Kids hols during termtime - 10 days max ?

gregg1

ejones999 wrote:

If its that bad why does your other half not just leave and get a job in Tesco or suchlike?
Could it be that the salary and other benefits and bloody good pension scheme means at the end of the day that it is worthwhile.

Get real - Do you actually know what the starting salary is for a new teacher (without looking it up) the "bloody good pension" you are referring to aint gonna happen cos of the age OH joined the profession and what exactly are the other benefits you are referring to - it aint holidays cos OH works most of those - no, sometimes people do these jobs just cos they want to TRY and do something worthwhile and thank God a lot of the kids do make it worthwhile - its some of the parents who are a nightmare. However the flack they get from people like you who spout off about stuff they have no knowledge of is enough to make em quit.

gregg1

hammy_the_hammer wrote:

maybe they feel that they can give back something to society by teaching kids . why do people do a lot of vocations ? money isn't always the overriding factor.
the pension scheme would be the one that was contractual and that they pay into.
it must be frustrating though when people take the kids out of their classes and possibly they see them failing to achive what they could by not missing lessons.
does missing school have any advantages academically to the child ?

hammy - well said

gregg1

rdwarr wrote:

The ignorance of some of the posters on this thread is almost unbelievable! I can only conclude that your parents regularly took YOU out of school during term time.
It is an undisputed fact that your children's education will suffer if you do this. Ten days off in years 9, 10 or 11 is about 1 GCSE grade. I'm a Governor - I've seen the stats.
We had one woman complaining that the head wouldn't sign off a long holiday. Her daughter's education didn't matter as she "just wanted to work in a beauty salon". Some people here seem to have the same contempt for their kids.
If a bit of cheap sun is more important to you than your children's future career then that's fine. But think long and hard about it first - you at least owe them that.

Thank God - there are intelligent people posting on here - you are spot on!

gregg1

rdwarr wrote:

If teaching time is lost due to strikes (not that there really are any but why let facts get in the way?) that's another reason NOT to take the kids out of school when the teachers are actually there!

Bit ranty here - just been studying Every Child Matters.

you are not ranty at all - you are merely trying to get the message across to people who refuse to see the facts - I agree with everything you have said but think we are batting our heads against a brick wall with this lot! Sometimes people only see what they want to see!!

gregg1

morleymackam wrote:

I'm a secondary school teacher and to suggest that 2 weeks out doesn't affect a child's education is rubbish.

We gradually cover each aspect in more depth from Yr7-11 and if they missed the basics it becomes a problem to catch up.

In addition we are forbidden to set work for students when they go on holiday. Why should a teacher spend a few hours preparing work so a student can go on holiday?

At primary school level maybe things are different but at KS3/KS4 the kids are always building towards a major assessment (sats or gcse).

Exactly! Of course it affects their education. It IS flippant to suggest otherwise.

Sorry I know I am posting quite a few threads here but as I said before, my OH is a secondary maths teacher and I get so angry that people just don't or won't see the difficulties they are creating for their kids and teachers alike with this "I will do what I want and to hell with the consequences on anyone else" attitude.

Bennifred

What is also interesting is that in my experience it is often the children who can least afford to be missing lessons (I'm not talking about money here!) who are taken out of school to go on holiday.....:mad: ...... and then really struggle on their return, or never "catch up".

Spendless

rdwarr wrote:

The ignorance of some of the posters on this thread is almost unbelievable! I can only conclude that your parents regularly took YOU out of school during term time.
It is an undisputed fact that your children's education will suffer if you do this. Ten days off in years 9, 10 or 11 is about 1 GCSE grade. I'm a Governor - I've seen the stats.
.

Mine did. My Dad worked in a factory that had shut-down weeks that didn't ness co-incide with school hols. School summer hols here used to finish late July and go back mid Sept, when this changed to Mid July/early Sept. The Sept week lost was the one that Dad was off.
AFAIK we are talking about all school age kids, not just years 9-11.
In year 11 aren't the GCSE exams over by mid/end of June, so anyone with a child that age could still go on holiday after them and catch the lower prices

rdwarr

Spendless wrote:

...
In year 11 aren't the GCSE exams over by mid/end of June, so anyone with a child that age could still go on holiday after them and catch the lower prices

Yes, that's quite true. It's the Autumn Term in Y11 that's vital. By the time the kids get back from a cheap October fortnight in Lanzarote (happened last year) it's too late to catch up.

gregg1

Bennifred wrote:

What is also interesting is that in my experience it is often the children who can least afford to be missing lessons (I'm not talking about money here!) who are taken out of school to go on holiday.....:mad: ...... and then really struggle on their return, or never "catch up".

you are right there - My OH had one girl who was due to sit her mocks (and really was not a child who could afford to miss school) and the child informed OH that she was going on holiday with her mother instead! OH tried to point out the importance of her education but kid pointed out that lack of an education never did her mother any harm (OH has had dealings with child's mother and it was patently obvious that a lack of education had indeed helped her to get where she was!!!). When the child came back and OH tried to get her up to scratch for actual exams the kid could not cope with the work and just ended up disrupting the other kids (and no I am not saying all kids behave in this way but this IS reflective of the problems teachers have to deal with trying to get them to catch up,its just not fair on the other kids).

jellycat40

I have average kids when it comes to their ability at school and an average income for the home. I have to take my kids out of school for holidays as I cannot afford to have holidays in holiday time.

My children are 21, 19, 17 and 8 the older ones have been or are going through college and the younger one is doing ok in school. I take her out for two separate weeks and this amounts to 12 days. Last year I didn't take her out of school for holiday as we had no money and it seems to have made no difference. However, we pay for her to routinely have extra tutoring on a Monday evening and extra in the holidays.

I agree it may make more work for the teacher when the child returns but travel helps children understand their world and when we were away earlier in the month my 8 year old learned to speak some Arabic and some German.

Louise