Hurray! The High Court backs Mr Platt....

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Mr Platt's daughter was 7 for goodness' sake, and I just don't believe the occasional week off makes any difference at all.

To go to Disneyland, for goodness' sake!!!

Having said that, Ginny Weasley (have we had her yet?) missed two whole years of school from age 13 - 15 through serious illness...one whole year spent in hospital. She rejoined her Comp. in year 11 and got 4XA*, 3XA and 2XB. OK, so she was a bright cookie, but doesn't that say something?

Yes - it says that she is a bright cookie. And, presumably, the LEA fulfilled its legal obligations to provide Home Tutoring during that year?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I think all of Alpie's examples relate to secondary school kids, and yes, it must be difficult if they miss major commitments (e.g. music exams for which they are entered, or GCSE assessments).

Neville Longbottom was in Year 6.

[ardcarp]

Education in hospital, when she was well enough to take part, was completely un-related to GCSE work, and to her age. Some basic Home Tutoring was provided by the [very strapped-for-cash] LEA in her convalescent year, but was very limited indeed...one man, three hours a week, whose knowledge of maths was less than his pupil's! She also had one hour each of private French and Music lessons, but basically 'Ginny' did the GCSE course in 1 year.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Education in hospital, when she was well enough to take part, was completely un-related to GCSE work, and to her age. Some basic Home Tutoring was provided by the [very strapped-for-cash] LEA in her convalescent year, but was very limited indeed...one man, three hours a week, whose knowledge of maths was less than his pupil's! She also had one hour each of private French and Music lessons, but basically 'Ginny' did the GCSE course in 1 year.

But as you said, Ginny was a bright spark. Good for her, all the same! In my primary school, when I was in what would now be called Year 4, a Cedric Diggory was off school with TB for several months, so was well behind the rest of the class when he returned. However, he was highly intelligent, and with support, he not only caught up with the rest of us, but overtook most of the group and was admitted to Hogwarts a year early.

However - often those who are removed from schools for a family holiday are the very ones who need to be at school the most. In general, those with the highest attendance do best.

[mercia]

going back to Mr Platt, will his daughter's teachers have been obliged to help her catch up with the lessons she missed, or (as I remember doing when I missed certain days at secondary school) will she have had to find out what she missed from her friends ? Or, in anticipation of the holiday, will the teachers have given her homework ?

alternatively, to quote teamsaint ...

If that involves missing the odd week of less than essential schooling, then so be it.

... are some weeks in the term conveniently missable ?

[greenilex]

Apologies, if necessary, for the weird mixing of metaphors above: "rash of copycat absences" indeed. That's the worst kind of professional jargon-creation. Not Radio 3 at all.

[french frank]

... are some weeks in the term conveniently missable ?

Very interesting question … Although my primary education is now nothing more than a hazy, confused impression, I can't think that what a child might learn in a single week could be essential in any way at all other than, possibly, having a slight adverse effect on a SATs result. That may be terribly important to the school with the targets/league tables or whatever it has to achieve for demonstrable success. But as to the general education of the child over its 7 or 8 years of primary/secondary education, I find it hard to imagine it being much of a handicap in later life.

[P. G. Tipps]

Surely there is a huge difference between a child being kept off school through illness and one whose parents suddenly decide it's a good idea for the family to have a relaxing week or two in sunny Florida? Genuine illness has never triggered fines in such cases and it would be truly absurd if it did, It is therefore a complete irrelevance here.

There are rules. Rules are there to prevent anarchy. That is the point. If one set of parents can get away behaving in such a selfish manner, why not everybody else? Hence the rules. Parents openly breaking them sets a very poor example to the kids in life, if nothing else. Again, if breaking one set of rules is okay why not go ahead and do so with another?

So now the wording of the rules will be altered and strengthened, not weakened, as some seem to suppose after this ridiculous ruling. Even worse we can't blame any of this nonsense on the EU!

Well done in avoiding that fine, Mr Platt ... but in the end it might well prove to have been a lot better and easier for everyone if you had just paid up?





.

