A teacher asks how would parents feel if their child’s teacher took time off during the school term to get a cheaper holiday. And Nick Coupland points to the evidence that absences for family holidays do not affect academic achievement
The broad consensus of your readers seems to be that fines for holidays in termtime are unpopular and ineffective (Letters, 5 August). So far, so true. However, one point that has not been raised is that teachers – I am one – have families too, and are likewise bound by the extortionate cost of holidays outside termtime. I wonder how readers would feel about their children’s teachers flouting the rules and taking a few days off during termtime for a cheaper holiday?
Name and address supplied
• I agree with Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett’s belief that “term-time holidays are clearly not the most urgent cause of poor educational outcomes” (Opinion, 2 August). Researchers at the universities of Strathclyde and Dundee found that, in contrast to overall absence, truancy, sickness and extraordinary family circumstances, absences for family holidays did not have an impact on academic achievement at the end of compulsory secondary schooling.
Nick Coupland
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada