Current Affairs 2024

[david63]

I look at being at school in the same was as being at work - at neither do you just take time off when it suits you without there being consequences.

[towny44]

My view is opposite. Okay at primary school but after age 13 schooling becomes more critical and harder to catch up without disrupting the rest of the class. If people want to have children then it should be no sacrifice to give up foreign summer holidays for 4 or 5 years. I listened to the woman who's been all over the news. Yes she saved £3000 on her holiday to Egypt, which financially is a no brainer. But Egypt is not compulsory! We're taking our daughter and granddaughters to a nice cottage in the Lake District in a couple of weeks. They'll love it, they'll spend all week in the pool and it's costing under £1500.

Maybe the govt should set up an inquiry and monitor the academic achievement of pupils who have been on term time holidays and compare it to the average, so that we can establish once and for all whether there is any substance to teachers claims that pupils learning will be affected.

[towny44]

I look at being at school in the same was as being at work - at neither do you just take time off when it suits you without there being consequences.

However nowadays employers are expected to bend over backwards to accomodate their employees requests, so why should schoolchildren be any different.

[Onelife]

Another two eggs from the girls this morning

The way I look at things is that many working families don’t have the choice of taking a family holiday during school holidays. Many employees work in jobs that require them to work through the summer months therefore family holidays are restricted to times when companies are more flexible with holiday times.

I think it more important that children have the excitement of having a holiday away with mom and dad than it is on missing out on a holiday because they have to be taken during school holidays.

I do take on board Sir Merv’s point about the importance of continuity of learning in the older age school children but I’m not so sure it has such a disruptive effect on the class as one might think.

Where’s Foxy when you need a informed opinion?

[towny44]

Foxy will undoubtedly be biased, all teachers seem to want the world to revolve around them, when in fact as in all other service industries it should revolve around the customer, ie the pupil..

[david63]

many working families don’t have the choice of taking a family holiday during school holidays. Many employees work in jobs that require them to work through the summer months therefore family holidays are restricted to times when companies are more flexible with holiday times.

Nothing has changed it has always been that way.

[towny44]

many working families don’t have the choice of taking a family holiday during school holidays. Many employees work in jobs that require them to work through the summer months therefore family holidays are restricted to times when companies are more flexible with holiday times.

Nothing has changed it has always been that way.

But back in your day David, few people took holidays overseas, and TUI and the other holiday companies had not got round to peak holiday season pricing.

[david63]

many working families don’t have the choice of taking a family holiday during school holidays. Many employees work in jobs that require them to work through the summer months therefore family holidays are restricted to times when companies are more flexible with holiday times.

Nothing has changed it has always been that way.

But back in your day David, few people took holidays overseas, and TUI and the other holiday companies had not got round to peak holiday season pricing.

Agreed but we went on holiday in the UK and the same pricing system was in place then. The principle is the same although the actual relative costs may be higher today.

[Onelife]

Foxy will undoubtedly be biased, all teachers seem to want the world to revolve around them, when in fact as in all other service industries it should revolve around the customer, ie the pupil..

Perhaps there is a possibility of teachers being biased but I have always found Foxy to one of very few members who try and look at things from both sides…apart, of course when dealing with his mate Onelife.

[Onelife]

many working families don’t have the choice of taking a family holiday during school holidays. Many employees work in jobs that require them to work through the summer months therefore family holidays are restricted to times when companies are more flexible with holiday times.

Nothing has changed it has always been that way.

If that is the case then why should parents face fines as opposed to employees that don’t have holiday restrictions placed on them?

[david63]

why should parents face fines as opposed to employees that don’t have holiday restrictions placed on them?

That's just life - nobody ever said that life was fair!

[oldbluefox]

I look at the situation from both sides. I understand why parents want to avoid the higher fares when holidaying abroad. Who wouldn't want to save a few bob? Unfortunately many parents place little value on education, take it for granted and seem to think you can open a little door on the child's head and pour learning in.
Contrary to some of the comments I have read the primary school years are just as important as those later on. Apart from children being ill, which is unavoidable, some are kept off for all sorts of spurious reasons; dental checkups, new shoes, birthdays, parents can't be bothered, gone shopping, dad coming out of prison (!!) all merit a day off for some parents. On top of that we then have parents taking them out of school for term time holidays, and not necessarily to go abroad. So it is little wonder their offspring grow up with the attitude that regular attendance at school doesn't matter and if you have a bit of time off it doesn't matter. It does. It's a laissez-faire attitude which some continue into their working adult life. What's a day off?
The problem is they never catch up on missed lessons because in the time they are away you may cover the basics for something you are going to develop at a later stage.
As I said earlier I see the situation from both sides and here would be my compromise. In the two week period before the end of term children have already done their SATs and it is unlikely teachers will be starting anything new but rather rounding off the term preparatory to children moving on to the next stage. (It is actually a very busy time for staff in more ways than one but we digress). This would be a better time for children to be off school to go with parents on holiday. (There'd be some children you'd be glad to see the back of!!!) However children taken away on holiday outside that period would incur much heavier fines. That would appear a compromise which would affect the children least but allow parents to benefit from lower holiday prices........until the travel agencies latched onto it.
So, no I do not approve of children missing school for financial reasons but somewhere there could be a compromise.
My opinion.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Sounds like a plan. The one time we did take our grandchildren out from Primary School was right at the end of term. And for the last two weeks at Middle School it's all been sports days, non-uniform days, days out etc. No actual work done.

[david63]

Wasn't it the case at one time that children could be taken out of school during the last two weeks of the summer term?

[oldbluefox]

Wasn't it the case at one time that children could be taken out of school during the last two weeks of the summer term?

Not officially but parents did.

[towny44]

It seems we have managed to find an acceptable compromise,, maybe the forum should have applied to be the new govt.
Unfortunately I guess it would not suit the package holiday industry, and they would probably find a way to recoup any losses by spreading the peak premium over a longer period. So maybe parents will have to get used to paying a fine if they want to avoid the peak holiday premium.

[Onelife]

It seems we have managed to find an acceptable compromise,, maybe the forum should have applied to be the new govt.
Unfortunately I guess it would not suit the package holiday industry, and they would probably find a way to recoup any losses by spreading the peak premium over a longer period. So maybe parents will have to get used to paying a fine if they want to avoid the peak holiday premium.

Funny that,.. I thought Foxy was talking a load of twaddle

[oldbluefox]

I probably caught it from you

[Stephen]

There’s allot of it going about

[Onelife]

If you had been half the man I thought you were, you would have told Foxy sooner

[Mervyn and Trish]

Says it all, nothing to add

BBC News - UN top court says Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjerjzxlpvdo

[towny44]

Says it all, nothing to add

BBC News - UN top court says Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjerjzxlpvdo

Unfortunately Israel don't seem to recognise the UN, except when it suits them.

[Slapstick]

I look at the situation from both sides. I understand why parents want to avoid the higher fares when holidaying abroad. Who wouldn't want to save a few bob? Unfortunately many parents place little value on education, take it for granted and seem to think you can open a little door on the child's head and pour learning in.
Contrary to some of the comments I have read the primary school years are just as important as those later on. Apart from children being ill, which is unavoidable, some are kept off for all sorts of spurious reasons; dental checkups, new shoes, birthdays, parents can't be bothered, gone shopping, dad coming out of prison (!!) all merit a day off for some parents. On top of that we then have parents taking them out of school for term time holidays, and not necessarily to go abroad. So it is little wonder their offspring grow up with the attitude that regular attendance at school doesn't matter and if you have a bit of time off it doesn't matter. It does. It's a laissez-faire attitude which some continue into their working adult life. What's a day off?
The problem is they never catch up on missed lessons because in the time they are away you may cover the basics for something you are going to develop at a later stage.
As I said earlier I see the situation from both sides and here would be my compromise. In the two week period before the end of term children have already done their SATs and it is unlikely teachers will be starting anything new but rather rounding off the term preparatory to children moving on to the next stage. (It is actually a very busy time for staff in more ways than one but we digress). This would be a better time for children to be off school to go with parents on holiday. (There'd be some children you'd be glad to see the back of!!!) However children taken away on holiday outside that period would incur much heavier fines. That would appear a compromise which would affect the children least but allow parents to benefit from lower holiday prices........until the travel agencies latched onto it.
So, no I do not approve of children missing school for financial reasons but somewhere there could be a compromise.
My opinion.

I also didn't agree when my grandchildren lost 10 days worth of education so teachers could go on strike for financial reasons.

Don't think they got fined.

[oldbluefox]

I also didn't agree when my grandchildren lost 10 days worth of education so teachers could go on strike for financial reasons.

Don't think they got fined.

Hardly known for militancy, you should know there is something wrong when teachers go on strike. It's hardly a regular occurrence. The problems teachers face, as in the case of many public service workers eg NHS workers, is a gradual decline in pay and working conditions over the past 14 years or so. This has led to problems in retention of graduates who enter teaching with all the skills and for the right reasons only to realise it is not what they thought it would be. They realise they can get better pay and working conditions elsewhere,,,,,,,and be better appreciated for the work they do. Within five years they leave. What a waste of resources.

However, having never been on strike I disagree with the tactic anyway. The whole system could be brought into chaos by simply working their statutory 1265 hours a year and eliminating everything else. The children would still be taught, parents/grandparents would not be disrupted but the point could be made to the powers that be. From my own experience my working week extended far beyond that, often on pointless meetings and initiatives//admin tasks which were a total waste of time.

And finally, I believe those teachers going on strike did not get fined but they would lose pay.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/re ... /cbp-7222/

[Mervyn and Trish]

I see all that the other way round. Parents complained when strikes, or Covid, forced their children out of class. But when they want to take them to Disneyland it's okay!