A ban on taking holidays during term time?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/gove-set-to-ban-family-holidays-in-termtime-7216685.html

Personally, I can't see it changing much - there'll just be a massive increase in children getting mysteriously ill for a week and then coming back to school with a tan.

I disagree with these rules - holidays cost a lot more during the school holidays, people have work commitments and they're also forgetting about young carers and families with children with disabilities/certain illnesses.

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Reply 1

-Liberty

My school banned it. I was unable to take holidays in term time.
Its unfair. As long as a student is able to keep up with studies, I don't see anything wrong with it.

Reply 2

Mr Ben

I thought they made this ban years ago. Maybe it was just my sisters school though.

Reply 3

Mechie

I agree that you shouldn't be allowed term time holidays, why should a child miss their education for the sake of a holiday?

Reply 4

Dalek1099

Original post by madders94

This is ridiculous but i agree a harder line must be drawn and holidays shouldn't be allowed in Exam time-i know people,who have missed exams for holidays.

Is Gove,the biggest idiot in the world,What about the economy?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 5

Hopple

If parents thought school was worthwhile they wouldn't take their kids out. The root of the problem is there.

Reply 6

Annie72

As a parent I can see where they are coming from.There would be no need for a ban if the price of a family holiday didnt suddenly sky rocket during the 6 weeks holidays.We used to take our kids on holiday during early to mid May when they were at primary school but havent taken them on holiday since they started secondary school.The main reason being the cost.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7

JKGB

My school allowed 3 days off for holidays, and nothing during exam time, which I thought was fair enough.
Even if they do ban it, I doubt it would stop people from doing it.

Reply 8

ninjalamb

Quite frankly I think it's a joke that term-time holidays were ever allowed in the first place.

Reply 9

kopite493

surely this is against their human rights though it is basically holding some-one in the country against their will without a just cause (just cause being the breaking of a law)

oh wait forgot we live in a society where children have no rights

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 10

marcusfox

Teachers can't go on their jollies during term time either.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 11

bestofyou

its their call, nothing wrong with it.

Reply 12

Espa

Thankfully I had left school by the time my old school actually banned term time holidays outright. I've been abroad in the holidays and it has been horrible, full of parents and screaming bratty children with everywhere so full and crowded. At my school, holidays were discouraged but they'd let you go if you brought back evidence of study or extracurricular work. I had to write a diary every day when we went to Greece and describe what we'd done and seen. Holidays are good for children, they expose them to new experiences and places and encourage independence through kids' clubs where children are normally without their parents.

At my college, holidays are banned and if your attendance drops then you have to pay for exam fees but I took a few holidays and days off for trips during term time. My grades stayed high even though my attendance was around 60% so I didn't have to pay for the fees and wasn't kicked out of the college, which you're meant to be if attendance falls below 85%. The low attendance made no difference to my studies so I don't see that students who can keep the grades up should be banned from taking time away.

Reply 13

LouReed

Sounds fairly reasonable to me given it is effectively endorsed truancy.

Obviously do feel for parents who have to pay obscene prices during the holidays but would rather it be this way than give parents free license to parents to whisk their kids out of important lessons or exams.

Reply 14

Dalek1099

just one-two weeks of school-going to make a difference anyway.Inset Days=1 Week-so you can always get rid of these or Community days+Activity days=1 week of little work.

Reply 15

madders94

I'm a young carer and my dad can't go anywhere during school holidays because of how busy it is - if we couldn't take holidays during term time, I would never have been on holiday apart from a school trip to New York (we only usually go to Haven parks anyway, only been abroad twice with my family to Paris and Madrid). We already get very little support from the government or our schools, and young carers work very hard and we often get very stressed because of our commitments at home not being understood by people at school - why shouldn't we be allowed a holiday, as long as we catch up on the work afterwards?

Reply 16

Lollyage

The only time I've been on holiday during term time was for my cousin's wedding. My cousin is like my sister, I've been close to her all my life and I wouldn't have missed her wedding for anything. However I do agree that just a holiday for the sake of it during school should be discouraged.

Reply 17

Snagprophet

I took two weeks out of college during March/April a few years ago to go to Disneyworld in America (okay, it was a wedding as well), then had Easter holidays right after I got back. I believe it cost me my AS level that year. But that's the thing, how will this be classed? Would they ban me from missing a wedding that took place on the other side of the Atlantic? Because that's the loophole if they allow that. Also you could make it up because it's not exactly a doctor's note.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 18

username402722

Michael Gove is seeking to enforce a ban that has existed since the last Labour government. Once way to reduce the problem would be for not all schools in an area to have the same holidays (let's say Sussex school holidays and those in Kent were different- both would fly out of Gatwick if going abroad). Holiday companies would not jack up prices for all, so even if not every year there would be some chance of lower cost holidays.

Of course the only drawback is that the choice for those without children or whose children had grown up and left the family home would be less.

Reply 19

Shabalala

That's unfair

I would have hated that for one reason: Ski-ing Holidays the snow quality is usually crap during Christmas time and it's 10* more expensive aswell and being banned from ski-ing during my school days would have been dire. I still took school books with me during exam years which meant I couldn't go out some nights but it meant I kept up with my school work.

I went on 1 summer holiday to Spain during school time it happened to be after any tests or exams and if I had stayed at school I would just have ended up watching DVD's and playing ****e board games.