Fixed penalty notice for term time holidays

[I1L2T3]

Hard to think of an easy answer to this one.

 

Maybe the French approach of staggering holidays where different regions have different holidays schedules, for winter and spring holidays. Obviously Christmas could not be staggered and there's no real wriggle room at the end of the summer term because of exams but the other breaks certainly could be staggered to stretch them out and reduce hotspots in holiday bookings.

[dizzybird77]

But I'm not prepared to fork out for two weeks closure on what could be a peak time for businesses? . I'll just do my level best not to take people on who have school age children. Problem solved.

 

^^ This is one of the points that no-one seems to be considering.

 

Employers cannot afford to let everyone who works for them with children have time off in the school holidays. The point tinfoilhat made is spot on!! Everyone who has children (male or female) could end up being turned down for work as employers don't want the hassle of holiday leave problems.

 

Everywhere I have ever worked has had a holiday policy about the number of staff off any one time, and I'm sure most do, except teachers

Edited January 26, 2014 by dizzybird77
spelling

[Anna B]

Here is my problem with the whole situation.

 

Firstly, my husband works six days a week and I work 12 hr shifts (days and nights).

The company I work for employs over 100 people in my department, over 2/3rds of them are women with children.

We have a strict holiday policy around how many people can be off at any one time and so it is physically impossible for everyone, who wants/needs them, to get time off in the holidays.

 

We get very little time together as a family as it is and, whilst I understand that it is not a given right to have a holiday, I think it is unfair to begrudge families precious time together.

 

I have today been searching to try and get us a break during the holidays.

We have 3 children and although we work hard, do not have a lot of cash to throw around.

 

I looked at spain. Two weeks self catering in august, total price £3400!!

 

Same holiday 2 weeks before...... £2075.

 

I looked at going in this country.

 

A week at centre parks.... £1099. Out of school hols.... £379.

 

A cottage in devon.... £875 p/w.... out of hols £400.

 

I have friends with children who do not have a choice in when thry take their holidays, they are allocated/worked into their shift patterns.

Again, how do they get time for quality 'family time'?

 

I understand that children should not miss out on schooling but I honestly fail to see how two weeks a year out of the classroom will be detrimental. I think it should only be enforced during exam years.

 

What really makes me angry is that I have seen the 'exceptions' list of when holidays can be granted and suprise surprise religious festivals is on the list. ...

 

I really do appreciate what you say. Don't forget a lot of lower paid workers in schools can also only holiday at the most expensive time. They're the one's I feel sorry for. I expect when the holiday companies know they have a complete strangle hold on those holiday weeks, prices will go up even further. It's not fair.

 

If it's any consolation a friend of mine used to take her kids to France every Summer, and yet they were desperate for a week at Skegness like their mates.

 

I personally don't think it should be blanket legislation, but then if there wasn't a clear rule there would inevitably be arguments about 'one rule for them and another for me'...etc.

 

Schools really can't win, but they do have the best interests of the kids at heart.

[tinfoilhat]

^^ This is one of the point that no-one seems to be considering.

 

Employers cannot afford to let everyone who works for them with children have time off in the school holidays. The point tinfoilhat made is spot on!! Everyone who has children (male or female) could end up being turned down for work as employers don't want the hassle of holiday leave problems.

 

Everywhere I have ever worked has had a holiday policy about the number of staff off ay one time, and I'm sure most do, except teachers

 

Good employers will try to be as flexible as possible. They already make fairly hefty allowances for employees with kids but a two week shutdown is completely nuts. It's not their job to ensure that little Tarquin gets fortnight in torremolinos. I'm not advocating a blanket ban either, I'm not sure why it's needed. Surely it should be looked at by schools on a case by case basis.

[top4718]

@dizzybird 77 : Go camping in the UK? I heard of a good arrangement once where four families got together and bought a decent family-sized tent and all the equipment needed and a small camping trailer to tow it in. The six families all had a towbar put on their car if they didn't already have one. It cost them about £150 each plus towbar in the first year, then just campsite fees and petrol costs thereafter each year.

 

They each had use of the stuff for two weeks each per year during the school hols, a bit like a timeshare. They went all over - Cornwall, Devon, Scotland, Lake District, the Yorkshire coast., Northumberland (to name but a few).

 

It costs between £10 and £25 per night or a family to camp in a decent site in the UK, a bit more if you want all the extras like wave pools, clubs, etc. Kids love it. It's a myth that kids need holidays abroad the in searing heat. They don't.

