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

weesiecodal

Lilyfae wrote: »

As a teacher I find this highly hilarious.

At 8 and 10 a week away from school will have negative consequences as the primary curriculum particularly in maths and english are tightly packed and primary schools sadly operate a teaching culture of once the page in the book is done, its done. (regardless of whose precious children are in majorca or dubai or wherever)

As a secondary teacher, I see kids lolling in three weeks into september/january/may burnt to a crisp as parents have taken them on cheap vacations at the start of new terms, these kids usually can't catch up, often they don't want to catch up, and nine times out of ten don't want to pay attention because they want to show off their tan/braids/henna tattoo/cheap jewellery they shouldn't be wearing in the first place.

From what I have seen, these kids cannot concentrate and get back into the swing of things for a further week or so, usually due to the jet-lag/lazyitis.
This is serious detriment to a child's education which isn't about listing off the countries of Europe or their times table, its getting into patterns and learning the skills to interpret the world around them.

I'm not saying every parent that takes their child away in school time is incapable of teaching their children these skills and about the local culture, however I think that people are very naive and condescending towards what schools do for their children.

Oh and btw I would love to take holidays! I can't afford to go in the summer but I'm not allowed to take time out of school because a week away would damage your children's education.

My goodness. You sound particularly downhearted and negative. I think you need a holiday!

hermoine_2

Def take them out of school, we all need a holiday and it is educational to go abroad or even to different parts of the uk

H

tiredredhead

I have a 12 year old and 9 year old and I have never taken them out of school for holidays, when my eldest started school I was a school governor, and it was really frowned on. Being a governor and having knowledge of the system and curriculum made me realise that even a week out could be huge. They don't have alot of time now to cover what is required so to lose a few weeks a year could be detrimental to their education.

Instead Local Education Authorities should stagger holiday times, to force the travel opertators to bring prices down. We are stuck in this system of having 6 weeks off in July/Aug and for what, rain. Shorter holidays would be more beneficial to all, a revamp of the school year is long overdue, it was set at a time when summer was too hot for school work, Ha ha. No worries there any more.

Milford_Cubicle

It is essentially about cost - I'm not ashamed to admit that I took my daughter out of school for a week last year (in December, directly before the Xmas holidays) so we could visit Iceland. We also went to Las Vegas this year in April (not for gambling! We have friends out there) which meant three days away from school (we flew partway through the week and returned during the school holidays).
To take both of these holidays probably cost around the same as it would have cost to take just one in school holiday time. There's also the added bonus that both were very educational for her (and us!) and she was able to talk about them to the class when she returned.

Her age? Well, she was 6.5 and almost 7 respectively, doing very well at school with glowing reports and I've no doubts that were she to lag behind a little, then she'd soon catch up.

We're planning another US holiday next year and I'll not hesitate to take her out of school again. I do try my hardest to minimise the time she's away, hence four or five days in December and then three days in April. I believe the school was 'winding down' for the Xmas/Easter holidays anyway and she missed very little.

As she gets older then I'll be more selective about when we take her on holiday, I'd not want to interfere with exams etc but any work she does miss, we'll make sure she catches up.

As long as travel companies and airlines make it more expensive for us to travel in school holidays, then people will take their kids away during term time. What I don't agree with, however, is taking two or three weeks mid-term to go somewhere like Ibiza or Costa-Del-Sunburn!

agreenham

I have 5 kids aged between 5 and 13 and will be taking them on holiday at the end of September. We have 2, 1 week, holidays a year in March and September, and I received a letter notifying me that the LEA could charge me £100 per child per week for time spent out of school. My argument against this related to the teacher training days taken during school time. I responded to the LEA stating that I was prepared to charge them £20 per day per child for every teacher training day which took place during the school term. I did not get a response to this. In conclusion I would and I do take my children out of school, and I will continue to do this as this is the only way we could afford to go on holiday.

secgirl

I feel I must speak up for the teachers and schools. I am appalled at the cost variance between term/ nonterm holidays. This however is the fault of tour operators. This is what needs looked at. Most folks are saying that they would happily take time off during school as this is when they can afford it. It is too expensive during the school holidays. This is true, so would they be happy for the teacher to miss a fortnight so (s)he can take their family on holiday? I doubt it very much. People should be campaigning for fairer pricing, not slagging off teachers/ headteachers/ education authorites.

And no I am not a teacher, and manage to take my children on holiday at the appropriate time. We budget for what we can afford, then find a holiday to suit. Not exactly rocket science now, is it?

ruth39

Parents don't always take holidays during school term time because of price. Some like myself take children out of school during term time for family holidays as they are unable to get annual leave during school holidays for both parents. Thus the choice is either to take the children out of school during term time to have a family holiday, or not to go on holiday at all.

I do agree that the timing of when children are taken out of school is crucial, but I also believe that time spent together as a family having fun is very important.

norfolkmum

yep, definitely, I always take my kids out of school for holidays, even though we usually stay in this country. One particular place we stay at costs £750 in June, £550 in September and £1100 in July and August! Couldn't afford to go in the holidays.

We always try to go around June, when schoolwork seems to slow down anyway. I wouldn't really want to go in September, when they're just settling in to new classes etc, although last year we did, as my brother was getting married in Italy. My daughter had just started high school, had been there for 2 weeks and then we took her out. I don't think she missed out on any work (she's very bright anyway) but her confidence fell completely, as her friends were making new friends without her. Won't do it in September again, but am about to book for June next year.

Apart from that, you are allowed 10 days off a year with the school's permission, & our headmistress actually agrees with me; that the kids will learn more in a week away than in a month of school.

gayle.allsop7373

Hi, i'm new to threads but felt i must answer this:

My daughter has just finished her G.C.S.E'S and gained 4c's, 5 b's and 2 a's. Apart from this year (because she was doing her gcse's) we have taken her out every year for holidays. We did this for the following reasons:

We are all fair skinned and cannot go abroad in high summer, plus I always worry about skin cancer anyway so the kids would not get to leave the hotel!
We cannot AFFORD - yes it's one of my reasons - to take them away in official school holidays because of the price hikes.

We feel that we adults deserve a break out of this country and should not have to justify our need to flee abroad for rest, relaxation and family time.

We have no laptops or mobiles to distract us, our kids have no sky tv or msn or playstations to occupy them - so it really is special "family" time.

We go to Pisa, Rome, Cyprus, or cruise with multiple stops - and i can assure the person addressing the culture issue - my children visit ruins, churches, local villages, eat local food and learn a lot about the local culture.

My 16 year old was in a school where they threatened to fine you or kick your kid out of the school if you went on holiday in term time. We had booked a trip to Rome and asked permission for her absence - they denied it... My response - i went in and told the deputy head to take her out of the Germany trip she was due to go on -in school time - WITH THE SCHOOL-, as I felt she would learn more in Rome than Germany.... Her response, erm ,er ,no, she can go but next time can you say she was ill as that does not affect our attendance records !!!!!! MY RESPONSE - NO!!!! MY DAUGHTER IS TAUGHT NOT TO LIE and i WILL NOT HAVE HER TELLING HER FRIENDS - "I WAS ILL," WHEN SHE HAD BEEN ABROAD..... Her response.... well tell her not to broadcast it around to her friends as we don't want others following suit!!

This proves that THE ONLY THING schools are bothered about IS their targets and figures, and not your childs education.
My daughter has been to 18 different countries with us in term time - and she did FANTASTIC in her exams - can you guess, one of her "A's" was in Geography !!!

higginsb

I was fined as my 9 year old missed 8 days of school whilst we visited Australia and New Zealand to visit relatives over the Spring hols in April. Head said she had no discretion as governors agreed to fines, governors say they have no discretion as borough agreed to fines, borough say they only advise schools but have a zero tolerance policy, therefore, whatever the question/reason for the absence, the answer is 'no'. Fines are brought under the Education act 1996 where it is an offence not to ensure the child attends school regularly. My child had 98% attendance since age 4 prior to absence. I have questioned borough and local mp as to if it is legal to fine parents in these circumstances, but so far no-one will answer this question.
This is another example of the government trying to control people's lives. It is within the law to take kids out for up to 10 days per year as long as the school agrees, but schools will not agree as they have been told not to.
This should not be a dilemma for parents with primary age children. Family life is just as important as formal education at this age.