THE GREAT SCHOOL HOLIDAY DILEMMA
A new ruling could save you thousands, but is it ever OK to take a child abroad in term-time?
Few would contest that travel stretches the horizons of young minds. Stomping around a medieval fort, ordering your gelato in a new language or kayaking past a glistening waterfall are the kind of learning experiences the classroom simply can’t conjure up.
The argument for plotting such adventures during school term-time, when prices can often be up to 70 per cent cheaper, has gathered fresh momentum.
A petition, started by Nottingham father Dave Hedley, calling for schools to authorise such breaks, has already attracted 176,000 signatures and will be discussed in Parliament in July.
It comes in the wake of a surprising High Court ruling earlier this month. Isle of wight dad Jon Platt successfully challenged his local council over a £120 chastisement for taking his six-year-old daughter to Florida.
After proving his child had met the necessary requirements in attending school ‘regularly’, the 44-year- old company director walked from court triumphant, having toppled Goliath on the small print.
where that leaves us now is unclear. Can a fortnight on Mallorca in the last weeks of the summer term be that detrimental to an ordinarily diligent student?
well, yes, according to superhead Dame Sally Coates, who
says she’s ‘totally against’ the latest ruling.
‘It’s not about the one middleclass parent who takes their child out of school because, in the grand scheme of things, those missed weeks are probably not going to affect that child education’s much.
‘But what I do have a problem with is that it really says something about the way parents view education. It shows a lack of respect for it and there has to be a clear message that education matters.’
Coates concedes that the law ‘needs to be made clear’ with the term ‘ regularly’ offering a get-out clause for truancy.
The issue of respect doesn’t
seem to wash with a band of increasingly vocal parents who say they’ll happily soak up the standard £60 penalty, given that it’s often small change compared with the huge discounts for travelling when the more conscientious won’t.
Almost across the board, from a stay at Center Parcs to skiing in February’s half-term, prices leap as the calendar flicks into school holiday dates.
The price hikes are a simple case of supply and demand, says Sean Tipton, of ABTA.
‘I’ve spoken to UK hoteliers recently who say they have no choice, but to over-inflate prices because the opportunity for profit is so small at other times of the year.’ ABTA says the way to keep parents, teachers and operators happy is to restructure the school holidays, spreading out the breaks by region across the year.
‘We fully understand parents’ concerns [about pricing] but until a staggered system of school holidays is introduced, it’s always going to be a case of supply and demand,’ Tipton adds.
‘ The six- week break was originally set up so children could help their families with the harvest — it’s an antiquated system. Many countries on the continent follow a staggered solution and we should do the same here.’