Supreme court

mmm, you sure Ian? you once posted that you went off school to listen to American Pie? Must be a different IanH that posted that then.

Anyway good dodge and you've only answered one part of my original post, so in case your failing memory needs further help I'll repast taking out the slanderous (lol) part:

Ian I am curious why you think this is an excellent decision and your backing for following school rules? And would welcome your reasons behind your statement. Is this:

a) you believe in education and that every school day matters and that you now see the errors of your ways in that you yourself only achieved two O levels in your secondary schooling and therefore wish our current students to do better than you did.

b) you want to have your holidays without any children about, you did post two such post in the past week or so - how there might be a half term in June and the shocking state of affairs in the Easter holiday, quote: how are we expected to be able to plan to avoid these periods if they keep chopping and changing 

Ahhhhh yes Corners, see what you mean now.

Alas, it is your memory that is failing. What I actually said is that a friend and I spent a whole maths lesson trying to remember and write down the words to American Pie......and I'm pleased to say that we did it, even the tricky last couple of verses ........and still managed a top grade at maths O level!

On your second point - yes, of course education is important and that's why this case has reinforced the law requiring parents to keep their kids in school during term time. That said, I did alright with my two O levels.......at least I didn't have to get by on a teacher's wages, eh?

 Don't worry too much about the slander - I may decide not to sue 

When I read the original post in this thread I had hoped it would concentrate on the Club element of how they might help the situation. Clearly the majority replies have concentrated on the case and the reasons behind it. As such this topic belongs in General Chat rather than in Caravan and Motorhome Chat which is where I am now moving it to.

David

Really, now charge more during school holidays? That's what they already do! Off peak prices are also lower too! Can't see how that helps us retired folk, particularly those of us who take our grand children away to help parents who are working!

given that taking children out of school is now a criminal offence.

I really hope you are not giving this wrong advice in your CAB work Ian. Allow me to educate you yet again:

The decision makes clear that parents in England can be fined if their children miss school without the agreement of the head teacher, except for reasons such as illness or family bereavement.

( As chair of governors I'll be countersigning my head's agreement for an approval for a family holiday tomorrow)

Also: The judges ruled that the interpretation of "regular" attendance, at the centre of this long-running dispute, should be decided by the school.

From what I have been discussing with the legal department (at coffee over another meeting) of the local authority this could actually work against the government as if a school sets its definition of regular as say 98% then a child could legally miss 2% of a school year. Unlikely to happen regarding Ofsted of course.

Anyway I'm looking to bring this in for teachers at my school:

A head teacher has defended his decision to offer staff at a Lincolnshire school a "duvet day".

Bill Lord sets aside £3,500 from his annual budget to pay for the extra holiday for everyone at Long Sutton Primary School in Spalding.

He said it was about both recruiting and keeping "fantastic teachers in front of children".

A 'duvet day' is an absence which can be approved by the employer with no reason given

There is a law.  Someone broke it.   They got the specified penalty.  And that is all there is to it.  Or are we as individuals to be able to decide which laws we are to obey and which to ignore? There are quite a few I would like to have on an "ignore" list. Might be the same as yours, or might not.

Pricing of holidays is just market forces in action. The only way we would see the same price for everything all the time is called communism, and as I seem to recall the regimes that have operated that way actually found the regulation of prices in their economy was by often the commodity not being available. So a "black" market would operate at far higher profiteering prices.  Yet it seems odd one can rent a small patch of grass in one's own country for about the same as a villa near the Mediterranian Sea.

memory failing? well as I was saying to my wife only yesterday, oh hang on, no maybe Sunday?... sorry what was the question again?

Are prices in Scotland going up that much? Sack Her

For the official standpoint see:

https://www.gov.uk/school-attendance-absence/overview

basically if you take your child out of school without the head's approval then you could get fined:

3. Legal action to enforce school attendance
Local councils and schools can use various legal powers if your child is missing school without a good reason. They can give you:

a Parenting Order
an Education Supervision Order
a School Attendance Order
a fine (sometimes known as a ‘penalty notice’)

You can be given one or more of these but the council doesn’t have to do this before prosecuting you.

Fine
Your local council can give you a fine of £60, which rises to £120 if you don’t pay within 21 days. If you don’t pay the fine after 28 days you may be prosecuted for your child’s absence from school.

Check your local council’s rules on when you can be fined.

Prosecution
You could get a fine of up to £2,500, a community order or a jail sentence up to 3 months. The court also gives you a Parenting Order

Only when you are successfully prosecuted are you a criminal. In my experience you really have to miss a lot of school before this happens.

Which "her" is that?   Or are we becoming sexist now?