• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

Should UK Families be allowed to take kids on Holiday during school term time?

Mr Allen

Mr Allen

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
Topic.

There was a report on the Radio last week that a guy has won a case in the High Court to be allowed to take his kids on Holiday during term time where he would normally get fined for doing so.

Thing is though, in most cases it actually works out considerably cheaper to pay the fine and take them anyway than pay 3 times the price for the same Holiday during the school Holiday period as you would during term time.

Could this be the start of something? Or will the government block it saying that it's harmful to a Child's Education?

Thoughts?
 
For me personally I don't get to pick my holidays I am in a rota each year where weeks are grouped together, 2spring, 2summer and 1winter, each year you move into another group with different dates. If I go on holiday I have no option to get school holidays or not as I don't choose. I am happy to take my daughter out of school for 5-10 days for a holiday but I always ask teachers for any homework she can do whilst away. I also think that it won't harm a child's education as long as they have high attendance during the rest of the school year. Unfortunately I have not had a holiday for 5 years now as my house is eating my money up.
 
Of course they should, education is important but nobody should be allowed to control how a fit parent raises their children. If the government wants to cut down on kids being taken out of school maybe they should get travel agencies under control instead of putting parents at risk of legal trouble. Because as you say, it can be cheaper to pay the fine and still go away than it would cost to go during the school holidays. I know things will always be cheaper during the off-season but the drastic difference in price as well as parents being told no is practically extortion.

Going slightly off topic into a rant now, but holidays can be highly educational too. I've been to a number of countries as a child when I should have been at school, I've stood in an amphitheatre, been in various churches and temples of different religions, one of which openly displayed the corpes of a supposed muslim prohpet. There is a chance to learn and experience more than you'll learn in a history or R.E class. So why is it so wrong to take children out of school. That's ignoring the opinion that over half the classes children have to take even in high school are a complete waste of time in the first place.
 
Last edited:
Sylar said:
Going slightly off topic into a rant now, but holidays can be highly educational too. I've been to a number of countries as a child when I should have been at school, I've stood in an amphitheatre, been in various churches and temples of different religions, one of which openly displaced a supposed muslim prohpet. There is a chance to learn and experience more than you'll learn in a history or R.E class. So why is it so wrong to take children out of school. That's ignoring the opinion that over half the classes children have to take even in high school are a complete waste of time in the first place.
Click to expand...
I was homeschooled. So all my education (until university) took place outside a "normal" school setting. And in all honesty, my parents didn't make us spend too large a proportion of the day on academics. (I really don't think a child needs to or should be sitting at a desk all day).

I'm now doing extremely well in a reputable university.
 
Ste11aeres You can say that again, even worse is that the government here in the UK has mentioned wanting to make school days longer and increase the number of years for compulsory education. On an unrelated note it made my day noticing another Karl Pilkington fan.
 
My parents would take me out of school several times a year for holidays. They frequently attended conferences in other countries, so which ever of them wasn't attending would spend the time with us doing holiday stuff, and then we'd have a few extra days all together. Certainly never did us any harm. Quite the opposite, we learnt a lot about the history and culture of the places we visited, and when we got to middle/high school age we just took any essential work with us.

The fines a ridiculous, taking a couple of weeks off school shouldn't set back anyone education that much. The governments attitude towards education is getting more and more absurd. They continue to ignore teachers advise on the best way to improve children's education, and push structured learning at younger ages, more exams, longer days, less holidays, despite evidence that this does nothing to improve results (quite the opposite). It's as if they want to take the joy out of childhood.
 
When I was in secondary school, I did French and Spanish, and I was like, what? In 40 years on this Planet I've been to Northern France twice, and most of them speak English, and it's highly unlikely I'll ever go to Spain so why would I need to learn their language? Fortunately I dropped both when I took my options and the end of the third year.
 
Sylar said:
Ste11aeres You can say that again, even worse is that the government here in the UK has mentioned wanting to make school days longer and increase the number of years for compulsory education. On an unrelated note it made my day noticing another Karl Pilkington fan.
Click to expand...

Making the school day longer? Won't happen, for various reasons... Also longer compulsory school years? Won't happen, in my day I was like "roll on being 16 so I can get the heck out of here", most kids are still in that mindset, apart from the younger ones who still actually like school.
 
I hope it doesn't but David Cameron has brought it up. Longer school days, start testing at a younger age and make sixth form/college legally required meaning people would be in compulsory education until at least 18. Maybe instead of stretching it out and putting further financial strain in that department he should focus on improving the standard of the system we have now.
 
Sylar said:
I hope it doesn't but David Cameron has brought it up. Longer school days, start testing at a younger age and make sixth form/college legally required meaning people would be in compulsory education until at least 18. Maybe instead of stretching it out and putting further financial strain in that department he should focus on improving the standard of the system we have now.
Click to expand...

If Cameron wants it, and Gideon Osborne agrees to it, it'll probably happen, hence I'm glad I'm 40 and left school just over 24 years ago.

I feel sorry for my Niece and Nephew though, they'll suffer from it.
 
Well one council just announced that they'll be shortening summer holidays to just over 4 weeks. What a joke.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom