School holidays and fines

[Rachel Cheshire UK]

Just been looking at prices in and outside of school holidays. What a rip off. I can understand why people take time outside of school to holiday.

I think that the Government should FINE the Tour Operators for putting their prices up in school holidays if they are going to fine us for taking our kids out of school. Then maybe if the tour operators didn't rip us off in School hols time, the vast majority of people wouldn't take their kids out of school.

Saying that though a one hundred pound fine is nothing compared to what you can save.

Two of my daughter's friends parents have done this already this year and I know of three or four others. I'm getting tempted to do so myself now. None of them have been fined. What do you all think ?



Rachel

 

[Claire44]

We always take DS out of school in October. We tie it in with half term and he usually misses 7 school days. He copies the work up he misses and so far the school haven't objected at all, I did speak to his teacher about it at parents evening as he is now at senior school and he said as long as he keeps up with the work then it really isn't a problem. I think they can be given permission for 10 school days off in a school year.

It would be too hot for us to go July, August anyway as he suffers with asthma and cannot cope with it too hot but I do think it is about time something was done about the costing of holidays within school holidays.

 

[Rachel Cheshire UK]

I am the same Claire. It wasn't the heat but the humidity. We rejoiced when it rained it seemed to ease for a while.

Tour operators have had it too easy for all of these years. If there are only so many hols to go around in school hols then fair enough, but charging us more isn't going to create more holidays is it ? They just use it to hike the prices up. So that's why I think the government should do something about it. But I doubt they will, cause they get all of the tax on the profits don't they.



Rachel

 

[signtalker]

we always combine the may half term with taking DS out of school for 3 weeks.

Its not £100 bang outright, its something like, £25 for taking a child out in term time(without permission),£25 for taking a child out for more than 2 weeks,£25 for giving no notice to the school, etc etc and so on.

Still cheaper than going holiiday time in my book LOL

I cant see this working, too many people KNOW its cheaper to take the fine, than pay inflated holiday prices!!

 

[Rachel Cheshire UK]

I know what you mean!

My friend asked outright, she said 'am am going to have to pay you the fine now' she was told no. Because all of the schools in our town had to have the same policy, one school can't fine people if others don't. She said that the schools authority told her that they couldn't implement it until all the schools agreed to do it in our town and was told to hang fire until everyone agreed.

Do you know of anyone that has been fined ?



Rachel

 

[Netty]

I am sure that you are allowed to take your child out of school in term time for up to 2 weeks.
It might be best to check with the school though, also i agree with you that £100 fine is nothing compared to the savings made out if term.
I now work at a school and am paying for it!!
Jeanette

 

[wheezie]

we took our daughter out of school for 5 days so we had two weeks in feb incorperating the half term week. I wrote to the school in good time and received a letter stating that they didnt agree to any time out of school for holidays and that they would be marking her days out of school during that time as unauthorised absence.

When we went to the parents evening recently all the teachers we saw made such a big deal of it. the maths teacher said that she had missed 10 (!!!) homeworks during that time she was away (which I cannot beleive, she doesnt even have that many classes in five days!!).

I wouldnt mind but I have never taken her out of senior school at all and when I wrote the letter explaining our situation I explained that we hadnt had a holiday for nearly two years because my husband was made redundant and then did contract work which means you cant take holidays when you choose but have to do holidays between contracts. It made no difference to them. I think it was very unfair and has given her a black mark in an otherwise perfect record.

Unlike teachers, we just didnt have the luxury of taking holiday break in school holiday time.

Wheezie

 

[Rachel Cheshire UK]

That's awfull Wheezie. I bet you felt terrible. That's my point exactly, if they didn't hike the prices up in school hols you wouldn't have had to take time out of school.

I don't think they should've brought this law in without putting some restraints on the tour operator industry as well. Surely it's affecting people that holiday in the UK as well. We went to Blackpool for a day trip on Bank Holiday Monday and you should have seen what they were charging cause it was the school hols ! It's cheaper to go on a package holiday to Spain or Greece etc than it is to holiday over here. It's such a shame cause when we get the weather yuo can't beat Cornwall or Devon or Wales it's far more beautifull than going away on a package holiday.



