Headteachers to refuse holidays in term time (From The Argus)
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Headteachers to refuse holidays in term time
4:00pm Tuesday 27th September 2011 in News
Headteachers are cracking down on term-holidays in a bid to increase attendance and results.
Previously many schools allowed parents to take their children out of classes during term time as long as holiday leave was authorised by the headteacher.
However Alison Beer, the headteacher at Worthing High School, has now written to parents saying that all requests for holidays will be refused.
She said: “Following on from Michael Gove’s announcement that schools will be set even higher targets for student attendance, as well as the plethora of data showing the dramatic decline in success rate at school should attendance drop below 95%, Worthing High School has reviewed its absence during term time protocol for students.
“We have an increasingly large number of letters from parents requesting leave during term time, many of these with equally valid reasons, so the governing body has determined that all request for holiday leave during term time will be refused across all year groups.”
As schools work to increase their results, other headteachers across Sussex are also making similar decisions.
At both Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) and Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PAVA) no holidays are authorised in term time, unless there are special circumstances.
In June The Argus reported that 220 parents in East Sussex had been fined £50 a head after taking their children on holiday during term time.
An East Sussex County Council spokesman said: “Our policy is that children should not be taken out of school during term time for holidays.
“Regular school attendance is crucial for a child’s development and future opportunities.”
Comments(10)
george smith
says...
5:09pm Tue 27 Sep 11
Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit
says...
5:24pm Tue 27 Sep 11
george smith wrote:Rubbish. We always took our two out during term time, we didn't even ask for permission, we just said we were doing it.
You have to wonder about parents who have so little regard for their kids education, just indulging themselves
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And they all passed all their GCSEs and A levels with the lowest grade being a B. Son has just started university (today!) and Daughter has a BA, MA and is in the third year of her PhD - which tends to blow the 'their education will suffer' argument right out of the water.
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What you learn in school isn't the be-all and end-all, children can still learn away from a classroom .
Fight Back
says...
7:11pm Tue 27 Sep 11
Maybe the Heads should share their high salaries so parents can afford to take their families on holiday during school holidays at the inflated prices.
Personally I'll continue to ignore Heads that "ban" taking your children on holiday during term time.
owler
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7:13pm Tue 27 Sep 11
leobrighton
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7:38pm Tue 27 Sep 11
Dave At Home
says...
8:52pm Tue 27 Sep 11
george smith wrote:All serving cops have been refused leave from May 1 til Sept 30 next year due to a certain event in London, do you suggest they can't have a holiday with their kids in October then? This Country has gone completely MAD.
You have to wonder about parents who have so little regard for their kids education, just indulging themselves
mandi26
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9:13pm Tue 27 Sep 11
davyboy
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10:51pm Tue 27 Sep 11
plantwoman
says...
5:06pm Thu 29 Sep 11
mandi26 wrote:You need to get another job! It sounds like your employer is very unreasonable, except for the fact that you seem to have rather a lot of leave! Four weeks plus ten days is very good, unless you mean four weeks plus bank holidays which is normal.
The people who make these stupid rules should try and get time off during the school holidays where I work. I m entitled to time off in August once every five years. Our summer holiday will be in Feb half term next year so we have little choice but to go abroad and pay loads. We don t all get the opportunity to have all the school holidays off I have four weeks of my leave booked for me every year and the ten days I have left to book myself tend to get used for child sickness, teacher training days and appointments etc.
PIRATE WITHOUT A PARROT says...
4:09pm Tue 27 Sep 11