General Chat

Jon Platt took his seven-year-old daughter on holiday to US last April
Family went to Lapland this year because of her good class attendance
Isle of Wight magistrates ended prosecution but council went to High Court
Senior judges agreed that if a child is rarely absent a holiday is not criminal
Mr Platt said: 'It's parents who should decide what's best for their children'
Lawyers believe ruling could stop fines and lead to thousands of appeals


Officials are racing to close a legal loophole that lets families take children on holiday during term after a father prosecuted for taking his daughter to Florida won a landmark High Court case today. 
In a landmark case, the High Court said parents would not break the law if their child’s attendance over the rest of the academic year was sufficiently ‘regular’.
The ruling could lead to a rush of families trying to find cheaper flights and hotels outside the school holidays.
It is also a big blow to the Government’s crackdown on unapproved absences. Amid warnings of chaos in schools:
Councils were braced for claims from parents who have paid fines for unauthorised absences;
School leaders begged parents not to take advantage of the ruling;
Holiday companies were expected to respond by hiking prices in term time

To be honest I have always felt 6 weeks
is way to long to be off school at one stretch
So maybe 4 weeks in the Summer
and two weeks off at the parents request

But not during exam times :-D :-D

They don't think there's anything wrong with school "Educational" holidays during term time!

My then 13 year old Granddaughter went to France on one of these.
They were left to go about on their own in groups, and this was after the Charlie Hebdo attack. And teachers were drinking alcohol in the evening.

A bit hypocritical of them, imo. :-0

I see nothing wrong with children having a small family holiday as long as their attendance is good the rest of the year. But not in the GCSE years.

I've always wondered why Private schools have longer holidays - that start before/end after the 'holiday' price hike.

JemimaFawr
or their SATS they are important to

Maggie I never realised that thank you :-D

Yes I agree Joy :-)


Although I'm almost certain SATS have been scrapped in Wales

I am all for kids attendance
But also feel they can benefit from learning First hand
about other Cultures :-D :-D

maggie ...............

I understand the reason that private schools have longer holidays is actually because they have longer school days during term time and this fulfills the schools' requirements under the Education Act.

OH taught at a private school in the mid-1960s that had both boarding and day students, and he had much longer days than I had in the state system, as well as teaching on Saturday mornings. The day students had to attend those as well.

He would get 1 or 2 days more at the beginning and end of the Christmas and Spring breaks, and up to 1 week more at each end of the summer break.

BUT he was considered to be on duty for much longer than I was.


Over here, the Education requirement is stated in number of hours of schooling per school year, and most private day schools have teaching days that start at 8:30 am in the morning and got until 3:30 or 4:00 pm, while the State schools often start at 9:00 am and end at 3:00 or 3:30 pm. The private boarding schools seem to be like in the UK, with much longer days plus Saturday mornings.

Plus the private schools don't seem to take as many teacher PD days.

My daughter went to a private day school and usually got at least 1 more week off at Christmas and spring breaks, and 1-2 weeks more in the summer

My concern is that parents will try to take their children out of Secondary School when missing lessons would leave them at a great disadvantage. From the end of Year 8 onwards, the majority are being taught the GCSE curriculum.

Miss one or two weeks teaching of a 'set book' or Math lessons and its very difficult to catch up. Not all children taken out of school have the parents with the ability or desire to help them with additional homework.

Lets get real. How many kids holidays are honestly for 'cultural' purposes? 2%? 5%? who knows, so forget that one as the main reason.

However there needs to be some flexibility and discretion, based on the particular circumstances such as timing within the school year and age of the child etc.

I missed school as a child due to illness and found it difficult and confusing when I returned and tried to catch up

Not much culture to be had on a Spanish beach or at a theme park.

I think the problem is the message it gives to children that school doesn't matter when there's something more fun to do.

Some LEAs are changing the holiday pattern but there will always have to be a fairly long break in the summer so that essential maintenance and repairs can be done in schools when the children aren't around, for safety reasons.

