Taking Children out of school for them to travel on holiday

[whole diary]

[grahame]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ykz4nr11no

More pupils in England were off school without permission in the last week of the summer term than at any point in the academic year, official figures show.

The latest school attendance data shows 5% of pupils in England were off without permission in the week ending 19 July - around 450,000 pupils.

It comes as the government tightens rules to try to stop parents taking their children out of school to go on holiday.

According to Colman Coyne, managing director of travel agency Jetset in Huddersfield an increasing number of families have been looking for holidays during term time.

“Going back three, four years ago it was very rare that we would find a family with school age children travelling outside the Easter, half terms and summer holidays.

"We see now it’s quite a regular thing. And you can see they’re weighing up whether it’s worth risking a fine.”

[GBM]

From what I've seen and head in the media, the cost of a fine is nothing compared to savings on the holiday cost(s).
We didn't do it, neither did our school friends, but these days, money is tight, so I can't blame parents for taking breaks in school time.

[ChrisB]

There is no additional cost put on holidays during school holidays. That is their cost, while *discounts* are applied to those during term time in order to sell these.

So option 2 would simply push prices to their holiday prices all year round - not what is suggested.

[GBM]

There is no additional cost put on holidays during school holidays. That is their cost, while *discounts* are applied to those during term time in order to sell these.

So option 2 would simply push prices to their holiday prices all year round - not what is suggested.

Might this be the travel industry using 'dynamic pricing'?
This has hit the headlines recently, but surely is what the travel industry has done for years.

[ChrisB]

What? Discounted holidays in term time?

Absolutely.

So why people think that they load prices in the holidays is beyond me....

[TaplowGreen]

We didn't do it, neither did our school friends, but these days, money is tight, so I can't blame parents for taking breaks in school time.

I think it's as much, if not more about the fact that we now live in the age of entitlement.

My late Father was a Headteacher in Plymouth and West Cornwall where many Fathers were in the Forces.....if a deployment or ship sailing meant that a family holiday could only be taken in term time parents could apply for additional time off and he would use his discretion to grant it.

In practice however this rarely happened as parents tended to accept the commitments of the career they had chosen and also had more respect for education and regard for the consequences their own actions could have on other children's learning and staff.

Sadly society is much more selfish these days.

[Noggin]

What do we expect when the teaching unions screeched that children shouldn't be in school during COVID on the basis of sketchy medical advice, then proceeded to merrily go on strike at the drop of a hat?

The norms around work and school attendance have changed, and it's glaringly obvious to most that there's a difference between being present and actually getting the job done. 

The reality is that the average child isn't going to miss much with a few days off, especially at the end of the year when it's all school trips and colouring in whilst the teachers tidy up.

BUT there are some kids whom regular attendance at school is a problem, and every day really does count, so maybe we all need to put personal convenience aside (teachers included) and agree we provide our kids with the best example by attending every day, and simply saying no to anything else?