00:01Half a million fines nearly this year, 50% of parents considering taking their children out of school next year.
00:07So what we're saying is, let's do something about this.
00:10A campaign is pushing for a rethink of school holiday schedules.
00:14It asks headteachers across England and Wales to bring the five mandatory inset days together into a single week.
00:22Supporters say the change could make family breaks cheaper, reduce term time absences and improve attendance.
00:29This campaign is asking headteachers to put all of their inset days together, so teacher training days, instead of spreading
00:36them across the year.
00:37And the reason for that is it would enable parents and families to access cheaper holidays without taking their children
00:45out of school in term time, which we know is happening.
00:48I think holidays have always been important and that continues to be the case.
00:51And they're really enriching, joyful experiences, aren't they, for all of us, especially children.
00:55They can experience new languages, new culture, food, all of that, and also quality time with their family.
01:01And holidays are expensive, aren't they?
01:03They are expensive.
01:04And we know in the school summer holidays, you've got practically every family in the UK trying to go away
01:10in the same five-week period.
01:11And so the same holiday in August can cost, you know, hundreds of pounds more than it would cost you
01:16in June, for example.
01:17So by creating these inset weeks, then you're enabling parents to access cheaper holidays.
01:23Currently, inset days are spread across the school year, which means many parents take children out of school to avoid
01:30peak holiday costs.
01:32Data shows nearly half of parents plan to take term time holidays this year.
01:36And last year, over 459,000 fines were issued for unauthorised absences.
01:43So I think the real blocker is just inertia.
01:47We're not good at change, are we?
01:49It's human nature to keep things the same and not to challenge the status quo.
01:54Are nowadays families increasingly prioritising holidays and going away together over education?
02:01Well, it's not so much that they're deprioritising education.
02:04It's that families want to be able to do both things.
02:05Obviously, you only get a very limited number of years where you're going to go away on holiday as a
02:09family.
02:10And with holidays being increasingly expensive, I think we are seeing a small number of families choosing to take the
02:17holidays during term time to cut those bills.
02:19So it's understandable.
02:20And while the government policy is against, last time we ran a survey on this, which was only a couple
02:24of years ago,
02:25we found that one in 10 families said they had already taken holidays in term time and that a third
02:30of families said that they were thinking about it.
02:32So it's relatively commonplace and it's fairly clear that the fines that are in place at the moment really aren't
02:38deterring very many people if they feel they really should do it.
02:40The campaign is now asking millions of parents to contact headteachers to request it in set week.
02:46While only 1% of schools currently operate this system, supporters hope the approach could expand,
02:52helping families save money and reducing term time absences in the coming school years.
02:57I think there's some bigger questions around the overall formatting of school holidays.
03:02They're existing, we know we've inherited them from the Victorian times and harvest and all of that.
03:07It's crazy when you think about it, but that requires government change and big legislation.
03:12A Department for Education spokesperson said while academies and councils have the flexibility to set term dates that best suit
03:20their community,
03:21it is of utmost importance that no child loses out on essential learning time.
03:26They added more widely through the plan for change.
03:30We have made huge progress in tackling the attendance crisis with over 5 million more days in school last academic
03:37year
03:37and 140,000 fewer pupils persistently absent, signalling the best year on year improvement in attendance in a decade.
03:47I mean, I think post pandemic, we certainly saw a lot more holidays because people have been locked inside for
03:51a couple of years
03:52and we're still seeing a peak every year.
03:54I mean, last year was the largest number of flights out of the UK since records began,
03:58much recovered since the pre-COVID times.
04:01This year, we're probably going to see more people fly away again.
04:03So there's more holidays every year than ever.
04:06I mean, that's not necessarily just because of COVID.
04:08People love going away on holiday.
04:09People love spending time together.
04:10So that's, you know, only sensible.
04:11So that's, you know, only sensible.
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