Fined for holiday in school time

jamespir

theboylard wrote: »

I'm sat reading this and I'm thinking, what on earth is going on?


You know, likes cbeebies, dresses up in Mum's clothes and plays with imaginary friends, loves dolls and especially loves Disney!

im 27 and i still do that now :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::D:D:D

clarabella23

Hi everyone, just want to thank you for your comments and opinions.
Just to reply to the posters who thought it was a bad idea to go- as a single parent, with no contributions from her father, there is no way I would be able to afford Florida during holiday time. The price MORE than doubled for that time. So I knew that if we wanted to go to Florida any time in the future- as my daugter desperately did- then it would have to be while she was at a young enough age not to be sitting or studying for exams.
As for her learning being affected and the teacher having to work with her to catch up, she was already the best reader in her class, being well advanced on her age, and good at maths as well, and we made sure we did puzzles and read lots of books while we were away too. She made new friends out there, even to the stage of getting a pen pal, and did more physical exercise through walking than would ever be done at school.
Someone critiscised the fact that she went to Disney rather than Peru or the like. Disney is actually very educational. Tyla learnt more about animals there than she has done anywhere in England. She got to pet farmyard animals, come up close to birds of prey and learn about poachers, went on a small safari, saw hippos and gorillas up close. All the time she was being taught about there environments, creating natural habitats, etc, and she came home actually excited about animals and wanting to learn more- something shes never been interested in before!
There was also a shuttle launch while we were away, and, while we didn't get to visit, she did get very interested in how it worked, why they were going to the moon, etc.
All in all, we had the best holiday together, and I would recommend Florida to anyone- yes, you go on your rollercoasters and have lazy days by the pool, but there is a lot to be gained by your children if they are willing.
As I have previously said, I will pay the fine if I need to, simply because we got to spend a lot of quality time together, and it was worth it. I work full time to support my child, so whatever time we have together is worth more than a £50 fine! All I wanted was to know if anyone else had been in the situation, as she certainly wasn't the only English child in Disney!
Thanks, Claire

sandiep

jamespir wrote: »

i think its daft fining parents of five year olds what are they going to miss a few days painting or playdoh

I think it's very much the opposite. I think that the first term in the first year is very much structured to take the children through the Jollyphonics progams (or whatever is being used) to build the basic understandings of letters and sounds. Missing three weeks, means missing about 8 sounds or so, which is a 1/3 of alphabet.

It may seem petty to look at is like this, but it then means that when the child comes back, they've got to learn 16 sounds in the same time period that their classmates are learning (and their teacher is teaching) only 8 or so.

If you were doing a 12 week course to teach yourself something completely new, would you expect to miss 1/4 of the course and still expect it all to sink in?

clarabella23

I have actually spoke to Tylas teacher about her reading/ jollyphonics, and apparently she has a different way of learning to everyone else. God knows why. While the rest of the class is learning sounds, i.e. ch, sh, etc, she reads a word once then remembers it. Its very rare she sounds words out, as she recognises them, and know what they mean too. Strange, I know. However, they cant advance her very far at school as the don't have the resources or staff to help her. So shes reading the top school books for her age group at school, and books for 8-9 year olds at home. So it's not a problem as such for reading.
I have asked her teacher if she needed to catch up on anything she missed but apparently shes fine.

elaine373

I find the hypocrisy of the education system breath taking. I moved to a certain part of Birmingham where there is a dreadful shortage of school places and had to travel more than 2 miles to take my son to his reception class.I knew of many people who couldnt do this, (I drive) and one had a daughter who missed a whole year of school waiting for a school within walking distance.They werent and arent fined for not providing a school within a reasonable distance. We are fortunate in this country to have an education system but it fails in some areas.Appeal against the fine if you think its unfair.

PolishBigSpender

anonymousie wrote: »

Sorry don't understand this comment- children who are educated in school are required to be at school.....

But they still have their parents who should be allowed to say "you are not going to school today because we are doing this or that" and that's none of the school's business! As long as the kids generally do go to school and are pulled out just for a short while, there is no need to interfere.
And anyway, 5 years old is more like nursery age!

esmerelda98

elaine373 wrote: »

I find the hypocrisy of the education system breath taking. I moved to a certain part of Birmingham where there is a dreadful shortage of school places and had to travel more than 2 miles to take my son to his reception class.I knew of many people who couldnt do this, (I drive) and one had a daughter who missed a whole year of school waiting for a school within walking distance.They werent and arent fined for not providing a school within a reasonable distance. We are fortunate in this country to have an education system but it fails in some areas.Appeal against the fine if you think its unfair.

People rely too much on the State to look after them and provide for them. It is primarily the parents' responsibility to ensure their children get an education, not the State's. There are poor people in other countries who do not drive too. Most of them would find it laughable that a child misses a whole year of school because there is no school 'nearby'. Bus, taxi, car-share, move. I'm not saying it wouldn't entail difficult choices, but parents the world over make major sacrifices to give their children an education. And they usually have to pay school fees as well.

Lara44

DevilsAdvocate1 wrote: »

I think its the usual thing of seeing a problem (truants) and then finding a way of changing the statistics by getting people who would comply to do so (rather than getting the true truants back to school, which is a lot harder to accomplish). The powers that be can then congratulate themselves on how many more school days are achieved, though the real truants still aren't at school.

D.

Agree with DevilsAdvocate - and also with theboylard and cakeordeath. We are losing the tiny margin of flexibility within the system as everything is instrumentalised to get the 'right' statistics in government. Even if that denies children proper time off with their parents. Just because some people are irresponsible, everyone is tarred with the same brush? What happened to looking at things on a case-by-case basis? I'm so bored of this blanket 'fining' approach across government, it doesn't reach those who have the real problems. And I come from a family of teachers!

gregg1

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Do they stop being their parents' children during term time?

They can always make up for the lost time in school. What they gain on a trip far from home and spending quality time with their parents is their forever and no one will take it from them.

And anyway, she's only five.

Yes - and what about the other 29 kids in the class who have to wait while the teacher helps them catch up? Unless you are a teacher who has to deal with kids going AWOL you are not fully aware of the implications and knock-on effects of kids taking holidays during term time!

It is not quite so bad when the child is only 5 but not acceptable later on in the child's education.

PS - I am surprised that you have not enlightened us as to how the Polish education system is so much better than ours in this respect - but I suspect you will not be able to resist at some point!

coco1980

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

But they still have their parents who should be allowed to say "you are not going to school today because we are doing this or that" and that's none of the school's business! As long as the kids generally do go to school and are pulled out just for a short while, there is no need to interfere.
And anyway, 5 years old is more like nursery age!

My son started school at 4 years old.