The Department for Education made some rules changes in 2013 which meant that headteachers in the UK are no longer allowed to authorise family holidays during term time, except under exceptional circumstances (which are subjective). For many of us parents, this felt like a violation of human rights. Parents should get a say whether or not they take their children out of school for a family holiday. I am one of those parents. I feel that if my child has had good attendance at school, is doing well, not falling behind and our holiday will not fall during any important dates, such as exams, then I should have the option, to reward my child with a holiday.
The team at BookFHR.com have launched a campaign called “Travel is Education”.
“We think that pitting a week in a classroom against an opportunity to explore a new place and culture, spend quality time with family and break daily routine is a very tough comparison. Subjects you learn in the classroom can seem pretty abstract without context – travel is a fantastic way to bring studies to life and spark passion in a child.”
I wholeheartedly agree with that last line. I think there are so many things a child can learn from travel. Children can learn about geography, history, languages, different cultures, climates, cuisines and ethnicities. Even just from boarding a plane, they have the opportunity to learn about travel safety and security, passport control, immigration, the type of plane they are travelling on, how aeroplanes work, altitudes, latitude, longitude, wind speed, aerodynamics, hospitality and the list goes on. Every sight, every sound, every smell, every taste of something new and foreign is a learning experience. It’s even possible to go a really touristy destination for a simple beach holiday and still learn an awful lot.
Then there are health benefits to going on holiday too. I’ve lost count of the number of studies I’ve read, about how a holiday from work or school break the monotony of a heavy workload, boost morale, confidence, attention span and physical wellbeing. Particularly holidays to warmer climates where holidaymakers are subjected to a healthy dose of Vitamin D, fresh air and exercise. And don’t underestimate the power of family bonding on a child’s psyche.
There are many teacher-types who will try arguing that missing even one week of school is disruptive to a child’s education, but I’m sorry, I’m just not buying that story. As someone who missed somewhere between one and two YEARS of Primary school, due to being in hospital on Chemotherapy, but didn’t actually miss a thing, I truly believe, that out-of-school education is as vital as in-school education. I didn’t even take my SAT’s in Primary school. Why? Because I went to Florida on holiday! Did it disrupt my education? Not in the slightest!
I missed most of years 3 and 4, due to having Leukaemia. I did not use the hospital school. I never retook any of the schooling I missed. I also took two weeks of holidays during term time, every year, throughout my education. I slacked off entirely during years 10 and 11 of secondary school too and ended up in the guidance centre for most of the last term, as I’d done no work for two years. Now I’m not saying I’m a great role model (I’m really not), but I am pointing out that I learnt an AWFUL LOT about LIFE, about things that matter more than school. I learnt a lot from my holidays too.
I am now 29 years old and I have the following:
9 GCSE’s (8 of which are grades A-C)
1 AS Level
3 A Levels
1 Bachelor of Arts Degree in management WITH HONOURS at level 2:1
3 NVQ’s
2 WSET Certificates
1 Trident Award
1 Food Hygiene Certificate
1 First Aid Certificate
2 Welcome Host Certificates
2 Staff Training Qualifications
All of which, were passed the first time. I also have the additional Pass Plus qualification on my drivers licence.
Personally, I’d say that’s not bad for someone who missed YEARS of school, hates studying and openly admits that I never tried hard in any part of my education.
I realise that I’m not everyone and not all children would adapt to missing as much of their education as I did, but the point is, we are quibbling about a ONE WEEK family holiday here. Precious family time. I can also say, from the standpoint of someone who has had Cancer twice, both as an adult and as a child, that you should never underestimate the importance of family time. Life is too short.
There are many families in the UK in which one parent works away and their family holiday is the one chance they get in the year, to bond with their children. Their jobs don’t always permit them leave during the school holidays. There are many people who cannot afford to book a holiday in the school holidays, because the prices go up with demand. And no… holiday companies aren’t going to just lower their prices as a solution. Where’s the business sense in that? This isn’t a nation of altruism, it’s one recovering from a recession.
I actually feel so strongly about this issue, that I joined a movement on Facebook called “Parents want a Say“, which is campaigning to get the rule changes reversed.
I also blogged very briefly about this topic once before, on my family lifestyle blog, in a post titled “No more family holidays in term time“. Read the last line of that post. I made a prediction that many children will be off school with an “illness” and coming back with a tan. And I was right. The majority of parents are still taking their children on holiday, regardless of the new rules. Many of them are just choosing to accept the £60 fine and the unauthorised absence. Some are accepting the unauthorised absence but appealing the fine (I did this last year); and the rest are lying that their child is ill, to escape the fine. I will hold my hands up and admit that I have done this too.
