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Moving May Day

Davydine

By Davydine
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Davydine

Davydine

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We had a fantastic May Day bank holiday weekend on Dazzling light. 3rd year in a row now, it is becoming a tradition.

It will come as no surprise to a group of Norfolk Broads fans, that we stepped off the boat and booked for next May Day weekend.

I have just read that the 2020 May day bank holiday is moving to Friday 8th, to celebrate 75 years since VE day. Obviously this is a noble and honourable thing to do, but...

This makes a mess of our holiday plans! 

David

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Davydine

Davydine

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12 minutes ago, Paul said:

I'm sure it wouldn't havebeen the end of the world to add an extra bank holiday, rather than move one.

Quite! And less than a years notice. Surely businesses, schools etc. Plan more than a year in advance...

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Davydine

Davydine

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15 minutes ago, EastCoastIPA said:

Seems to me there is only one sensible course of action to take here. Extend your break to a week and that way you will see more of The Broads and still encompass the bank holiday :default_beerchug:

If only we could, unfortunately we need t get the kids back to school! That is the frustrating thing, schools really don't like parents taking kids out in term time and we do our best to fit around term dates...

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Coryton

Coryton

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1 hour ago, Davydine said:

If only we could, unfortunately we need t get the kids back to school! That is the frustrating thing, schools really don't like parents taking kids out in term time and we do our best to fit around term dates...

I'd like to think that a head would be understanding under the circumstances. If they made it an INSET day it would sort the problem out for parents...but not for the teachers of course.

I can see the logic to moving the bank holiday, but I'd no idea they could (or would) move one at such short notice. 

I'm sure this is going to mess quite a lot of people around.

It's not as if the anniversary wasn't predictable.

 

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Coryton

Coryton

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11 minutes ago, Paul said:

they've only had 74 years to plan, we shouldn't expect too much.

Yes I was just thinking that.

Rather like companies that realise all the people with a particular skill are about to retire and start to panic, as if it's something they couldn't possible have planned for.

Anyway they can't move the bank holiday back now without causing more trouble, so the only answer is for us to have two bank holidays that week.

Sounds good to me! (As someone with a contract that gives a fixed number of days leave + bank holidays...)

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Paul

Paul

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1 hour ago, Coryton said:

Rather like companies that realise all the people with a particular skill are about to retire and start to panic,

Or like the tour operator I worked for until being made redundant in 2010. The company decided that the senior staff were being paid too much and several were made redundant with junior staff left to cover the roles. What they hadn't taken into account is that with those senior staff went the necessary qualifications for the company to maintain it's IATA Air Ticketing License which was subsequently suspended. Nothing like planning.

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Coryton

Coryton

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38 minutes ago, Paul said:

Or like the tour operator I worked for until being made redundant in 2010. The company decided that the senior staff were being paid too much and several were made redundant with junior staff left to cover the roles. What they hadn't taken into account is that with those senior staff went the necessary qualifications for the company to maintain it's IATA Air Ticketing License which was subsequently suspended. Nothing like planning.

And that was nothing like...

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Davydine

Davydine

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3 hours ago, Coryton said:

I'd like to think that a head would be understanding under the circumstances. If they made it an INSET day it would sort the problem out for parents...but not for the teachers of course.

I can see the logic to moving the bank holiday, but I'd no idea they could (or would) move one at such short notice. 

I'm sure this is going to mess quite a lot of people around.

It's not as if the anniversary wasn't predictable.

 

Yes, that would help, but the inset days have already been planned (and two kids at two different schools with two different inset days!)

The more I think about this the more annoying it is. Will the schools and my work stick with the original date for May Day or go with the new one? How long will it take them to decide? Until we know we can't rearrange and what do we do if there is no availability?

 

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Coryton

Coryton

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19 minutes ago, Davydine said:

Yes, that would help, but the inset days have already been planned (and two kids at two different schools with two different inset days!)

