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Rebecca Honeywell-Ward
21 November 2014 at 07:59The blanket ban on term time holidays needs urgent review. Once again, the government erodes the right of parents to decide what's best for their own children. This is becoming a nanny state. The vast majority of headteachers know their pupils and parents very well, and can make individual decisions based on the individual situation. They are better placed than the government to decide if an absence will adversely affect a child education. Education is not just about sitting in a classroom. The right to travel, to see the world and experience other cultures is as important as maths and science. It broadens children's horizons and encourages interest in subjects such as geography and history. It's not always possible to take these holidays/experiences in term time for various reasons. It's also extremely ill thought out. How can all parents who work in sectors such as the NHS or the police take leave during the same 6 week period in the summer? This would lead many sectors to shut down over this period which clearly cannot happen. Instead the result is that hard working parents are penalised, and cannot take holidays with their children. Family time should be highly valued. Stable, well adjusted families produce stable, well adjusted children.
Lindsay Harris
21 November 2014 at 07:55Regarding the termtime holiday ban, the use of evidence seems selective at best. A holiday can be highly educational and whilst I strongly agree that attendance is important, I do not think holidays are the real problem. The problem is more down to parents that cannot be bothered to take children to school sometimes and don't support children in their education all year round.
anna mansfield
21 November 2014 at 07:42Why change something that was good? The head teacher should have the final and only saying in holiday authorisation.
Sam aylieff
21 November 2014 at 07:41I don't believe that there is any evidence that a week taken out of school to enjoy family time has a negative effect on education. A child who is is absent from school continually for odd days here and there is what affects education. I think the government has manipulated the data for their own agenda and to make more money out of hard working parents.
Pam G
21 November 2014 at 07:31Evidence should be collected from a range of sources and analysed objectively. I, and many other parents, don't feel that the evidence used to bring in the term time holiday rules was full or objective. Responsible parents should have the right to bring up their children as they wish. The holiday rules are too restrictive and do not take family circumstances into account. Issues include not being able to attend family celebrations and other occasions, parents working in sectors where they cannot take holidays whenever they like (farmers, emergency workers, tourist industry etc) This policy was brought in as a reaction to a small minority of parents who make bad decisions for their children and ofsted's obsession with attendance. Holidays and quality family time contribute immensely to children's well-being and education, helping to produce rounded individuals. Responsible parents wont take their children out of school at important times such as exam lead up but will be fined for a few days at the end of term. Yes, education is important but family is equally important.
Deborah Ratcliffe
21 November 2014 at 07:22Term time holiday fines. I took my children aged 8 & 5 out of school for a week in June for a family holiday. My husband can not take time off work during school holidays. I have been fined £240 and made to feel like a BAD parent. My children attend school every other school day of the year. £240 is this the price of their childhood memories?? How many parents have been fined who's children miss odd days on a regular basis. The system worked well before please let's have some common sense.
Emma Stephens-DuCros
21 November 2014 at 07:19i would spend time commenting but I genuinely feel that this government neither listens or cares about the views of the average person. If it did they wouldn't come up with all their policies biased towards keeping the elite rich rich and everyone else in debt to be conrolled at their will and worked to debt to pay off the country's debts until they die. Debts which were created by the elite using money that was ours in the first place!
Ms H Martin
21 November 2014 at 07:08I have three children.My oldest two who have now left school,were taken out of school for 2-3 weeks a year for family holidays.I am a nurse and work shifts.As everywhere,booking holidays during term time was limited as most nurses are mothers and every colleague booked a few days,and as you can imagine,our managers can only have a limited number of staff off at any time to cover service needs.This means they rarely allow a full week or two to be booked during school holidays.I took my children all over the world and they learnt about cultures and history and poverty in the world around them.My son is now an engineer and my daughter is a teacher,neither were very academic and we come from one of the poorest areas of England,but their holidays gave them a drive to do well in school and reinforced the education system that they were lucky to have. My youngest daughter is now 10, she repeatedly gets infections and reacts badly to anti biotics,and this prolongs her return to school.Her abscence from school is poor,averaging 80% during each term..only from illness.My husband has cancer and I would love to give my daughter a term time holiday to create memories and see the world outside our country.However I am unable to afford the fines,and even more meetings from school who wish to demonise me for my child's absence.We value our childrens education but family holidays are not possible for lots of parents and our younger generation should not be penalised for high prices of holidays during term time and parents unable to get time off work during school holidays.I know from first hand experience that my child would benefit immensely by going to other cultures,and could take her school work with her.But I have been told if we take her out,we will be prosecuted.I now feel immensely stressed and feel like I should quit work to spend quality time with my family.Why work and not spend time with my family when I would only be £80.00 a month worse off on benefits? These ridiculous rules are seriously impacting on family life.Target parents who can't be bothered taking children to school,not the ones who genuinely value their child's education.
Jo Eaton
21 November 2014 at 06:44The policy on term time holidays needs to be reviewed and reversed. It's not just about the increase in cost for a break in school holidays, due to work commitments it is not always possible to get the time off. My husband and I both work for a major retailer and are unable to take time off work during 8 weeks of the school holidays. With a work force of 50+, obviously everyone with children then wants the same weeks and some are left with no choice but to go in term time if they are to get quality family time. Schools are obsessed with tests and levels, and everything is a tick box excerise. I hate to think of my children as a number or a grade but unfortunately that is what they have become. This country has the work-home life balance completely wrong. We work long hours, rarely have a weekend together and this certainly has more of a negative impact on the children. The issue of persistent truants has not been addressed and they continue to be off school while everyone else is penalised.
A parsons
21 November 2014 at 07:59The policy on unauthorised absences doesn't work, it's only targeting those who are absent for a family holiday...when the policy is supposed to be for helping families of truants. There is no real evidence that a once a year 5-10 day holiday affects the childs (overall) education....not everything is learnt in the classroom! this policy needs to be changed, reward high attendance with a authorised holiday & punish the persistent truant (but take a good look at the school first, because they are obviously failing the child) Not every request for absence is as black & white as the government thinks it is.