[Richard Tarleton]

Like many birdwatchers I'm accustomed to heading for the Mediterranean to coincide with spring and autumn migration, when flights are cheap, hotels peaceful and children safely shut up in school where they belong. Our peace would be shattered if this caught on in a big way

[Flosshilde]

... are some weeks in the term conveniently missable ?

Indeed, and is it the same week for every child, in which case the school might as well give them all a holiday & close the school for a week, and is it the same week in every school? The same week for every subject? Or do the teachers decide which week each child can miss - if they did it at the beginning of term, or year, it would be enourmously helpful for parents, who could then book holidays well in advance. Of course, if it was the same week for every child in every school everyone would book holidays for that week, and then the prices would go up.

[MrGongGong]

There are rules. Rules are there to prevent anarchy.

.

Chicken Licken syndrome ?

I love it

I'm not particularly interested in the fine details of this case but from what I saw of mr Platt on TV he does seem like someone possessed with more than a little sense of entitlement.

What does seem iffy to me is the idea that a school can if it wishes FINE a parent for this.
I think all sorts of things are getting spun into this which are very different from this chap taking his children to Florida for a holiday.
Poor man, but I do wonder what is wrong with a week in a caravan in Prestatyn ?

[Pulcinella]

Surely there is a huge difference between a child being kept off school through illness and one whose parents suddenly decide it's a good idea for the family to have a relaxing week or two in sunny Florida? Genuine illness has never triggered fines in such cases and it would be truly absurd if it did, It is therefore a complete irrelevance here.

Yes there IS a huge difference, but the comparison cannot be deemed a complete irrelevance if the argument is that ANY time off school is detrimental, which seems to be the one that is being used.

[Barbirollians]

Like many birdwatchers I'm accustomed to heading for the Mediterranean to coincide with spring and autumn migration, when flights are cheap, hotels peaceful and children safely shut up in school where they belong. Our peace would be shattered if this caught on in a big way

I am afraid that the reality of this case is outlined by Waldo. Schools take a much harder line about term time holidays for two reasons 1 the attendance targets and the disastrous unfair school rating consequence and 2 S444 allows a child to be absent during term time with leave and Gove issued new guidance requiring that leave was only granted in exceptional circumstances . Unsurprisingly, a holiday to Disneyland was not regarded as exceptional .

Gove's policy however has led to a blanket approach so headteachers ( also under the attendance target pressure ) have become very defensive in granting leave . So the cases where they might have turned a blind eye e.g allowing an impoverished family their first holiday in three years because they can get a very cheap deal on a static caravan is refused , an 11 year old is refused an hour off PE on Friday afternoon so his parents cannot get to take him to the otherwise sold out production of Midsummer's Night Dream at Stratford are two examples I am aware of recently .

There have also been publicised decisions of headteachers of extraordinary harshness such as the one where a headteacher refused leave for a child to go to a funeral .

On the other hand I have little sympathy with the facts of Mr Platts' daughters case . Well off parents getting a cheaper deal when they can afford to go in school holiday time just strikes me as selfishness.

[MrGongGong]

Of course this only applies to "state" schools, the ones for those not rich or morally righteous enough to send their children to a private school.
I'm not sure this applies to academy schools either where the businesses that run them are entitled to employ unqualified staff, erect razor wire perimeter patrolled by armed guards and insist on everyone dressing up as 17th century aristocrats.

We are all in this together ?

If one digs a little more about this case

Mr Platt - who runs a business helping consumers win compensation from banks

hummmmmmm

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Very interesting question … Although my primary education is now nothing more than a hazy, confused impression, I can't think that what a child might learn in a single week could be essential in any way at all other than, possibly, having a slight adverse effect on a SATs result. That may be terribly important to the school with the targets/league tables or whatever it has to achieve for demonstrable success. But as to the general education of the child over its 7 or 8 years of primary/secondary education, I find it hard to imagine it being much of a handicap in later life.

But ... supposing it's the week that they do The Apostrophe? Or the difference between "less" and "fewer"?

It's not just Education that's at stake here - it's Pedants' Paradise!