Rachel

 

[daipp]

My DW and I have discussed this at length because we usually combine an end-of-term or half-term with a holiday. The savings you make are better than paying any fine!

However, we have agreed we may think twice about it when our DS Alex is sitting his GCSEs in a few years.

David

 

[UKDEB]

This is pulled from the DfES website:

<b>Family holidays during term</b>

Wherever possible, you should take your holidays during school holidays.
Avoid taking your child on holiday at critical times during their education. For example, at the beginning of the academic year - especially if they change schools, or when your child should be taking exams or test.

You should not expect your child's school to agree to a family holiday during term time. The school will carefully consider your request and they may take your child's attendance record into account. Schools will not agree to your child missing more than a total of ten school days for family holidays in any one school year, unless there is a very good reason.

If your child is off school for more than ten days, the school may set work for him or her to do while you are away.

 

[UKDEB]

And this:

Q: Can Pupils go on holiday in term time?

A: Under current regulations Statutory Instrument 1995 No.2089 ‘The Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations 1995’ schools have discretion to grant leave of absence for purposes of family holidays in term time. They can approve up to a maximum of ten days in any one school year and, beyond that, can agree more than ten days if the circumstances are truly exceptional.

Parents are not entitled to remove children from school for holidays as of right. Leave of absence must be applied for and the decision to authorise absence for holidays rests entirely with the school.

 

[Byrne family]

Hi everyone,
We are taking our children out of school this year. We are going during the middle of half term at the begining of june and they will return to school on 25/6, they will have missed 14 school days. I asked for permission at the end of last year from the junior school, I was very relieved when it was granted. We put alot of thought into wether to take them at this time, but decided as it is PROBABLY a once in alifetime holiday and they dont do much hard work after the tests in may, we would.
However, my son attends nursery at the first school (different headmistress) and he will not be given authorisation for anything over 10 days. So he will lose his nursery place, as he is not legally required to attend school. There will only be 3 weeks left till the end of term, and he will start full time in sept. I understand that they do this to discourage us from taking hols in school time, but there are so many restrictions in life with regards to work and holidays, I feel this is a bit harsh. That said we are all looking forward to June, but I dont think I would do this again. Needless to say if we went later it would have cost over £1000 more for flights alone!

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

We had this with taking Chelsea out for our holiday this year.
I thought the school holidays started at the end of June, but they are now mind July, so she will miss 4weeks in total of school.
She is in reception though.
The teacher wasnt keen and we was asked to swap date's alittle hard once booked, so we obliged, but didnt try so much we have spent £3k on a holiday whats a £100fine? so we did go back in to say we would pay the fine and they was like "we'll give her 14days in the headteachers discretion) but the other 14 will have to be sent to the educational welfare officers etc..and they won't let her go!

So I got involved with CAB (Citizens advice) and was advised with her being only 4, and not 5 till august she is not really supposed to be in school. So then I hit them with that and now she is fine to have as much time off as she like's until she is 5, so this is now our last trip...but I wouldnt blame people for taking there children out of school and paying the fine, it works out cheaper in the long run!

I personally think this is wrong,
1, to be fined for trying to give your children a holiday and a break.
2, for the tour operators to be allowed to hike prices, knowingly knowing that we have to pay otherwise we shall be fined.

But personally the fine isnt that bad, I'd rather pay the fine, than go when holiday prices are sky high.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Originally posted by Rachel Cheshire UK
I think that the Government should FINE the Tour Operators for putting their prices up in school holidays if they are going to fine us for taking our kids out of school. Then maybe if the tour operators didn't rip us off in School hols time, the vast majority of people wouldn't take their kids out of school.

Another way of looking at this, is is that the tour operators reduce their prices to attract customers in term time, when families with kids don't take holidays/vacations, and hotels aand aircraft are less full.

Because my children are now all grown up, I go to WDW in September, when the parks are less crowded, flights are discounted and hotel rooms are cheaper. If tour prices were the same price all year round, planes would fly empty off season, and you would have to book two or three years in advance to get a seat at peak times.

I understand your frustration, but that's 'supply & demand!

