Missed classes

SIR – I am participating in a German language course, so have witnessed the adverse effects of a student missing a class (Letters, April 8).

Not only does it mean that the student falls behind with the syllabus but it also causes problems for the teacher, who has to tailor the next class to ensure that the student in question does not get excluded.

Parents complaining about the Supreme Court ruling should stop thinking about themselves and consider the chaos that would ensue if parents were able to remove their children at will during the term. Anthony Haslam Farnham, Surrey SIR – A frequent topic of conversation among my parent friends at holiday time is what they will do when one of their children, who is at primary school, has different holiday dates from their child at secondary school. Many families we know have to cope with a three-week Easter holiday.

This summer, my secondary-school children break up on July 21. However, my youngest child at primary school has to go in on the following Monday and Tuesday, with an inset day on the Wednesday, before finally breaking up on Thursday, July 27.

We hear much of the “chaos” caused to schools when families remove their children in term time. What about the chaos caused to families who are trying to coordinate their holidays? E J Stansfield Scholar Green, Cheshire SIR – Ian Anderson (Letters, April 8) asks if teachers’ in-service training days are unlawful now, given the Supreme Court judgement.

The change in teachers’ contractual working conditions was introduced by Kenneth Baker in 1988. The government decided that teachers’ contracts should have 195 days of directed time: 190 teaching days and five teacher training days.

The children’s days remained the same, but the five training days were taken from the school holidays. Teachers gave up five days of holiday so that their professional development could be enhanced and they could better serve their students.

Perhaps if parents understood this, there would not be so much criticism of inset days, and teachers’ dedication would be applauded instead. Alan Burchett Guildford, Surrey