A ban on taking holidays during term time?

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Reply 40

GStevens

Original post by Dalek1099

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

Not if we're using grammar as a yardstick.

Reply 41

Left Hand Drive

Damn my parents taking me on 2 week holidays at the start of term when I was at school. I missed soooo much!

Eff this rule.

Reply 42

madders94

I'm guessing the people who support this are the ones whose parents did have the money, and didn't have the health problems to stop them taking their kids on holiday in the school holidays :rolleyes:

As long as the work is caught up on, what's the problem?

Reply 43

segoviawoods

Missing a week won't do anyone any harm.

Reply 44

Alexander94

There are far bigger problems in our education system than kids taking a week or two off. Since when did this become an issue for government not headteachers? Why don't they let kids have time off but on conditions that they complete work or give a presentation on the country/culture they have experienced? Not all (any?) education needs to take place in a beige painted room without enough books or decent teaching staff. Maybe the government should look at other times when our kids educating time is being truely wasted...

(as a side note I never took a holiday in term time because my mum was a teacher)

Reply 45

Louise_x

I think it depends on when the holiday is and what year the kid is in. I mean, missing a week out of year 7 for example will hardly be damaging, but at GCSE for example, you might miss something important (assuming you don't catch up).

I only ever went on holiday towards the end of term, just before the summer hols kicked in, because we never did much in school for those weeks anyway and it was SO much cheaper than waiting.

Reply 46

MissLightyear

Not that my family go on holiday, but my holidays are different to my brothers (different boroughs) so that would create a problem if we did.

I can see where theyre coming from, although my high school already had a ban unless you had special circumstances.

Reply 47

ellejaytee

Original post by -Liberty

Its unfair. As long as a student is able to keep up with studies, I don't see anything wrong with it.

I somewhat agree with you, but knowing people who deal with admin at a school I think your statement is somewhat flawed.

How often do you think parents ask their child whether they will be able to keep up with their studies before they book a holiday? More often than not the student will get told by their family that they are having a holiday and get no say in the matter, even if they believe that they would be better not missing the study time. Additionally, what student is going to turn round to their parents and say "I can't go on holiday because I've got to study" ? Only really GCSE and A level students in the run up to their exams may say that.

Also the duration that some holidays can be is ridiculous. I have heard of one family taking the child away for a month to visit family. One week overlapped with a half term, the rest didn't and was unauthorised by the school. Although it was a primary student I still think it can be a huge setback to development and learning.

I don't think that holidays should ever be sanctioned during term time, however I would permit young carers respite days, bereavement and other similar situations which are clearly not holidays. Even if it does mean a lot more children being called in as ill, it would go down as an unauthorised abscence after a certain period especially without some sort of medical reason/note. Following up from that if there were notable unauthorised abscences then it is more than likely that the parents would be followed up.

Reply 48

najinaji

Original post by barnetlad

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.

Excellent idea.

Reply 49

Dorito

you hardly miss anything if you're off for a week.

Reply 50

Wave

I took 6 weeks off in year 9 to go to my grandad's funeral in Jamaica. I am now at UCL. Say no more.

Reply 51

-Liberty

Original post by ellejaytee

Yeah I totally agree, however I am going to be missing some school to travel and we arranged this is the least disruptive manner by choosing dates of which my studies at school was least efficient. Usually at the end of the year lesson time is wasted through sports days, end of year assemblies etc.
My school usually doesn't follow up unauthorized absences from the end of the academic year anyway so it's not much of a problem for my school. Perhaps it's different for others.

Reply 52

Dalek1099

i had a full week holiday this year and I've caught up nicely and haven't done any Proper work in my GCSE ICT(Extension) lessons (2.5 lessons a week),except other people's evaluations, in it for half a term no joke because i completed the coursework unit 1 week after Christmas and the class is still on it now and my ICT teacher didn't want me to do any more coursework until the rest of the class had caught up.

Reply 53

ChapelTom

I had 3 2 week holidays during term time of secondary school, never did me any harm! Reason was, we went to The Gambia, weather is only good from November to April.

I think its a daft idea, let people make their own decisions, but that's inherent problem with Conservatism as an ideology and the Conservative party, its in their nature not to trust people and this idea is just meddling in peoples lives. Humans are rational beings, most people wouldn't take term time off for a holiday unless they had to for work reasons/its cheaper let people make decisions for themselves.

If someone misses school for two weeks for a holiday, then personally I see nothing wrong with it, as their actions don't affect anyone else but themselves.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 54

im so academic

As if people are bothered to learn anyway.

Reply 55

Brighten

I think it should be at the headteacher's discretion. If the child has a generally good attendance record and keeps up with the work - fine. If they're regularly falling behind and regularly take time off then it should be strongly discouraged. I don't really see a solution to this, particularly in tough economic times where families don't have a lot of disposable income and holiday companies are struggling to remain profitable.

Reply 56

Land-based mammal

I bet Michael Gove gets a kick out of playing headmaster, i don't understand this merciless grip, this choke hold he has on schools now, especially the new academies which could possible signal the end of social mobility as a result of a tighter selection process.

Reply 57

AlmostChicGeek

I'm in two minds about this to be honest. On the one hand, yes it is a parent's job to bring up their children, not the governments, they should get to decide what happens. On the other, it is a waste of tax payers money, all these children across the country not going to school because their parents can't afford a holiday during the summer holidays. I don't think holidays are an automatic right - they are earned, not given when someone is born. I know what it feels like to be denied a holiday or whatever because my parents simply can't afford it, I understand that it is a luxury not a necessity, so to simply say 'well we can't go on holiday because of that rule, and that is unfair' is a little strange to my mind.

Because I am in two minds, for the moment I would say that it should be at the head teacher's discretion, so pupils who have good attendance, and will certainly catch up would be allowed, whilst those with poor attendance would not.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 58

codle

My school said holidays in term time were banned, then they said you could go if they gave you permission. One girl in my class booked a holiday and then realised that it meant she would miss her English Lit AS exam. She went anyway, and missed the exam.

So no matter what's decided, they should at least be consistent! And holidays during exam seasons should be a definite no-go.

Reply 59

RVNmax

Original post by AlexInWonderland

At my old school they banned holidays in term time since attendance figures were so poor. It's a shame that the people who were constantly truant thus resulting in the attendance figures are not those who went on a term-time holiday, or the idea might have had some merit...

Essentially, people having poor attendance throughout the year is a much bigger issue than someone taking a week off to go on holiday.

^^^This^^^

I took 3 weeks off at start of year 9 and 1.5 weeks at end of 1st term of A2(just before the actual Christmas holidays started), but literally had 100% attendance otherwise. I think that the school counted them as unauthorised, even though we did tell the school beforehand. The first was as we were already on holiday but it wasn't safe for my mum to fly as she'd had a preplanned operation done. Second was due to my cousin's wedding.
(I can hardly remember but I have a feeling I missed 3-4 days at start of Yr6 for a holiday abroad aswell.)

I'll be honest, I didn't study at all during the former, and a did a tiny amount in the second since I had exams coming up, which is partly why I believe that there should be more leniency as you get older rather than when you're younger. One doesn't appreciate education as much when young plus the fact they'll get a mentality where it is okay to miss school.

Nevertheless, I certainly think that the one's who miss school on a regular basis without being severely ill is a greater issue as I have noticed a link from experience between such people and their test performances.