Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

http://news.sky.com/story/father-los...idays-10827099

There are two answers to this from my point of view.

1) Holiday companies must be rubbing there hands in joy at this. I went to a park last year. and l aid 150 quid. The SAME chalet for the HOT SEASON of July and August was 780 quid.

These holiday companies make there money from beer sales.

2) I believe that schools should allow SEVEN DAYS only, if the parents ask for permission, under the instructions that they do homework while on holiday. So they are fulfilling there education.

If you think parents on financial hardship can get cheaper deals out of season should be allowed to have holidays.

I look at it this was IF MPs are allowed so many weeks off on holiday, then so should we and we work very hard all year.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

I have fairly little sympathy. Growing up we didn't have a lot of money, but we still had some lovely memorable holidays staying with family down south. Yes, I was jealous of my friends going to Disney World every year, but we couldn't afford it.

I wonder if different councils could stagger school holidays so not all kids were off at the same time. This would certainly lower the impact of the price surge, and could also help parents with annual leave if not everyone is off at the same time. In Scotland we have a bit of this benefit as our Summer holidays don't line up with the English holidays, so there are a few weeks which are cheaper than the rest of Summer.

I feel sorry for the stretched teaching staff who, in addition to the everyday issues of large class sizes, cuts to support for children with additional needs, and paying out of pocket for classroom essentials, also find they have to help children 1:1 who have been taken out of school and missed some classwork. It can't be easy for them.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Well they DON'T make thier money from beer sales! That much is obvious. Its made from people buying the holidays at high prices during the school holidays.

Its been that way for years as they know they can make the money and during school term will sell at a loss usually just to make sure they get people to come.

Re: Holiday Companies joy
 

And how many of the chalets would have been empty during term time? Their costs don't magically disappear. The £780 is probably near the true cost whatever the time of year. The £150 will be below cost, but having the £150 is better than £0. The total annual income has to come from somewhere. Without the £150 people, the cost whatever the time of year would have to be more than £780 to cover the gap.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

1. Your holiday park has fixed overheads - staff costs etc - that it has to cover, 52 weeks of the year. Off season, it may let its chalets at cost, or at a loss, in order to at least partially cover those costs. However in order for the business to be sustainable, make a profit and generate capital for expansion, in the summer, when the market supports it, the price has to be higher. If they let you have the chalet for £150 in August they'd go bust within a year.

2. There is absolutely no way that any child is going to sit by the pool in Marbella and do their maths homework. Asking them to do so is a waste of time.

Holidays on the Med are not a human right. They are a luxury and a privilege. If you can't afford to do it during one of the 12 or more weeks per year that the kids aren't at school (and right now, I can't) then you don't. Simples.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

As a retired teacher I have no sympathy what so ever.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

as a former pupil who never had family holidays i weep for the poor children
:bigcry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jFqhjaGh30

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Glad he lost the case, he did come over as a smug so and so. By the look of his house he could easily have afforded to take his daughter on holiday whenever. Just publicity seeking. Her attendance of 92% isn't brilliant anyway - that's a lot of school missed.

Think there is a case for phasing school holidays around the country; that should nicely muck up the holiday companies and make it more of a level playing field.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Indeed. 92% is barely better than one day off a fortnight.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Why should staggering school holidays achieve that much? We would only be talking about one week either way. The total annual cost for the hotel, ie not the holiday company, has to be recouped whatever way you look at things. It is not a school holiday time increase, but a term-time decrease in price.

Whatever mucking about with the school holidays dates, the price will remain the same. There is no cost savings from it to be made by the hotels. The only possible beneficial impact is a lower peak demand for flights. How much unfilled cheaper end demand is there? That would determine any potential small reduction in non-term-time costs. How many people are not currently going on holiday, but would if the price dropped a few %?

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

As we are told in this greedy world of ours PROFIT IS GOOD or is that GOD.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

If a business doesn't make a profit, it won't stay in business and employ people - it's getting the balance right that's important.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Another thing to consider is that maybe the father could only get time off at that particular time. I know with the company I work for allows holidays on a FCFS basis.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Its just complete nanny state nonsense.

They can have a week off due to illness and no one bats an eyelid.

I once had four weeks off due to a combination of illness issues, and I was fine.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

they sent my neighbors kid home because her trousers where allegedly too tight ,fashion trumped education on that occasion .

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

The guy's an idiot. He could have paid the £60 fine and all would be forgiven, he argued the point and lost.

I have no sympathy.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

For arguing a point ? or just because he lost ?

Either way I dont see how that makes him an idiot.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Presumably because of the level of effort and time this would have taken in contrast with the £60 fine.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Yes and I believe it has now cost him £1200 so who's the fool?

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

So hes a fool because he lost ?

(Assuming the costs are because he lost).

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Even if he won I would personally think it's a waste of time for £60, you would have to be really invested in the principle of the matter and at best I think it's a dodgy principle. I can understand how a parent would feel best placed to judge what is best for their children but if everyone is doing it then you can also see how disruptive it would be to have random children missing for a week over a school term. You could easily end up in a situation where the teacher has to keep going back over previously covered topics to account for children who missed the previous week.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

He's a fool he's well off and has 12 weeks of school holiday to take his daughter wherever. He's a fool for seeking out publicity to make a political point at the expense of his own daughters education and privacy. He's just a pratt who enjoys the limelight. I expect to him to sell his heart bleeding story to some corny magazine/tabloid. If this had stood, parents would be taking there kids out, totally disrupting schools and other children's education aswell, as teachers have to spend time on 'catch up'.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

You can also easily avoid that by simply not doing it.
If someone has time off, they they should catch-up themselves, not expect it to happen in class.
When I had my previously mentioned four+ weeks off, I was given a list of topics that I missed, and expected to catch up as neccessary.

At the end of the day, most people probably never need or use a lot of what they actually learn.
In maths alone I dont think Ive ever needed half the stuff I learned, in fact Ive forgotten much of it.

(and in our modern world, I can just google it anyway).

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

The £1200 is just the Supreme Court costs, it has now been referred back to the High Court. He now stands the chance of a fine and a criminal record.

Ergo, he is a fool and should've just paid the £60.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Well maths as an example can be very dependent on what you've learned before. If your teaching percentages and you haven't covered fractions then it might be harder. You'll struggle to do algebra without having done the basics of it.

Yes most people don't use the stuff they've learnt at school but the idea is to give a good enough grounding so people are prepared to use what they need to take the path they eventually choose when they leave. Most people don't use a lot of what they learned at school but the subset they do use will be different for each person.

I don't have that strong an opinion on this. I wouldn't have been bothered had he won. But I can certainly see the side of the argument that they shouldn't be taken out of school.

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

Why a criminal record?

Re: Father loses Supreme Court case over term-time holidays
 

He can go to prison :Yikes:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...day-child.html