Trivial things you don't understand/mildly annoy you

[Bewster]

The fine is only about £60 per child 

I am happy to pay the fine, but I not happy with the black mark against my kids name.

And Honkytonk has it spot on - I am not bemoaning my situation just the disparity in prices.

And Fatbasher is also correct - where do you draw the line with self regulation ?

There is also the issue of my job. I have to take a compulsory 10 day annual leave from work (blame the French for this) and due to a mixture of the kids and my responsibilities this leaves me with the middle two weeks of August.  So I end up getting arse raped by holiday companies. And having an arse like a Japanese flag in speedos is not good 

[pauld]

We get the letters/emails from both the kids' schools lecturing us about how they will crack down on taking kids out of school for holidays, as there is "ample time afforded" to go during school holidays etc. Which I agree with, but the hectoring tone and lack of any application of common sense flexibility gets right up my nose. Especially when the same does not seem to apply for Teacher Training days - I had to take an extra day off work at the start of this week because my eldest's school had an "Inset Day". That's on top of the "Collapsed timetable" they had on the last Friday before Christmas with a week and a half's notice (aka "We're all going to the pub at lunchtime so you can fork out for childcare because you've still got to work").

Every time they do this, it costs us, either indirectly because we have to take time off, or directly in the form of having to pay for childcare. So why can't they have those days during the "ample time afforded" in the school holidays? It cuts both ways and schools used to be allowed to apply a degree of common sense on a case by case basis, sadly that's now been taken away from them, there seems to be very little flexibility for parents any more, but we are expected to routinely take time off work or shell out for expensive childcare. That's what pisses me off.

[Sippo]

Good schools normally have their 'pub' days at the end or beginning of a holiday to reduce inconvenience.

[Batch]

Good schools normally have their 'pub' days at the end or beginning of a holiday to reduce inconvenience.

Doesn't really generally reduce inconvenience though. A day off is a day off. Its useful if you are going away anyway though.

This one is even more incomprehensible: Most of my sons primary school is moving in to a new school building after half term. So guess what, two extra days tacked on to half term break so the teachers can do the move in those two days. Mind boggling.

[pauld]

Good schools normally have their 'pub' days at the end or beginning of a holiday to reduce inconvenience.

Yes they did. 5 days before Christmas, with 10 days notice. Which did not reduce the inconvenience

[pauld]

This one is even more incomprehensible: Most of my sons primary school is moving in to a new school building after half term. So guess what, two extra days tacked on to half term break so the teachers can do the move in those two days. Mind boggling.

Exactly my point. I quite understand that teachers have loads of extra stuff to do outside of teaching hours, but we've always been told that's what those bloody massive holidays are for.

[4D]

The school day seems to be even shorter now too. 8.30 - 3.00, back in my day it was 8.40 - 3.45.

[Sippo]

Some of you should do my job. That would make you even angrier.

[Bewster]

The way i see it is that if they said that child up to secondary school age could have a maximum of 10 days off during term time then after that you will be fined then it would make life easier.

Also, we have a few pikey kids at the kids school (actual pikeys - thats not just me being mean) - and they come and go and take time off as they please. Do they get fined ?? No of course not as it would be a wasted exercise. So once again you get the parents who try to do right by the school and their kids being penalised.

[pauld]

Some of you should do my job. That would make you even angrier.

And in fairness the peak time holidays being hugely expensive thing is even worse for teachers/school staff as they don't even have the choice to slide off during term time and just take the hit of the 60 quid fine and a lot of them are on (comparatively) shit pay so they get a double whammy.

[Bewster]

And in fairness the peak time holidays being hugely expensive thing is even worse for teachers/school staff as they don't even have the choice to slide off during term time and just take the hit of the 60 quid fine and a lot of them are on (comparatively) shit pay so they get a double whammy.

Absolutely - which is why the travel firms need to be pressurised to stop this.

[pauld]

Absolutely - which is why the travel firms need to be pressurised to stop this.

Problem is it's not just the travel firms, the resorts hike their prices and the travel companies pass that on. So if our govt tries to act alone on it, it would just hurt UK travel companies, and not make much impact on the overall cost of the holiday. Some EU-wide legislation might help, but then the Southern European countries are on the brink already, take too much out of their tourist income and the EuroZone would go under.

Giving the airlines a kicking might help though - I know aviation fuel's expensive, but it doesn't suddenly cost more in August.

[Bewster]

Problem is it's not just the travel firms, the resorts hike their prices and the travel companies pass that on. So if our govt tries to act alone on it, it would just hurt UK travel companies, and not make much impact on the overall cost of the holiday. Some EU-wide legislation might help, but then the Southern European countries are on the brink already, take too much out of their tourist income and the EuroZone would go under.

Giving the airlines a kicking might help though - I know aviation fuel's expensive, but it doesn't suddenly cost more in August.

I'm sure if everyone put their prices up during Ramadan* there would be outrage 

*other religious holidays are also available

[Tails]

And in fairness the peak time holidays being hugely expensive thing is even worse for teachers/school staff as they don't even have the choice to slide off during term time and just take the hit of the 60 quid fine and a lot of them are on (comparatively) shit pay so they get a double whammy.

Don't they get about 10 weeks holiday a year though?!

I never knew about this rule until the other day, when a friend of mine took her daughter out of school for a day as her little sister had died a year back and it's an upsetting day for her and she still got fined, even after explaining the situation. I think that is ridiculously harsh!

[Samdy Gray]

Got rid of my sideburns after 10+ years.

My face feels naked