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ASCL supports crackdown on term time holidays
Released 21/02/2012
The Association of School and College Leaders has welcomed the government’s intention to stop authorising term time holidays
ASCL has announced its support of the Government's proposal to prevent parents taking children out of school during term time to take advantage of cheaper holiday deals
Many secondary schools have refused to authorise term time holidays for a long time and this will not represent a change. Nevertheless this announcement will send out a strong message to parents about the importance of good attendance as a key to success in school.
Brian Lightman – General Secretary commented: “If we as a society are serious about our ambitions to have a world class education system it is absolutely right that expectations of schools to enable every pupil to succeed remain higher than they ever have been. Teachers and school leaders are judged according to the performance and attendance of their pupils and go to great lengths to counter any barriers that hold a child back often achieving spectacular results. They cannot achieve this without the support of parents which, in its most basic form, involves ensuring that their children attend school every day.”
“Sadly some parents have viewed the clause in the regulations allowing headteachers the discretion to authorise up to ten days of absence as some kind of right rather like an annual leave allocation. They then take their children out of school every year in order to get cheaper holiday deals. The fact of the matter is that two weeks absence from school ever year amounts to one twentieth of a child’s school education during which time a child might miss crucially important parts of the scheme of work.”
“Nevertheless a change in regulations alone will not resolve this problem. It is not as yet clear how the government will be able to enforce these regulations or whether it intends to challenge those travel companies who aggressively market cheap family holidays during term time.”