I know nothing of the sort, joko. You said “It should not be down to the schools to make these decisions...”. The decision we are talking about is when the term starts, when it ends and what days in between those dates that the children have to attend. Just who should make these decisions, then?
I’ve already explained why I think taking children out of school harms their education. More importantly it harms the education of all the other children too, the parents of some of whom are diligent enough to make sure they attend as required.
Your “only two weeks now and then” is not a valid argument. With a school year of about 38 weeks two weeks is about 5%. So, 5% absence for your child, another (different) 5% for his friend, another 5% for a few more, and so on. How on earth do you expect teachers to cope with children coming and going seemingly at will? Most subjects are taught cumulatively and it is difficult to move on until you have mastered the earlier lessons. Somebody has to make sure the absentees catch up. Of course it has to be done in the event of sickness but planned withdrawal from school is, in my view, extremely irresponsible.
Children have to attend school for not much over 50% of the 365 days in each year. You can give your children all the things you mention in the other 50%. If you cannot for some reason you should not jeopardise the education of the entire class by taking them out. Many children are leaving school now utterly unprepared and ill-educated for working life. Taking them away from school simply exacerbates that problem. Thankfully schools do have the power to restrict such absences and many of them are exercising it.