Now that parents can be fined for taking their children out of school during term-time, perhaps my children’s secondary schools will now pay me when they stop teaching for the following reasons:
* closing the school at lunchtime, which happens at the end of every term;
* sitting the children in front of non-educational videos, especially towards the end of term. My children have recently watched Matrix, Shrek, Nutty Professor I and II and Galaxy Quest during their classes;
* sending children home for half a day during the autumn term to prepare for an open day;
* most of the time spent during school trips, eg attending theme parks in foreign countries. My son recently went to Germany and all he can remember is watching beer being made - enjoyable for the teachers, but hardly a valuable educational experience for an 11-year-old.
Perhaps the Government should start addressing the real inadequacies in the system.
Jackie Sherman
Radley Road, Abingdon