 

I cannot think of an easy solution to your employer's policy though - it sounds pants. What the govt should do is legislate to ensure workers with school age children should be able to to take 14 days off in school holiday time, even if that means closing for 2 weeks. If education was as important as they say it is, they would do it.

 

I don't want to spend my 'holiday' with three other families slumming it in a tent thank you very much, the whole situation is ludicrous, education has managed to exist and create a good few intelligent people for the last few hundred years without such ridiculous rules, perhaps Gove has shares in holiday companies!

 

To the person who implied sarcastically that you do not have to book holidays through package companies, no of course you don't but the individual cost of flights and hotels etc also increase dramatically during these weeks.

[ivanava]

No, I'm sorry, that's hogwash. If someone makes a typing error in a word which does not substantively change the meaning of their post, it's not a problem. In this case the choice of main lexical item renders the whole sentence nonsensical, as I expect monkey104 will agree. If he'd like to clarify what he meant, that would be helpful. In the meantime, stop pretending to be a clairvoyant!

 

---------- Post added 26-01-2014 at 00:30 ----------

 

 

Please remind us of the number(s) of your posts in which you did that?

 

I cannot find any reasons or any facts, just unsupported assertions like 'they used to pass the exam', which I have demonstrated is not a valid reason, still less an explanation of how they (allegedly) caught up.

 

Anyway, let's let others have their say.

 

No, you can't find any that you agree with, but then I can find any reasons that it can't work within your posts, all I see is excuses that are easily over come and have been overcome for decades.

Edited January 26, 2014 by ivanava

[monkey104]

No, it doesn't. monkey104 says his son will have to pay a fine because he cannot take a holiday in term time. This means he has to go away in the school holidays, i.e not in termtime.

 

Parents are not being fined for taking their children away during the school holidays.

 

Please explain why you think what he said makes sense (she said, optimistically).

 

Are you two so busy trying to score points off each other that you can't read sense?

My son is in an occupation where he is unable to take take a holiday when the schools are on holiday.

 

With me so far?

 

Therefore he will have to take his child out of school during term time to go on holiday.

 

Got it?

 

Ipso facto he will have to pay the penalty for taking his child out of school during term time.

 

I'm sure my grammar wasn't that bad that people were unable to understand it.

[ivanava]

Are you two so busy trying to score points off each other that you can't read sense?

My son is in an occupation where he is unable to take take a holiday when the schools are on holiday.

 

With me so far?

 

Therefore he will have to take his child out of school during term time to go on holiday.

 

Got it?

 

Ipso facto he will have to pay the penalty for taking his child out of school during term time.

 

I'm sure my grammar wasn't that bad that people were unable to understand it.

 

My interpretation of your post was spot on, it made perfect sense despite the error in it.

[El Cid]

 

I understand that children should not miss out on schooling but I honestly fail to see how two weeks a year out of the classroom will be detrimental. I think it should only be enforced during exam years.

 

What really makes me angry is that I have seen the 'exceptions' list of when holidays can be granted and suprise surprise religious festivals is on the list. ...

 

There must be good reasons why some parent take their children away in term time, the ability of the education authority to asses these reasons is very lacking.

So the rules and the law is unenforcable, unless parents just pay the FPN. There will be some test cases soon, of parents pleading not guilty of failing to provide an education to their child.

[aliceBB]

I don't want to spend my 'holiday' with three other families slumming it in a tent thank you very much,

 

.

 

That is not what I suggested at all. Read what people put and do not misrepresent my suggestions, please.

 

BTW camping does not have to be 'slumming it' and nobody has a god-given right to a foreign holiday if they cannot afford it.

 

Market forces will prevail. It wouldn't kill most families to forego holidays abroad until the kids are out of school, or accept that camping in France is going to have to be what they do if they cannot afford Marbella or the Maldives. Lots of families holiday perfectly happily in the UK for years. It is the time together that matters, not the place. You could even spend two weeks at home going on days out together and renew your relationship with your kids and each other just as effectively - you do not have to be lying on a beach in 35 degrees. If you feel deprived of that kind of holiday, or resentful that you will be fined if you take your kids out of school to have that kind of holiday when it's cheapest, then I would respectfully suggest that you re-think what's important for your children and in family life.

Edited January 26, 2014 by aliceBB