Children absent from school

[My login is Henrietta]

The school involved is Marple Hall and the head teacher - despite many of the ill-informed comments in the Manchester Evening News - happens to be female.

The Head has deemed it reasonable, in order to raise educational standards, to place a ban on parents taking their children out of school for holidays during term time. I'm inclined to agree with her, and I still have a child at her school.

The woman concerned took her son out of school for a wedding. This wedding apparently took 11 days(!). That's not a wedding - that is a holiday. (And times have obviously changed when you take your children on your honeymoon!)

The woman was originally fined 50 pounds. Given the likely cost of her nuptials in ... St Lucia ... I think she could well have afforded that. If it had been a one-day wedding in England (like normal folk) the school would not have minded.

Time to support those who are trying to raise educational standards. The only one who has suffered from embarrassment here is the child, not his mother.

I agree with Hollins' comments and would like to add that when I was teaching the school year was deemed to be 196 days, which leaves 169 days official school holidays. Why did this woman find it impossible to accommodate her wedding outside those days?

[wheels]

Prison Officers are not allowed to strike,the right was taken away some years ago.

Was it not negotiated away rather than taken away?

[bat man]

Prison Officers are not allowed to strike,the right was taken away some years ago.

[hollins]

When teachers strike they will lose that day's pay. That will be more than the 50 pound fine originally imposed on this parent for taking their child on an 11-day holiday in the sun (with wedding tagged on).

[thebigshed]

OK Granted. There is a difference from a legal perspective but the effect on the child's education is the same. It's the whole class though so that's OK then.

[Dave]

Parents are legally obliged to send their children to school.

Everyone (except soldiers and police officers) is allowed to withhold their labour if they  have been through a proper strike ballot.

[thebigshed]

OK - so perhaps I was being provocative because I don't agree with taking children out of school in term time, but why is it different when striking teachers cause the child to miss school?

[wheels]

If parents are to be fined for withdrawing their children from education what should happen when a teacher withdraws their labour in a strike.  Isn't that the same thing?

What a ridicules statement

[Miss C]

I agree with marpleexile. She's had her 15 minutes of fame but her son looks mortified on every photo I've seen. I wonder what the reaction of his peers has been. All for the sake of £50.....

[marpleexile]

Who makes the decisions about their own children, the parents or the Council ?

Time and again a disturbingly high number of parents are demonstrating that they clearly don't know what is best for their children.

Intentionally or otherwise (I've read in one of the articles that she didn't check when the Easter holidays were this year, and just assumed they were the same as last year and so accidentally booked it in term time - which raises the question of how two 30 year olds don't know that Easter changes every year) they saved thousands of pounds on their wedding by having it in term time, so for the sake of £50 she has almost certainly made her sons life at school an absolute nightmare.

[Dave]

who's kids are they, ours or the Council's ?   

They are ours, but that doesn't give us the right to deprive them of education, any more than it give us the right to neglect or abuse them.

If parents are to be fined for withdrawing their children from education what should happen when a teacher withdraws their labour in a strike.  Isn't that the same thing?

No, it is entirely different. 

[thebigshed]

If parents are to be fined for withdrawing their children from education what should happen when a teacher withdraws their labour in a strike.  Isn't that the same thing?

[simonesaffron]

Who makes the decisions about their own children, the parents or the Council ?

Obviously in this case the Council. Is that the way it should be?

What is the next fine for? You didn't turn up for your dental appointment, you missed your piano lesson, who's kids are they, ours or the Council's ?     

[gazwhite]

Argument here possibly runs deeper than if you should or should not do it.

How long  prior to the time away being taken was the request for term time leave made?  Did the school reply in time, before a booking was made?  Life goes on and I'm aware that simple admin tasks often take excessive amounts of time.  The case has been heard in court and the court ruled in favour of the school (? I understand) - so was it fair, or has an example been made of these people?

Maybe given the economic climate, and threat of things gettng worse the local authority fear that excessive numbers of parents will take children out during term time.

This is something that should be judged on a case by case basis.  If the child can cope with a few weeks out of school - i.e. will not fall behind, will not require additonal support on their return and there is a commitment from the parent to do any extra work necessary then leave can, and should be granted.

Travel broadens the mind.  The ability to take a holiday allows a family to spend time together and interact in ways that are not always possible at home or with the distractions of day to day life.  If this can be taken without a paying a premium price and/or not getting a fine at the end, it leaves more money in the family budget - from which the children benefit.

[marpleexile]

I couldn't agree more.

I would imagine that a term time trip to St Lucia would be significantly more than £50 cheaper than a School Holiday trip (which is almost certainly the actual reason for it being in term time) so the parents should have just saved their child the considerable embarrassment that he will now be facing at school, and paid the fine.

Of course the real issue here is that the fine is only £50. What's the point? It's now fairly well known that you can save hundreds (even thousands depending on destination and family size) of pounds by taking your family holiday in term time, even factoring in the £50 fine per child. If the Government/LEAs really wanted to stop this, the fine would upwards of £200 per day of school missed. But of course, the fine is only in place so that they can be seen to be doing something, without actually having to deal with the backlash of doing it properly.