Andrew

 

[gilld]

I do sympathise with everyone who feels they need to take their holidays during term time and there is no doubt the tour operators exacerbate this problem with their prices. However, having worked in a school for many years as a teaching assistant, there is no doubt many children who are removed for holidays do suffer from missing so much. If it really is necessary then it is better to take holidays right at the end of term than at the begining of the academic year. As I had to take my holidays when the local LEA decreed, I was forced to pay the inflated prices, which is why I eventually decided to give up work when my children went to University and stopped holidaying with us. The salary I lost has been offset by taking all our holidays now during termtime. Do think very hard before taking your children out of school. Very often work missed cannot be caught up.

 

[coppertop]

We are taking our children out of school for 13 school days in October this year as we are going to Orlando for 3 weeks. We land back in the UK on the Thursday of half term, but the children need those few days to catach up on their sleep and recover from the jetlag.

The last time we took the boys out of school was in October 2000 to go to Florida. We took them out of school that time for 8 days and school were fine about it. This time, they have a little to say but have not said that we cannot go, although this may have something to do with the fact that out boys have not missed a single day since 2000 for any reason.

Saying that, I did fire off a snotty e-mail to the Dept of Education about this and asked that they got together with the Dept of Trade and Industry to say that parents with children should be able to take their holidays from work in the school holidays because of this. For the last 3 years I have not been able to take 2 weeks off work consecutively in the summer holidays. I have had to take the first week of the holidays and the last week of the holidays and consequently we have had a week in the Med somewhere which fits in with the time I have had off. The only way I can get two weeks or more off together is to go in term time. To say that the reply I got from the DEE was snotty, is a bit of an understatement, but the writer did say that schools do have leniency policies in place for 10 school days to cover situations like this.

 

[DisCharmed]

Speaking as both a teacher, a parent and a disney holiday planner it is a very difficult issue.

As a teacher I have no choice but to pay inflated july/august prices. If I weren't teaching I would be very tempted to take my kids out of school in term time and pay the fine if it was imposed. Some of the comments on here (such as a child losing a nursery place) seem very harsh treatment by some schools.

If a child misses 2/3/4 weeks of school it is an enormous amount of work to make up (from reception onwards). If it was during an important part of the school year (beginnng, end, SATS etc) I wouldn't take them out personally. However as a teacher (of year 1 kids) I encourage parents to help their child write a diary each day about their holiday so they are at least practicing basic skills every day. On a personal level I believe trips abroad open children's minds in ways a classroom never can.

In the end enjoy your holiday whatever!

 

[Danauk]

As a teacher (I have taught years 3-6) I agree with Discharmed. I don't mind children in my class missing a little school for holiday time. If parents ask for work I ask them to keep a diary of what they did, or make a scrap book of what they saw so they can show the class when they get back. Once returned I give them coppies of all the homework they have missed to complete. I would recommend taking children out of school in the last half term or the two weeks before the summer half term after they have taken their exams rather than earlier in the year. I had a boy in my class last year who was in Ibiza for exam week so could not take them (they have to be completed on a certain day and can not be taken at a later date as they have to be sent off for marking). So please check when exams week is as this is important.
One other thing though, please spare a thought for school staff (not only teachers) who have to pay inflated prices. I understand some families have no choice but to take holidays that are not within school holiday dates if this is what their employer says but school staff are in the same position.

Saying that have a great holiday!!

 

[uktigger]

hi
i am taking my 2 boys out of school in october, my eldest is in secondary but will only miss 9 days of school at the end of the half term, he has had 100% attendance so far so i am hoping they will give him authorised absence
this was the only time of year we could go due to dh holidays,he is not high on the seniority(sp)list,having said that if we had to pay the fine we would as it will(like you all)be cheaper than going in august

eve

 

[florry]

we are taking ours out to go to AKL in Aug/September. My DS is half way through GCSEs and will miss 4 days of school. When you consider that towards the end of the GCSE course they have a whole month off for 'study' I'm sure that they catch up. As for the Junior school. Ours has only just informed us of when they return in September 04 after the holidays so, despite me asking for the dates for the past 2 months, I have TOLD them when my DD will return.
You are actually allowed 2 weeks in any school year.