Bert, that is quite ridiculous. So parents wouldn't want to take advantage of cheap holidays if schools were "doing their job properly"? Maybe more parents ought to be instilling their children with a sense of what a valuable opportunity it is to have an education, and not standing passively by while they piss it away.

Out of interest, Bert, when's the last time you spent a day in a school, and saw the teachers and staff working their arses off to "do their job properly"? A bit more respect for education and the people who dedicate their lives to providing it is long overdue in this country, IMHO.

As Emma says, schools can allow parents to take a certain number of discretionary days for absence including holiday, and they usually are quite reasonable about it (in my experience). Apparently they are less understanding if the child has a poor attendance record, or is in an exam period, or is really behind in their work. That seems reasonable to me. Holidays should be a reward for effort, and if the child is behind in their work, they should not be allowed to fall further behind (and take up valuable staff time and resources having to catch up still further when they return).