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

Cinders2001

I am so shocked at the last two posts!!!! Not at the posters but the at the people concerned IN the post!!

To fine a person and tell them to lie!!
My goodness. I am so glad I teach at home!!
Is that what schools teach nowadays????:question:

I'm glad you two parents have more sense and stuck up for your selves!
Higginsb I agree.."Family life is just as important as formal education at this age."
gayle.allsop7373 well done to your daughter on her exam sussess!

happyinflorida

My kids have both been bullied at their comprehensive school or community school as it's known, it's not community orientated though.
Both have been diagnosed with having IBS as a result of the stress.
My kids have both missed a lot of school due to this. Not once has a teacher tried to help them catch up. We just get stupid warning letters coming through saying our kids should be very careful to have 100% attendance from now on, due to their terrible record so far; as if they've got any choice in the matter.
This summer, we did the right thing, we took them away for a holiday to Florida in August. It cost us £7000 - because we took it during the school holidays. It was terrible. It was far too hot, none of us enjoyed it.
I will take them out of school in the future and I don't give a damn what happens.
I'm sick of the airlines/holiday companies ripping us all off by rocketing the prices during school holidays.
My kids don't get any help from their teachers at all. The headteacher is a completely useless piece of junk, I'm really anti him as he claims bullying does not exist in his school.
My eldest failed his English GCSE this year. So it's been really worth all my efforts to help him hasn't it.
I will take my youngest out of school in future - no hesitation whatsoever.

hansop36

Hi this is my first post and felt i had to reply! Feel quite strongly about this so will apologize in advance as this may be quite long!
First i would like to point out to a lot of the people on here (many of who appear not to have children!!) that in case you had some how not realised this, as well as the inflated cost of travelling during the school holidays you are not only paying for yourself or possibly yourself+partner, you also have the added cost of the childrens travel, insurance, food, tickets etc etc (sorry if that sounds patronising but i have had that conversation with a friend who informed me that she couldn't understand why i always went on about how much holidays cost as she was going away and it was only costing her about £500 which wasn't that much, had to remind her we would be paying 3x that!!) so those who say cost as a reason is not a 'good enough excuse' clearly either do not have children or have enough money that cost possibly is irrelevent. This is not the case for alot of people!
My daughter has not been on a holiday since starting school as we cannot afford it but my mother in law is taking her to Florida in October. All paid for! Realistically we will not at any point in the near future be in a position to afford somewhere like that and in my opinion seeing the joy on her face when told she could meet the disney princesses far outweighs any reservation i have about her missing 10 days of school. Apart from this 2 wks out of school my p3 daughter has a 100% attendance record which is more than can be said for alot of the kids in her class!!!
When i spoke to her teacher about it, she said regardless of what the head said, she totally agreed with our decision and if a grandparent offered to take (and pay!)for her daughter to go to florida she wouldn't hesitate to take her out of school!
A friend of mine who's a teacher has said, during a previous conversation on this very subject, that it is easier for her when a child is off for maybe a couple of wks on a holiday as oppose to some kids who appear to be off 'sick' about once or twice a wk, because its easier to get 1-2 whole units for them to catch up on instead of having to work out which bits from just about every unit of work they have missed out on!
Maybe if more people went during term time a: eventually the holiday companies would have to lower their prices, and b: maybe a lot of people would not be on the verge of bankrupting themselves to go on their annual 'summer' holiday!
And to finish up (finally) i am pretty sure (and i think most parents would agree) that at the end of the day it is probably more beneficial to a child to miss 10-14 days of school to go on holiday but have happy, relaxed parents than to be at school but have parents who (speaking from personal experience!!) are just about climbing the walls having not seen any proper sun for about 3yrs, having not really had any kind of break from 'reality' in that time and who not being able to afford a holiday have no motivation to do very much as there is nothing to look forward to at the end of yet another year of crap weather!!

mum2one

In a way i do not agree with taking a child out of the school for holidays, but financially it is almost impossible, I have got a 2 day and a 5 day break booked b4 the xmas term ends, but will ask for work for my dd. I have booked UK holidays for nxt yr, but as a single parent, for financial reasons we have to go with my parents to be able to afford the school holiday prices.

In an ideal world, no one would need to take their children out of school, that ideal world would have travel agenst charging the same reasonable price for holidays, yes maybe have a 10 to 20% increase for term holidays, but not anything upto 100% dearer.

The goverment should be clamping down on the travel industry, and then maybe parents would not need to take children out.

Digressing slighty, but what happens to our childs education when the union calls out their members, some children lose a days education, do the unions get fined no........ but a penny to a pound, somewhere a parent would of been fined for taking their child out even for one day.

aliboo64

I will be taking my 5 year old out of school for one week soon. We're not holidaying abroad as such, we're going to Scotland. I have permission from the Head Teacher and I don't feel guilty.