Travel is important to me and my family. So is our children’s education. We want them to do well in school. But we want those two things to work harmoniously together. We want the right, to be able to take our children on holiday for one or two weeks per academic year, during term time, because Travel IS Education.
This post was written in collaboration with FHR Airport Services
as a teacher I too think the rules need relaxing. Children can learn So much from travelling.
They can indeed. Thank you for commenting x
I’m right behind you on this one. Having 3 children whom I had to pay over the top for our holidays meant we couldn’t go where we really wanted to. The government needs to have some sort of way of either letting people go in school term time or better still get the tourist industry to structure the way they charge for holidays fairly in school holidays time. Why should we pay higher just because we have children.
Thanks for your comment. I think as far as the tourism industry goes, it’s more a case of charging for dates with high demand in order to sell off peak holidays too, rather than charging us for taking children. Everyone wants a holiday in the school holidays.
Great post and there can be few more convincing arguments than your story! We took my eldest out of school for a week every year in the infants, but then our school started refusing holidays long before it became law, so we stopped. I’d love to see the law changed, but we always said we’d never take the kids out of school in secondary school, so we’re stuffed now if they reverse the law! 🙁
It’s certainly a different case when they have GCSE’s to think about, but as long as you check key dates first and make sure nothing important is missed, they can always take revision and homework with them.
I enjoyed your post but can’t really agree with you as a parent of 11, 9 and 5 year old. I can think of other basic human rights which would rank higher than going on a far flung holiday in the sun. I think children have plenty of days holiday during the school year and whilst I appreciate that it didn’t affect your education (you’re probably naturally bright) it could well affect children who come from a different type of background. I think schools do struggle to get children into school irrespective of holidays and data does show these are the children that need intervention measures. Also many parents even if they could take their child out of school without penalty wouldn’t be able to afford a foreign holiday. I accept that many do go abroad but my view is that parents shouldn’t be having a pop at the schools they should all refuse to go on a airplane for a year. If every family did that then the travel companies would have no choice but to put their prices down as ultimately the argument really is about the cost of holidays during term term. If it were the same as out of term there would be no issue.
Thank you for popping by and commenting. It’s always interesting to read other perspectives.
I’m not stating that it’s a basic human right to holiday abroad, but I think parents should have the right to make decisions about their own children. I do think the head teacher should have SOME say and if a child is regularly truanting then they should refuse, but to refuse all children a holiday, I believe is wrong. British holidays are also more expensive during school holidays, so it’s not all about foreign holidays. We went three years without holidaying abroad, but we still took our daughter out of school for British holidays that we booked.
To be honest, if I ran a travel agency, I’d hike the prices up too; it’s just supply and demand. There is such greater demand for holidays in school holidays, that they book up extremely quickly and that is why the travel agents put up the prices. It’s just business sense for them really and I think it is unlikely they’d ever have a need to drop their prices during school holidays. Children were allowed up to 10 days holiday from school in term time (when authorised by a headteacher) for decades and it rarely caused problems. I think they should go back to that.
wholrheartedly agree. The price hikes in holidays are utterly scandalous and so many just cannot afford it. The statement travel is education is just perfect. Children deserve family time and for some who are unable to take holidays in the standard school time holidays are being treated unfairly. I think it needs revisiting & applications should be granted on an individual basis as a blanket no just doesn’t work
Exactly. There are a lot of families, whom for some reason or other, simply cannot holiday during the school holidays, not necessarily due to monetary budgets, but due to other restrictions. And yes – definitely on an individual basis – that method worked for decades!
An interesting post and one Ive thought of writing about several times but havent as I work in a school and might end up getting fired!! For me, the blanket ban on time off during term time is the ridiculous thing. It leaves Heads with no options for taking each case on its merits. You wont get time away authorised unless you are going to a family funeral or having an op. What I find irritating is that a child can come from a supportive family,have 100% attendance, be read with every night and yet be refused a couple of days for a family wedding, never mind an actual holiday. And yet another child can be off for 10 or 15% of the year because of days off here and there,supposedly illness but not necessarily so, have no family support and be falling behind at school, but because they havent officially asked for time off they fall thru the cracks. Honesty is penalised. What does that teach children? Theres a lot to debate on this subject!
Yes I agree with you on that. Also it encourages a lot of families to lie and say their kids are sick, when they are on holiday. Which also sets a very bad example.