We're all going on a term-time holiday
Primary truancy is on the rise, fuelled in many cases by parents seeking to avoid paying a premium for peak-season breaks. Can they be persuaded to think again?
The man sat opposite Val Cameron was a keen caravanner. There were few things he enjoyed more than whisking his daughters off for a long weekend to enjoy bucolic charms in their mobile home-from-home. So he saw little harm in asking permission to take his two daughters out of school on a Friday afternoon to indulge in his favourite pastime.
It was only when he saw a chart setting out the regular Friday afternoon and Monday morning absences in black and white, however, that he realised quite how much he liked it.
“He was taken aback,” says Mrs Cameron, headteacher of Park Lane Primary in Whittlesey near Peterborough. “He had no idea he had done it that much and the impact it was having until I highlighted all the absences.”
A caravan enthusiast is a long way from the conventional image of a school truant. Wending along narrow country roads bears as much resemblance to hanging around a shopping centre as a windcheater does to a hoodie. But this perception is rapidly being exposed as outdated.
While unauthorised absences in secondary schools have been inching down over the past few years, in primary schools they are going in the opposite direction. Although truancy rates are still lower than in secondaries, about 22,600 primary pupils a day skip lessons.
At Park Lane, Mrs Cameron has no doubts about the reason. “The biggest cause is family holidays and the main driver of that is the cost of holidays,” she says.
Every parent who asks to take their child out of Park Lane for a holiday is invited into school for an interview with the head. She shows them data about their child’s attendance and explains the importance of not missing school. Invariably, she refuses their request. Invariably, the parents book the holiday anyway. “There isn’t one who has said, ‘OK, I won’t go then’,” says Mrs Cameron.
Some parents try to circumvent the system by claiming their child is ill. On several occasions this has backfired, however, when the pupil has come back to school and happily told their teacher and classmates that they have been on holiday.
Despite this, there were signs that her approach - of asking parents to come in every time they wanted to take their children out during term - was paying off. In her first year at Park Lane, 2007/08, there were 109 requests for term-time holidays. The following year it fell to 74 and in 2009-10 there were just 40 requests.
Cookie Diet Review - News
Pupils get bronze, silver and gold certificates for good attendance, while Cookie the bear is a much sought-after reward for the class with the best record. But while all of this effort only makes a difference at the margins, it is still important for
The DoubleTree by Hilton Burlington earned the prestigious Crystal Cookie award at February's International DoubleTree Conference held in Orlando, Fla., for its outstanding work in community outreach and service. The hotel was 1 of 5 out of 220 to be
A lot of books about athletes are cookie-cutter reflections on their spectacular career that doesn't give fans any information they didn't already know. This is certainly not the case with Sugar Ray Leonard's new book entitled "The Big Fight: My Life
Cookie Diet - Diet Reviews
Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet is a program that promises to achieve weight loss while eating the low-fat, high fiber and protein filled cookies that are formulated to suppress appetite. Dr. Siegal has been offering such cookies for more than 30 years and they are distributed as snacks that can help you manage your weight. Every batch is mixed with the proprietary protein formula in Dr. Siegal’s private bakery, near his Miami clinic.
The program involves eating six specially formulated cookies during the day, in addition to one meal at the end of the day. Cookies can be eaten together with other diets, as well.
The new cookies contain 60 calories each and they should be eaten every two hours. The cookies are the main difference in the new plan, being all natural, Kosher, vegetarian, but much tastier and offered at a lower price.
Besides, cookies, Dr. Siegal also offers a line of shakes and soups. One shake mix is the equivalent of two cookies. His low-calorie plan promises to help lose up to 15 pounds in just one month. Cookies can be bought online, but also in drug stores or in Dr. Siegal’s retail stores. They come in a variety of flavours, such as banana, chocolate, coconut or strawberry.
However, the Cookie Diet only offers appetite suppressants, and does not contain any fat burning products. By recommending a diet of only 800 calories per day, this diet might not appeal to many dieters.
The Hollywood Cookie Diet - 30 Day Supply Of Their Cookies ($300 ARV) Review And Giveaway (Canada and U.S.) 
Hollywood Cookie Diet - 30 Day Supply Of Their Cookies ($300 ARV) Review And Giveaway (Canada... via 
Hollywood Cookie Diet - 30 Day Supply Of Their Cookies ($300 ARV) Review And Giveaway (Canada... via 
Hollywood Cookie Diet - 30 Day Supply Of Their Cookies ($300 ARV) Review And Giveaway (Canada... via 
Hollywood Cookie Diet - 30 Day Supply Of Their Cookies ($300 ARV) Review And Giveaway (Canada... via Cookie Diet Review - Bookshelf
Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet Book, How a Doctor and His Cookie Helped 500,000 People Lose Weight Fast
Lose Ten or More Pounds Per Month-Safely, Quickly, and Without HungerThe Hollywood Cookie Diet, The First Delicious Way to Lose Weight!
The Black Book of Hollywood Diet Secrets
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THEHOLLYWOOD COOKIE DIET. I haven't done that one. I've done the cookie diet. That's the one where someone breaks up with you and you power-eat Oreos until ...Day-by-day Note Directory
Cookie Diet Review | Pros/Cons, In-Depth Reviews, The Cookie Diet
The Cookie Diet reviewed, including summary, pluses/minuses, recipe, ingredients & more. Detailed Cookie Diet review plus other diet reviews.
Dr Siegal's Cookie Diet Review
The Cookie Diet was created in 1975 by Dr Sanford Siegal to help his patients lose weight. ... Dr Siegal's Cookie Diet Review Overall: Overall this is an expensive diet, you are ...
Cookie Diet | Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet Review
A half million people have turned to the Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet over the past three decades. These cookies offer a crunchy, sweet release from the confines of your diet
Cookie Diet Review - That's Fit
There's a reason we've lumped all three 'cookie diets' into the same review. All three plans -- Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet, The Hollywood Cookie Diet
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Hollywood Cookie Diet reviewed, including pluses/minuses, ingredients & more. How does it work? Detailed Hollywood Cookie Diet review plus other diet reviews.