The more I think about this the more annoying it is. Will the schools and my work stick with the original date for May Day or go with the new one? How long will it take them to decide? Until we know we can't rearrange and what do we do if there is no availability?

Utterly ridiculous.

I would hope that companies and schools would be understanding...but they should never have been put in this position in the first place.

Some things need to be planned well over a year in advance and moving bank holidays around ought to be one of them.

I see it doesn't apply to Scotland...but they very much do their own thing on bank holidays which tend to happen on different days in different parts of the country.

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YnysMon

YnysMon

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Sorry, I’m a bit muddled. Aren’t schools half terms at the end of May? I thought May Day was the bank holiday at the beginning of May, not the one at the end of May. (Happy to be corrected.)

And there was me thinking that next year we’ll avoid the early May Bank Holiday by booking for the second week of May starting 8th. Huh! 

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Davydine

Davydine

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32 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

Sorry, I’m a bit muddled. Aren’t schools half terms at the end of May? I thought May Day was the bank holiday at the beginning of May, not the one at the end of May. (Happy to be corrected.)

And there was me thinking that next year we’ll avoid the early May Bank Holiday by booking for the second week of May starting 8th. Huh! 

Yes, half term is at the end of May. We had booked a weekend break for the first weekend in May thinking that the Monday would be a bank holiday. There are 8 of us, two families, so 4 adults and 4 kids. The plan was for the dads (me and my friend) to take Friday off work, get to the yard for lunchtime, sort paperwork and handover, unpack and generally get the boat ready and then the mums would bring the kids straight after school, get to the yard at about 5, step aboard and off we go. We can then return the boat on the BH monday morning and drive home at leisure.

it just doesn't work with the bank holiday on the Friday, unless we leave the boat in the yard on the Sunday night and go home, so kids in school on the Monday morning.

Your holiday on the 8th will start on the bank holiday.

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Coryton

Coryton

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40 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

Sorry, I’m a bit muddled. Aren’t schools half terms at the end of May? I thought May Day was the bank holiday at the beginning of May, not the one at the end of May. (Happy to be corrected.)

And there was me thinking that next year we’ll avoid the early May Bank Holiday by booking for the second week of May starting 8th. Huh! 

School holidays certainly aren't the same everywhere in the UK, which can be useful.

 

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Coryton

Coryton

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2 minutes ago, Davydine said:

Yes, half term is at the end of May. We had booked a weekend break for the first weekend in May thinking that the Monday would be a bank holiday. There are 8 of us, two families, so 4 adults and 4 kids. The plan was for the dads (me and my friend) to take Friday off work, get to the yard for lunchtime, sort paperwork and handover, unpack and generally get the boat ready and then the mums would bring the kids straight after school, get to the yard at about 5, step aboard and off we go. We can then return the boat on the BH monday morning and drive home at leisure.

it just doesn't work with the bank holiday on the Friday, unless we leave the boat in the yard on the Sunday night and go home, so kids in school on the Monday morning.

Your holiday on the 8th will start on the bank holiday.

I have to say in those circumstances I'd let the school know, and if they couldn't or wouldn't authorise the absence I'd go anyway. It sounds as if you've done everything you reasonably could to play by the rules...but they got changed on you.

 

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Davydine

Davydine

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8 hours ago, Coryton said:

I have to say in those circumstances I'd let the school know, and if they couldn't or wouldn't authorise the absence I'd go anyway. It sounds as if you've done everything you reasonably could to play by the rules...but they got changed on you.

 

Indeed, that is one option, but will mean using another day of holiday allowance from work for all of the grown ups, which is a precious commodity.

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Davydine

Davydine

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11 hours ago, Paul said:

Our lad's school publish the term dates and holidays two to three years ahead. They still show May Day, or the "Early May Bank Holiday" as it is now known for Monday 4th.

As do ours. The dates were set in April 2018 for the 19/20 school year. They haven't changed so far, but they may do so. We have one child in Primary and one Secondary. We may find different schools do different things! 

If the government is going to move the bank holiday, wouldn't you have thought they would have given everyone more notice?

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