31–40 of 124 posts
This is really a story about EBITDA. "People who use EBITDA are either trying to con you or they're conning themselves."
Im not able to see the context here. How is it a con?
This is really partially the government's fault. Parents are fined and (in a minority of cases) imprisoned for taking children out of school in term-time. Usually it's the ones who are honest that end up getting in trouble, and the others that can pass it off as sickness get away with it. During Covid and recent NASUWT/NAHT/NEU strikes though, it's seemingly not been seen as a problem for kids to miss out significant…
> I think most teachers would agree that, for pupils without a significant attendance problem, a week away (particularly if it's towards the end of a term) is not going to make a realistic difference when it comes to attainment for most students. I generally agree with this, but discretion doesn't scale. If you allow teachers to use discretion to approve absences, it will create the opportunity unfair system, where p…
Also, if the teachers/school approved the holiday for someone who then underperformed in some exam or other assessment, and it could be seen that missing something in that week off, you can bet your last penny that many parents will blame the school for approving the request instead of telling them there might be a problem, and if the school deny a request because there might be a problem many parents will blame the school for there being a problem in the first place.
In some cases the problem would be with the school, but it wouldn't be just those cases that get the full-on compo-face-in-the-national-press treatment. Teachers jobs are hard enough as it is, especially given the level of remuneration and other conditions, without asking them to take on this responsibility.
Skipping school can have a significantly detrimental effect on a child, it doesn't always, maybe it doesn't most of the time, but it does often enough that it is a significant concern. If people don't like how the school system works, perhaps they should try homeschooling?
To be blunt: I don't pay my taxes to fund an education system¹ so someone's offspring can wag off…
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[1] I don't begrudge funding the education system generally, despite not having (and not planning to have) kids myself² because I'm well aware that good education for all is a huge benefit for society as a whole
[2] Before anyone says “you don't have kids, you don't know how hard it can be”: I know full well how hard it can be and that is one of the reasons for my intention to never breed, I can't speak for anyone else's but my decision on the matter is not the one taken from a position of inadequate awareness
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Im not able to see the context here. How is it a con?
It's known colloquially as "Earnings before bad stuff" because you can use it to hide all the stuff in your accounts that doesn't make you look good. It's not a con, more like obfuscation.
Which is a very subtle and complex distinction, like the difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance.
I've just come back from Center Parcs and have been many times over the past 15 years (but took a break between COVID and now due to their policies over that period). It was fantastic as always, but I'm not sure everything is well. The park has demand-based pricing for the accommodation , but this doesn't apply to activities or restaurants. We dined out every day, yet despite the park being full, the restaurants were…
Perhaps it's just a return to the ancient British Dad tradition of not paying for the optional extras after briefly convincing we millennials that every worthwhile experience has an uplift fee. Even, perhaps especially, if it means organising the stocking of the cars like Captain Scott preparing for a zombie apocalypse.
See also NT picnicing: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2023...
Of course, the best bit of the holiday was never going to be a manky old restaurant, you can have those anywhere. It was the forest, the cycling without threat of being turned into chunky salsa on an A-road, the unusual accomodation, the pool, the lodge bubble baths and most of all the fact that blocky-cushioned sofas disassembled into amazing fortress construction materials.
Notably... This business owns a lot of forest in the UK. The UK doesn't have much forest. So, they can make themselves appear more valuable by pushing up the price of forest land. Forest land used to be priced based on the lumber value - which is almost nil. There was also the pricing element of the possible agricultural value if it were to be cut down (which is also almost nul, because the land is usually unsuitable…
PE is terrible, but this isn't a good example as there's plenty of competition for Center Parcs. Plus they raise their prices during school holidays when there's greatest demand, that's not an unfair practice, that's rationing out a limited resource when demand is greatest, economics 101. Bad PE looks like private equity trying to corner the market in vets[1] and dental practices[2], services that you don't really ha…
It would be a bit harder for families with kids in different schools, but probably most schools would be _more or less_ the same, with just a bit more variation to spread it around a little bit.
> which is why it’s spelled in the somewhat Francophile Center Parcs, and not Centre Parks. (I thought this is why we did Brexit?) Pardon me? The French for center/centre is centre - the 're' ending of British English spelling is either taken from the French, or sometimes a direct reference to French spelling (i.e. 'prestige' spelling - like how some American publications will use British English spelling because the…
So building an amazing product (as the author says), and then charging however much you can for it is “price gouging” (Thanks Kamala. The only reason I imagine this article popping up now is the price gouging wording) As far as I knew from econ 101 this is generally just supply and demand and efficient pricing. If the price is too high, don’t buy it!!
I can see the attraction but centre parks does not feel like a great place for small kids. There is no laundry facilities in the lodges, and not even anywhere on site! The heating kept resetting to 14c overnight in January. There are gas ovens (gas! In 2024!) with zero effort at child proofing (I await the inevitable news story about a family getting blown-up when their 18 month old accidentally turned on the gas oven...). You are made to feel very unwelcome if you have the temerity to try to leave the place not at the scheduled time - getting back in by car was like trying to pass through a Berlin Wall checkpoint or something equally unpleasant. Many activities were only for 3 years+. Despite not being allowed to drive your own car, there were a lot of service vehicles and the like driving around the place so it wasn't even safe to cycle around or let the kids run free. There were outdoors playgrounds, but no indoor playgrounds/soft play apart from tiny ones attached to restaurants (perfect combo that: recently fed kid and jumping about....), and the outdoor playgrounds were mostly unsuitable for kids under 5 ... This is the UK - it rains all the time so you need indoor options! You have to wear an electronic wristband everywhere you go to e.g. use a locker or unlock your door, but you can't use it to pay for things.
I could go on.
We won't go back.