Has the High Court abolished school term time?

[Honky Tonx]

Following yesterday's ruling, has school term time been abolished? It's seems ridiculous that parents can take their children off on holiday willy nilly. One idea might be to scrap half term to make up for lost learning time. I think we are on the road to anarchy.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Following yesterday's ruling, has school term time been abolished? It's seems ridiculous that parents can take their children off on holiday willy nilly. One idea might be to scrap half term to make up for lost learning time. I think we are on the road to anarchy.

My first thought on hearing the story .... the guys daughter had a 92% attendance, which he claimed was very good - assuming they don't include sickness in those figures, why doesn't she have 100%. I was no goody-goody, but I never missed a single days schooling when I wasn't sick.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Following yesterday's ruling, has school term time been abolished? It's seems ridiculous that parents can take their children off on holiday willy nilly. One idea might be to scrap half term to make up for lost learning time. I think we are on the road to anarchy.

The court accepted that the kid's overall 90% attendance was indicative of an otherwise excellent record. Therefore the parents hadn't 'done anything wrong. Utter nonsense. If I was absent from work 10% of the time (one day every fortnight) I'd have been sacked years ago.

 

[Honky Tonx]

I do fear where this country is heading.

 

[ROSM]

The court accepted that the kid's overall 90% attendance was indicative of an otherwise excellent record. Therefore the parents hadn't 'done anything wrong. Utter nonsense. If I was absent from work 10% of the time (one day every fortnight) I'd have been sacked years ago.

There are c150 schooldays a year so you comment here was that with the time off for holidays they had missed 15 days and that was a reasonable benchmark.

My view is that I think the bench mark should be a max 10 days a year missed for sickness or hols before fines kick in at primary level. At secondary it should be no holiday time.

 

[ROSM]

My first thought on hearing the story .... the guys daughter had a 92% attendance, which he claimed was very good - assuming they don't include sickness in those figures, why doesn't she have 100%. I was no goody-goody, but I never missed a single days schooling when I wasn't sick.

They do include sickness in that 8% absence

 

[glasfryn]

CHANGE THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
shift them to different times
and then watch the holiday companies shift their times and prices
its an awkward one this I am just glad my children are grown up

 

[bhawoddy]

What about parents that are unable to take their children on holiday during standard holiday periods due to having jobs which don't allow them leave during those times.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

As a parent I have no issue with this. The whole idea of fines for holidays was always political anyway.

I watched the scruffy haired councillor from the Isle of White trying to justify their actions and suggesting a child not being in school affects other pupils and staff. Strange how so many schools are closed for voting - surely that effects children's education - or indeed the number of inset days in term time. Make inset days in school holidays always. It's a do as we say not as we do attitude from the authorities. Remind me the average number of sick days council employees take each year ?

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

There are c150 schooldays a year so you comment here was that with the time off for holidays they had missed 15 days and that was a reasonable benchmark.

My view is that I think the bench mark should be a max 10 days a year missed for sickness or hols before fines kick in at primary level. At secondary it should be no holiday time.

It was the court that defined 90% (or 92%) as acceptable, not me (if that's what you're implying - always so hard to read nuance). I suspect that one needs to factor in the context here. There will be kids whose attendance is 50% or less. The average is probably skewed down because of them. So statistically 92% is probably 'good'. Even though some kids may have a near 100% record (mine certainly was, back in the middle ages when I went to school).

The laws we have were brought in to give the courts redress to deal with the fickle parents who were letting their kids truant (various horror stories in the 190s; I think this was a John Major era initiative) or repeatedly taking them out of school for fatuous self-indulgent reasons and mouthing off about their right to do what they want. I'm not sure how effective the laws have been; have the bad stats fallen, and how many parents are actually fined? I really don't know.

The collateral damage is that 'middle class' parents who want to take their kids skiing in Spring, and to Tuscany in Autumn, and who would probably bring the nanny to do some tutoring with them in the mornings anyway, feel somewhat disobliged to be criminalized for this, especially given an awareness that parents who send their kids to school without breakfast, or even not at all, largely get away with their neglect.

Regardless, 92% is too low a threshold for 'virtuous parenting' in my book. And I never took my lad out of school for holiday reasons. I know plenty who did, though, and got away with it.

 

[Postman Pat]

CHANGE THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Agree entirely, reduce summer to 4 weeks, but stagger them across a longer period around the country.

Give Scotland July, north starts 2 weeks later, Midlands 2 weeks after, then wales, then London, then south.

Would reduce demand and stop the jacking of prices.

Strange how so many schools are closed for voting - surely that effects children's education - or indeed the number of inset days in term time. Make inset days in school holidays always.

Agree, there are enough public buildings that could be used instead, libraries, church halls even pubs.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

As a parent I have no issue with this. The whole idea of fines for holidays was always political anyway.

I watched the scruffy haired councillor from the Isle of White trying to justify their actions and suggesting a child not being in school affects other pupils and staff. Strange how so many schools are closed for voting - surely that effects children's education - or indeed the number of inset days in term time. Make inset days in school holidays always. It's a do as we say not as we do attitude from the authorities. Remind me the average number of sick days council employees take each year ?

I agree. We used to take holidays in term time as parents couldn't always have holidays in August etc.

The magistrates had already thrown it out of court with no case to answer, and the IOW council thought they would waste tax payers money fighting it in the High Court.

 

[LANGDON SEAGULL]

96% is the threshold of what is deemed good attendance. 92% is not an acceptable number. That is around 12 days off in a year


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[clippedgull]

Agree, there are enough public buildings that could be used instead, libraries, church halls even pubs.

This, but even better would be postal voting and (when secure) online voting. Get rid of those old fashioned ballot boxes!

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I agree. We used to take holidays in term time as parents couldn't always have holidays in August etc.

The magistrates had already thrown it out of court with no case to answer, and the IOW council thought they would waste tax payers money fighting it in the High Court.

Indeed. And while it didn't affect me it did affect my cousins with parents serving in the armed forces that not everyone can take leave during school holidays ( something I'd bet you've experienced ).

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

So now I have to go on Holiday in June and instead of it being nice and relaxed I have to put up with screaming shit machines

 

[el punal]

The court accepted that the kid's overall 90% attendance was indicative of an otherwise excellent record. Therefore the parents hadn't 'done anything wrong. Utter nonsense. If I was absent from work 10% of the time (one day every fortnight) I'd have been sacked years ago.

I asked my wife, who happens to be a primary school teacher in a deprived area, about this. Her response was that the vast majority of parents would recognise that taking your child out of school in term time would affect their child's education (playing catch up?). On the other side of the coin how unscrupulous it is of holiday and travel companies to ensure that their highest rates are always during school holiday periods - perhaps they need to be punished for blatant profiteering.

 

[Honky Tonx]

The government could place a windfall tax on travel companies during the school holiday months.

 

[Crispy Ambulance]

The government could place a windfall tax on travel companies during the school holiday months.

This. Target the root cause.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Indeed. And while it didn't affect me it did affect my cousins with parents serving in the armed forces that not everyone can take leave during school holidays ( something I'd bet you've experienced ).

Yes, my Dad served for 33 years.

Obviously schools and councils need to clamp down on truancy, but it's not just middle class parents who have holidays as some posters are trying to make out.