‘Spread the holidays around’ to stop term-time vacations
Wednesday 9th September 2009, 4:00PM BST.
CHANGING term times would tackle the problem of parents taking their children out of school for holidays, according to a leading travel agent.
Uniglobe managing director Fred Eulenkamp believes if school holidays were spread out throughout the year, it would be easier and cheaper to go abroad.
‘I have never taken my children out of school to go on holiday,’ he said.
‘But I think one of the causes of the problem is the way school holidays have been arranged.
‘If there was a more spread-out system it would give parents more time to travel instead of having the high seasons of demand.’
Reports suggest that various special offers have swayed more parents to take their children out of school.
But Mr Eulenkamp defended the price hikes during peak times.
‘When there is more usage of something and therefore less availability, prices are going to be higher.’
An Education Department spokesman said it would be difficult to change the term times because of a link with the UK for exams.
‘The Education Department has periodically reviewed different models used by some schools in England and Wales,’ said the spokesman.
- To read Guernsey Press stories in full click here for subscription details. Individual editions are now available online.
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
Surely if the term timetable is adjusted then the travel agents will just raise their prices in the new holiday times!!!
Report abuse
So the Uniglobe managing director has never taken his children out of school to go on holiday. Considering his holidays would cost peanuts if anything at all due to his job he doesn’t need to do this.
As guernseygal says, if the term timetable was adjusted the travel agents would adjust their prices to suit.
Report abuse
Could Mr Eulenkamp please tell me how you would cope if you have say 3 children of different ages, attending 3 different schools,,that would make it impossible to go away, as you would have to take one if not two out of school to go on a family holiday,,, not to mention the problems with child care being hard enough to find during school holidays for most parents it would be spread over a longer period,,most parents think that travel agents and tour companies are just greedy,,,as for less avalibity makes it justifiable to hike the prices,,oh please,,, if the prices did,nt go up during the school holidays people would book early,to get the holiday they want,, and people would catch on to that quickly,, It would serve the travel industry very well if the school holidays were spread out over a longer period,,,, higher prices for another 2/3 weeks for every school break,,
Report abuse
This idea seems unworkable to me due to the reasons given by the Education Department.
Besides, personally I don’t see the problem with taking children out of school for a couple of weeks to have a holiday with their families. It’s hardly going to have a huge impact on their education is it? After all, if a child’s sick for a couple of weeks with measles they don’t suddenly become poor students.
A couple of weeks R&R and relationship building with the family, especially when it’s coupled with an experience of another culture (which could be affordable to some low income families during off peak times) could well prove more educational and productive long term than a couple of weeks in the classroom.
Report abuse
School Holidays have always been far too long.
Report abuse
For once I find myself in total agreement with Paul Le P Get the flags out!
Andy don’t be such a party pooper
Report abuse
Now I have well and truly finished school I think the holidays should be reduced to around a week and a half a year.
Report abuse
School holidays are far too short.
Ideally they’d start in March to take in those occasional lovely spring days, and end in November, in case we get a late summer.
Oh, and more time off for Christmas and New Year. Maybe a couple of months either side.
Report abuse
Kevin – the flags are waving and my calendar’s been marked – truly a red letter day! :-)
Report abuse
I fail to see the problem in taking kids out of school for a couple of weeks. Especially if it’s either side of the existing holidays, where they’re either winding down or just getting started again anyway.
Report abuse
I was off school with a cold for a week at the beginning of term and consequently missed the introduction to algebra. I never caught up throughout my school years and was advised not to bother attempting GCSE in maths.
OK I’m never going to enjoy maths but I did pass the exam some years later after going to evening classes so I blame that lost week.
I’m not saying you should never take a child on holiday during term time but only if really necessary and educational.
Report abuse
Scattershot
I’m sorry but the GCSE maths curriculum lasts for 2 whole school years, I cannot beleive that you didnt sit it because you missed 1 week, what was that 3 or 4 lessons max?
Report abuse
Scattershot
What school did you go to?
The man
The experience of Scattershot is not unique. This reflects badly on some of Guernsey’s teachers.
Report abuse
If this is not an isolated case then this is a really really bad indictment of Guernseys schooling system if a pupil can miss 1 or 2 lessons and in effect lose 2 years of study.
Report abuse
The Man,
Had I been ill a week or two later it would not have mattered so much. Because I missed the introduction to algebra I didn’t understand why we were using x’s and y’s instead of real numbers.
Stephen John
The teacher does matter but it is a matter of luck wherever you are . I was at the Girl’s Grammar doing ‘O’ levels not GCSE. The teacher concentrated on the pupils with most aptitude and could be easily distracted to other topics than math. He was teaching us ‘new math’ while the physics and chemistry teachers were doing it the old way.
