90% attendance as if that backed up his claim that the holiday would do no harm. A 90% attendance means that his child attended school 9 times out of 10 and missed 1 in 10 days. Correct me if I am wrong but that child was already missing 1 day every fortnight on average. Hardly an enviable attendance record!!

So much time and trouble wasted just because he wouldn't pay the fine. I can just imagine his legal team laughing all the way to the bank.

A very expensive trip to Disneyland. Serves him right.

At the age of 10 I was quite poorly & off school for 7 weeks, I was too ill to do school work at home & wasn't given any extras to catch up, I will never know whether or not I would have been a Genius! ? .... However from reading some posts I can see that it must be difficult for teachers if as ,has been said they are the ones putting in the extra work/ effort to get these children up to speed. That seems to be unfair to me, so I think that parents should have to accept that no extra time /help will be given to their children to catch up & that the onus to do this would be on them.

So true Lillie

One of my friends taught at one school and her two children were at different local schools. They struggled to find two weeks when their school holidays coincided. This was when 'Mill" holidays still took place in our area. The holidays were staggered with local towns starting their break as others returned from theirs. It worked well for us because our break was the last week in June, first in July. We had cheaper, quieter holidays but didn't work for my friend's family.

I retired four years ago but when I was working I knew a number of children from Irish traveller families who were taken out of school in June, returning mid or late September. During the extended break, they travelled using the caravan they lived-in, or kept at the side of their house. Similarly, children with family in Pakistan were sometimes taken out for up to 12 weeks for an extended visit to their family homeland.

I've little sympathy for the father in the current case, who took his child out of school for two weeks to go to Disney World. He could have afforded the premium charged by holiday companies. I sympathise with people whose work patterns don't allow them time off during the set school holidays. I'm sure most head teachers would be sympathetic to that kind of situation, or family ill health/bereavement issues.

Yes, shift workers nina, and in our school lots of armed forces' children who need every precious minute of family time.

Children should not be taken out of school for family holidays and why do people think they are entitled ? Time in school is brief enough as it is.

I know it's a bit naive, but instead of penalising parents it's a pity nothing can be done about the outrageous prices charged by the holiday industry at during school holiday times.

As families become more fragmented at the school I worked at we were having children being taken out in term time for 2 holidays; one with mum and one with dad. Or even one with grandparents...

I have seen all the arguments for and against and, on balance, I don't think it's a good thing to do.

That's rediculous Badenkate