The Supreme Court school ruling ...

[TheOstrich]

It's no surprise that they haven't backed that IoW parent protesting about his school absence fines, surely ..... any other decision would have been a recipe for anarchy.

As much as I abhor "petty" laws, especially as applied by local councils, it's a very different world from the 1960's when most parents would never have countenanced taking kids out of school during term time for jollies, so this law is regrettably necessary, I think ......

[Suff]

Perhaps he should have started out with This as his case?

This is a _right_, not a whim.

I must admit, it would be interesting if a group of parents wanted to remove their children from school and group teach them with a flexibility which is not available in the state or private systems...

Personally I think that a lot of the educational stance on this is fairly petty. Yes the risk is chaos but, actually, very few families even want to take their children out of school in term time. After all many of them need the support systems when school is out because they can't get enough time off work.

If I were this parent I'd set up a website in the local area looking for home education and people to teach them in a controlled and structured way and trying to get others to join into it. Thumb his nose at the council in other words... Oh and the government and the courts too.

[Workingman]

I might be bucking the trend here, but the law is right.

If, as a parent/guardian, you sign up to have your children taught in school in the traditional way, be it private or State run, then you follow the rules. If you do not like the rules then take them out of school completely, as you are allowed to do, and opt for home schooling.

[Rodo]

Totally agree WM.

[medsec222]

I agree too WM. It is tempting for parents to take children out of school when holidays are cheaper, but there are always other alternatives. It is disruptive for the children concerned, but it is also disruptive for other children in the class when teachers have to back track through the missed work in order to help them catch up. Also, what message does it send to the children - that rules are there to be broken?

[AliasAggers]

I agree too WM,

It's a pity that it is not possible to stop the holiday industry from putting up their prices at school holiday times,
which is probably the real cause of problem.

[Suff]

Actually it's not the whole problem. Scottish Police decided there would be an application of the Strathclyde holiday rules all over Scotland. All officers were told which blocks they would get and one of the blocks had _no_ holidays at all which fell in the school holiday time. Other professions have similar issues where one year, or another, holidays at school holiday times are simply not possible.

What the education establishment and the council and the courts, have done, is simply to say that if work commitments block holidays during school holiday time then the children do not get a holiday.

Work that one out. Have a long think about it.

The school, council and the courts just punished every child of parents who can't manage holidays in school holiday times.

Way to go!!

[JoM]

What the education establishment and the council and the courts, have done, is simply to say that if work commitments block holidays during school holiday time then the children do not get a holiday.

Work that one out. Have a long think about it.

Suff, we've always been in this situation. John simply can't take an amount of time off during the Summer holidays and Easter always proves tricky too. When our boys were at school we had no option but to take them out during term time if we wanted to go further afield. It was, as you pointed out, do that or not have a holiday.
Our boys had excellent attendance, and once the oldest reached his GCSE years then we stopped taking holidays but even before, if possible we'd book them so that they wrapped around a half term to minimise how much time they needed to be off school. It wasn't like they were going away and lying around a pool for two weeks anyway, that's not the kind of holiday we enjoy, our holidays are filled with sightseeing and museums.

[Kaz]

Ossie I have to disagree, my parents took my sister and me out of school each June, apart from exam years, and we both excelled at school!

I think it's an outrageous infringement of parental rights. Jo, Suff, I am completely in agreement with you both. My parents could never have afforded August prices, this rule would have prevented us from having holidays altogether, and some of my most precious childhood memories are of those holidays......

[cromwell]

I think you have to apply common sense. Our two had the occasional week out of school in term time and they turned out fine. Schools have a lot more pressing problems than this, I think.