The evening class tutor was a Delancey teacher with an amusing sarcastic manner. He was very lucid and taught different ways to solve a problem until he found one I could get my head round. He did have a smaller class so was able to give us more individual attention.
Report abuse
I think people need to get their priorities in order! Schooling is far more important than holidays – and if you think that going away during the school term should be acceptable then some of you need to do your homework! It is not only the child you take away from school who has to do the catching up – but effectively the rest of the class too. It would be interesting to see how many parents who pay for their childrens education (via direct fees, not taxation) think it appropriate to remove their child from school, as opposed to those who don’t pay?
Report abuse
sarnia expat, is your name a Harry Potter spell?
“Sarnia Expatriatum!”
Back to the topic. Ban Holidays! I saw children as young as twelve on holiday once. Oh the humanity!
Report abuse
Sarnia Expat: “It is not only the child you take away from school who has to do the catching up – but effectively the rest of the class too.”
Could you explain your reasoning for this please? Children are constantly away from classes due to illness yet I don’t see evidence of entire classes being held back. I can remember having time off school due to illness and it didn’t seem to hold me back, or my classmates either. With holidays, although the reason is different, the result is the same – lessons are missed.
During my school days, all my year had two weeks off school due to snow – so we all effectively had 2 weeks less schooling than other children, yet I didn’t see a marked difference in our results.
If children are away from classes, whether that be due to sickness or voluntary holidays, it’s always been their responsibility to catch up. I wouldn’t advocate constant voluntary absence during term time however I fail to see how a couple of weeks here or there can make a huge difference to a child’s education.
Report abuse
Hi Paul
My experience has been that other class members often have to wait around whilst the teacher bring the child (who was away from school) up to speed, or revisit topics already covered.
You say “I fail to see how a couple of weeks here or there can make a huge difference to a child’s education.” Obviously we have different views on this, each entitled to his/her own opinion. Mine is simple – there are enough holidays in the year for everyone to take a break without the necessity to remove the child from school.
Mr Seagull – Guernseyosum Peculiarum…..
Report abuse
I have never taken my children out of school for a holiday but i am tempted this year now that they are older. My partner and I have always had to take separate holidays in order to try and cover the holiday so that there is someone at home to care for the children.
Now they are older we are seriously considering taking them out of school for a few days before the official holiday. This is not only due to the exorbitant rising costs during school holidays but also because we have great difficulty in getting holidays during term time as other co-workers are also after the same periods of time off at work. The week before and the week after holidays is always very slow anyway and providing the children are given the appropriate lesson plans (as photocopies) they can easily catch up. As others have mentioned, episodes of sickness do not seem to cause the Education Department much problem and i know that teachers do not hesitate to call parents to collect children who have just the hint of a sniffle or cough but have been sent to school!
One of my children goes to a fee paying school – and there are regular periods when children are taken away on exotic holiday (with the excuse that it is educational)! So there is probably little difference between fee paying schools and states schools when it comes to children being taken out of school by parents.
According to my children, the teacher does not make allowances for children that have been absent for whatever reason – the curriculum is followed and the lesson planning is not disrupted while teachers spend the whole lesson going over the previous weeks work – children are told it is their responsibility to catch up and given the relevant information.
Report abuse
Hi Sarnia Expat – thanks for the response.
“My experience has been that other class members often have to wait around whilst the teacher bring the child (who was away from school) up to speed, or revisit topics already covered.”
It seems from other posts that your experience is not shared by others. Perhaps it’s something that depends on the teacher or school.
Personally I certainly wouldn’t expect a teacher to stop normal lessons for a child to play catch-up – especially if their absence was voluntary. That’s the responsibility of the child and his/her parents. This actually brings me onto a related point – that it’s the responsibility of parents to raise and educate their children, not the State. Obviously as parents we delegate that responsibility temporarily when we send our kids to school but the buck still stops with us – at least it should.
As parents, if we think a couple of weeks holiday will benefit our child more than sitting in a classroom, it’s our right and responsibility as parents to weigh the pros and cons and do what we think is in our child’s best interests…and deal with the consequences, which would include playing catch-up afterwards where necessary.
Report abuse
Further to comments by other forum members, I must concede defeat. I do still believe however that it is a disruptive practice to remove children from school just so that parents do not have to pay over the odds for holidays – but to each his/her own.
Report abuse
No need to concede defeat Sarnia Expat – it remains a matter of personal opinion and preference. As you say, in this case each to his/her own.
Report abuse