MMD: Should you take the kids out of school for a holiday?

Spendless

Next week my children go back to school. There are 3 classes in his year. 1 of the classes is going back a day later than the rest of the school, the reason a port-a-cabin is being put up and the staff need an extra day to sort it out, so a third of that yr are missing out on 1 days work that the other 2/3rds will get.

judy2357

Spendless wrote: »

Next week my children go back to school. There are 3 classes in his year. 1 of the classes is going back a day later than the rest of the school, the reason a port-a-cabin is being put up and the staff need an extra day to sort it out, so a third of that yr are missing out on 1 days work that the other 2/3rds will get.

These children should have been relocated to the assembly hall or divided into 3 and join in with 3 other classes. Its only recently that this sort of thing happens i cant recall myself ever being permitted to stay home regardless of the weather or lack of heating water or anything else.

HalfPint

therichnessinside wrote: »

Experience another culture???? !!! Majorca???!!!! Yes very educational. Haha. My personal opinion, for what it's worth, is: Okay take them out of school if you must. You can always find out from Teacher what they've missed and get some home tuition to fill in the missing bits, like crucial maths things or whatever. Which would be the responsible thing, obviously. But please don't kid yourself or me that a hol in Majorca is for educational purposes.... I may be slow but not that slow. :rotfl:

errr....where did I say that Mallorca = cultural?

I have family in Mallorca, they have been there a long time, do not live in or near the classic "resort" and time spent with close family is very important IMO.

There is far more to a country, other than the resort/beach that most people spend the holiday in. Get away from the tourist traps and see the real country, real experience for kids and yes, cultural learning!

SWMBO

Yet another benefit of home educating!:jWe'll be having our holiday in September, if the weather improves.:rolleyes:

janeloz

Yeah! We're home educating too! and going away for a week in September as well! Childhood is so precious, I wouldn't allow school to dictate when we can go on holiday, and when my children were in school we did take them out for a holiday visiting friends in USA, but the head teacher agreed that the holiday was as much of an education anyway, and that they wouldn't be missing much.

dbfisokay

Families are under pressure from all sides these days mostly because of money and political /ethical wranglings that have them bouncing around trying to find some level of sanity in an otherwise insane world. They can either try to accommodate all the money and political/ethical standards or take a healthy look at themselves and realise a holiday away as a family unit in a different culture might just leave them feeling that it's good to be a family rather than a social statistical group who should be apologising for everything from using too much electricity to not studying furiously lest they fail in life before they even experience playtime. I think I'd risk the wrath of the ethical fuhrers for a shot on the flumes. Might do them good too

sky_rat

I am 32 now but when I was at school my parents took me out of school for holidays, even in my teens.

I never suffered and I left school with 8 GCSE's of grades A's, B's and C's.

I then went onto to get ONC, HNC and an 2:1 honours degree in Electronic Engineering.

So taking me out of school didnt affect my education.

If the goverment wants to stop parents taking their children out of school then they should force travel companies not to hike the prices up in during school holidays - thats the simple and fair answer.

If they stop parents taking children out of school to go on holiday then most parents and children would never have a holiday - this is unfair to both parents and children.

You cant just work, work, work.... you have to have a break at some point or your work will suffer.

I have a 2 year old daughter and I would be happy to take her out of school to go on holiday.

There is no way I could afford to go on holiday when schools are shut because the prices are far too high.

This country is a rip off !

dstanden

I have to say that I actually did this at Easter this year. My wife and I work fixed contracts and can only take holidays at particular times and the Easter break was one of them. However, to take our two children to Disneyland Florida for the two weeks over the Easter break would have cost us £11'000 plus food and other expenses. Taking the second week of the Easter break and 5-days of term time, the holiday cost £4'000.

The Government said that they would put a stop to this sort of price fixing, but travel companies still seem to rack up the price to maximise profits on the demand.

On a side note, the school said that county may charge a fine of £50 per child per day, so that's £500 to pay, £7'000 saved. A no-brainer as the Americans are so fond of saying.

I value school and education highly and would not have done so if the prices were more agreeable.

milliebear00001

fudgecat wrote: »

Two weeks out of school in the Autumn term is enough to miss an entire scheme of work of a specific genre in, say, English. If that is the only possibility for the parent and children to take a holiday, then fine as the benefits to family life may well outway any formal education loss. If it is done purely for a cheap deal, then go ahead - but do not convince yourself it will make no difference to your child`s education - it will. I am doubtful that a two week package break on one of the costas will particularly broaden the experience of other cultures?
As you can guess - I am a teacher!

Goodness me - I am also a teacher, and you must know as well as I do, that whatever is missed in those two weeks is likely to be repeated in spades at a later date (if not, then the school isn't doing its job properly anyway!). I have yet to see a child's 'education' suffer cos they missed two weeks of primary school each year, even if your personal targets might!

northernlass_2

paulwellerfan wrote: »

i will be taking my daughter out of school during oct for a week-
i am a single parent
i will probably get fined the £50.00, however its still cheaper than paying the full cost of the same holiday in the half term.

i am a single parent too and i too will be taking my children out of school for 4 days in october, i have the permission of the school tho and wont be fined. my school, which i am a volunteer teaching assistant at, understands that these situations do arise and the yearly school letter advises us not to take the children out of school during and just before sats week,
the head teacher cant see a problem with it at all and all the children in my class who did take holidays during term time did not suffer in the sats tests this year.