Daily summary of the latest news and opinions from the world of independent education bought to you by Education Advisers...  

Head of Winchester Colleges says parents should follow term time holiday rules

Parents should adhere to the ‘unbreakable rule’ of not taking their children on holiday during term time, a headmaster has warned.

Doing so breeds resentment among both teachers and classmates, Dr Tim Hands said.

The head of Winchester College pointed out that pupils at independent schools already enjoy more time off and said it is sensible to stick to holidays only outside term time.

Writing in Attain, the official magazine for the Independent Association of Prep Schools, he said: ‘There is one unbreakable rule. It won’t be popular to state it, but my goodness I can promise you it makes sense. Don’t ever take that holiday in term time.

‘After all, there are already 15 fewer days in the school year, during which cheaper holiday tariffs are likely to apply, and prep school parents are already paying for an education from which they then strangely withdraw.

‘The effect in the classroom is of resent, not just from teachers but from classmates also. So keep term as term and holiday as holiday, and long may the two remain as different as possible.’

Breaks taken in designated holiday periods should be restful and, provided it is not during the lead-up to exam time, focus on something away from academia, he added.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/05/22/head-of-38000-a-year-school-orders-parents-to-follow-term-time-holiday-rules-6652522/

See also: Supreme Court rules parents cannot legally take children out of school during term-time without permission

'When the world outside appears to have fallen apart, teachers will make sure the world inside remains reassuringly familiar'

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders responds to the Manchester terrorist attack on Monday 22nd May by looking at the role that teachers play.

“In an era of fake and sensationalist news – our teachers will have modelled a civilised, thoughtful response to events we can hardly comprehend. They will have been teaching young people how we – the adults they look to – navigate through a sometimes dark and baffling world.

Finally, across all schools and colleges, whatever their intake, today will be a day when their sense of community, of cohesion, will have been to the fore. More staff will have been on duty, mingling with students, talking to them, asking how they are. It’s a sign of how civilised many of our schools are that students are likely to have asked about the wellbeing of staff.

In assemblies, in classrooms, the lunch queues, there will be a heightened awareness of how lucky we are – to be part of a community, to be with people who care, to be alive.

Being a teacher, being a school leader – these are never easy jobs. Too much of what they do goes unnoticed. Today, quietly and without fanfare, the education profession will have done us proud.

As a contrast to last night’s act of such abhorrence, we can’t thank them enough.”

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/when-world-outside-appears-have-fallen-apart-teachers-will-make-sure