My daughter and I have special needs. She became terribly ill at the end of June and spent more or less all of July in hospital, including Intensive Care. During Aug she slowly recuperatred at home and returned to school on the first day of term in Sept.

We have really been through it and in addition I live on disability benefits so don't have spare cash. Friends in Scotland are lending us their sea front home to stay in, while they're away.

I have to arrange and take carers away with us too, incl paying all their expenses. Their wages and expences alone add up to the cost of a holiday abroad.

So I think we're lucky to have this holiday approved by school and know we need the break very much. I'm not going to feel guilty... and I'm a school governor too!

FloFlo

mum2one wrote: »

In a way i do not agree with taking a child out of the school for holidays, but financially it is almost impossible, I have got a 2 day and a 5 day break booked b4 the xmas term ends, but will ask for work for my dd. I have booked UK holidays for nxt yr, but as a single parent, for financial reasons we have to go with my parents to be able to afford the school holiday prices.

In an ideal world, no one would need to take their children out of school, that ideal world would have travel agenst charging the same reasonable price for holidays, yes maybe have a 10 to 20% increase for term holidays, but not anything upto 100% dearer.

The goverment should be clamping down on the travel industry, and then maybe parents would not need to take children out.

Digressing slighty, but what happens to our childs education when the union calls out their members, some children lose a days education, do the unions get fined no........ but a penny to a pound, somewhere a parent would of been fined for taking their child out even for one day.

Not all teachers went on strike on the last ONE day action - it was only certain unions.

Being a teacher doesn't mean you have less rights to a decent wage and conditions.

I work more hours now then I have in any other job as do all my colleagues - teachers don't make the rules about absences the LEA do.

Parents moan about the state of schools, the lack of discipline etc. and then do their best to undermine the school and teachers. Most parents and teachers want the same thing well educated children who will be a credit to sociey.

hjdx

Ok, so I'm a teacher. Clearly you're going to know which way I fall on this. But still, a few thoughts to stir up the pot.

If you think its ok for your children to miss 10 days of school, can I have the next two weeks off then? Sure I've got 24 Reception children, but you'll cover me right? I mean, you have the necessary university qualifications, a year of probation, and have 6 years of teaching experience to know what to do with my class right? I'll get a cheap holiday, and I'm sure your children "won't suffer" if I leave them in an empty room for 10 days ..... <sarcasm off>

Why is it seen that a holiday abroad is a "right" nowadays?

Quality time with your family can happen here, and does not have to be done in a two week stretch.

If you take you children out of school during term time you tell them that school is not important. By your actions, you're doing that without even saying a work.

Two of my RECEPTION class are on holiday right now. When they come into school finally later in the term they'll have missed the easy sloping in of the staggard start, and they'll have missed direct teaching on 8 letter sounds. And they won't easily catch them up. They'll have a hard time, making them stressed and upset, and they'll not have made friends when all the other children were making friends.

Fine, the example has children at 8 and 10, so my experience does not apply directly.

Sure, school is not the be all and end all, but we ALL have things we don't understand from school because we were off, or ill, or not paying attention.

Children these days have such a need for stabilty, and being demonstrated to by actions that they must be responsible, they must keep going when things are hard. They must go to work every day even when they don't want to. Taking them on holiday in term time says "school is not important, you don't need to prioritise it".

Family time is what weekends are for. What on earth are you doing with your weekends that mean you are not spending quality and relaxing time with your family?

I have extensive documented measurable experience with children who have taken the maximum 10 days per term off and are much much more than 30 days behind their year group educationally, developmentally and so on. They had potential to be much further on, but their parent(s) taking them out of school has damage this potential. Yes education is not all about school, yes children need to be happy and relaxed to learn, yes quality of life is important. But, don't you think there is a reason WHY school is compulsory?

I love holidays, now we can afford to go on them. As a child I loved days out just as much.

aplegjnf

hjdx wrote: »

But, don't you think there is a reason WHY school is compulsory?

Nope it's not :mad:
Education is compulsory but can be done in various ways than at school.

Sorry don't have time to go through and discuss the other issues you raise, but couldn't let this inaccuracy pass by.
Bws
P.

hjdx

aplegjnf wrote: »

Nope it's not :mad:
Education is compulsory but can be done in various ways than at school.

Sorry don't have time to go through and discuss the other issues you raise, but couldn't let this inaccuracy pass by.
Bws
P.

You're right, it was a quick typing error on my part. The education act 1996 states:
the parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable - (a) to his age, ability and aptitude, and
(b) to any special educational needs he may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.


I do actually support quality home schooling.

But I do not support taking children out of school for a holiday.

aplegjnf

hjdx wrote: »

You're right, it was a quick typing error on my part. The education act 1996 states:
the parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable - (a) to his age, ability and aptitude, and
(b) to any special educational needs he may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.


I do actually support quality home schooling.

But I do not support taking children out of school for a holiday.

Thank you for that... and it's precisely that first part of the act that schools fail to achieve IMHO!
BWs
P.