The UK holiday industry don't want the long summer break to go because that's when they make their money. Two weeks out in the middle of term is a lot for a young child and it can be hard to catch up with the others.

A lot of people are like me and cannot afford holidays in term time

Also alot of parents work all week so having a family holiday is so important

Time together

I am taking my daughter out of school for 1 week in June for a holiday

We have not had a holiday since she was 4years old she is now 11

And she has has alot of time of school due to illness so a holiday will do her good

If the holiday firms kept their prices level a good time would be had by all.School attendance no problem..parents happy .Holiday firms still making huge profits Sorted :-)

When will people realise that going away on holiday is a privilege, not a right?
Have you noticed that many of the cases reported in the papers are where families have taken holidays outside of the UK.

Like IGP, I doubt how much 'cultural experience' many children will have when they are taken abroad. If you want a cultural experience, take them on day or off season weekend trips in the U.K.
Our children complained that they were never taken to the Med. As they got older they realised they'd seen more of England & Wales than their contemporaries. 'Slumming it' in a holiday park caravan is an experience in its self.

2 incidents you might find interesting, both involving Year 11 students during the exam season. It used to be the case that these students went on 'study leave' from the summer half term.

Student A wasn't particularly academic. He'd only been entered in a few exams. During a conversation he said he'd be on holiday when he supposed to take the only subject he'd get a reasonable grade in. His parents thought he could take it along with the English/Maths re-sit students the following November. That option isn't offered by the exam boards.

Student B was quite bright. His parents took him to NY for the week when he didn't have exams. They were supposed to return on a Sunday with part two of the English exam on the Monday.
The flight was delayed. He missed the exam. Even if the flight had arrived when scheduled, he'd have been seriously jet-lagged the following day.

Stop and think about the children's future before taking them away for a 'treat'.

I agree with Detective. My parents would never have dreamt of taking any of us out of school, even if they had been able to. We holidayed (when we did) in the UK in school breaks.

I never went abroad until my 20s - and then I could travel in off-peak times.

If you're desperate for a break in the sun with young ones - save up and go bi-annually in standard school holiday time.

Someone I know, in his youth, was 'dragged' to various locations around the world by his wealthy parents (in school holidays!!) in plush hotels, fabulous beaches etc. etc. but said he got bored with it and was much happier messing around on boats on the local river!

I never went on holiday with my parents and it didn't do me any harm. So why have parents GOT to take them away these days?

My daughter and hubby take their children away twice each year abroad and a couple of time in the UK.

They both work jolly hard and love having exclusive time with the children.

One overseas break in usually around Easter and the other in the Summer. To date the 6 year old has missed in total 3 days of schooling and the 3 year old no time (neither the baby..lolol) They started school aged 3.

The children get immersed in other cultures, have the opportunity to speak another language, explore and learn.

Absolutely nothing wrong with giving the children those opportunities.

I don't doubt that as parents they try to arrange holidays without disrupting schooling BUT whilst the children are so young they soon make up for any lost time.

It would be a different story once they are in Senior school, however, if the only time the parents can get away from work is outside the school holidays what choice do the family have in order to spend a whole block of time together?

What about inset days (known in my children's time as teacher's shopping days). The schools are withdrawing education without agreement from the parents!

There must be more give and take and fining parents is unfair.

I also never had a holiday away with my parents. We used to have days out, we were lucky enough to have a car from when I was 7 years old.

We never, as far as I can remember, took our children out of school for holidays, and we never took them abroad. We could only afford cheap holiday park type holidays or we often spent a couple of weeks with friends and vice versa, beach holidays usually.

Children expect so much more these days and peer pressure must play a part, if little Johnny goes to Disney all his peers will feel the necessity to go.

Our grandchildren all went to Disney when young, we went with them on several occasions. But every time, it was in school holidays.