Should school holidays be staggered?

Taking children out of school during term time has become a hot topic recently.

At a recent Suffolk County Council Cabinet meeting, in accordance with revised Government guidelines, we voted to bring in a new protocol which, among other things, increases penalties for parents who decide to take children out of school.  There were good reasons for doing this, not least because we believed that educational standards in the county would not improve if absence from school is tolerated.  However, many believe that this approach is misguided when it comes to giving leave of absence for family holidays.  They cite the high prices charged by holiday companies for departures during the school holidays and also the fact that travel on holiday can be of educational benefit.

It seems that there may be some merit in the latter argument.  Today the Sunday Times reports that the head of a primary school in Reading has analysed the national maths, science and English test results of his 11 year old pupils over the past two years and has found that those who have been taken on family holidays in term time outperformed those who had not.

I have been challenged about this issue by a number of people in the Division as I have done my rounds.   While not supporting random truancy, I think that it is true that from time to time one does hear stories about head teachers who have seemed to be very unreasonable in refusing to allow leave of absence.  I also have a hunch that travel does actually broaden the mind.

A suggestion has been made that schools might choose to stagger their holiday periods.  This would mean that holiday companies would be able to fill their capacity more evenly across the year and accordingly charge less.  This might be a solution to the expensive holiday issue, but it would present the County Council with another, potentially very costly, problem.

At present each year it costs Suffolk County Council a massive £18m or so to transport children to and from school each day. Such efficiencies as we are able to achieve in this area depend on children attending schools between the same dates, and arriving and leaving at more or less the same time.  If schools choose to alter these long standing arrangements the cost of school transport would grow dramatically…something that is simply not affordable in the current financial environment.

Perhaps, under the circumstances therefore, it might be better to allow Head Teachers to exercise a bit more discretion when approached by parents who wish to take children out of school for a break.