School declined holidays and branded the kids truants

Murphy_The_Cat

sunshinetours wrote: »

I also think there are a huge number of parents (again not in this thread obviously ) who very much think its their little Jonny's God given right to have two weeks in Florida because he's obviously so special and so he absolutely should be able to go when "he" wants to. i don;t think there is susually a lot of thought past the parents desire for a holiday to show off to their friends with....

Turning this the other way around - why do you think that the State should take primacy over when a parent is able to enjoy a family holiday **

** although, I am led to believe that the 'guidelines' are very much relaxed if you are going to the Indian Sub-Continent. I'll try and find a linky

gyroscope

As a teacher,
I'm fully in favour of parent's taking their children on holiday within term time! It should be encouraged, that way on a weekly basis I have one or two less children to teach, plan for, mark books for, etc.!

Murphy_The_Cat

skintbuthappy81 wrote: »

Sorry I don't have time to read the whole 5 pages but just for my input, I have no children but about 5 years ago I worked in a school and was not allowed time off in term time. My OH booked Florida that same year for my birthday but didn't realise it had to be out of term time, the school asked me to choose my holiday or my job, when it came down to it I ended up losing the job. In hindsight it's the best thing that could have ever happened to me as I am now in a much better workplace but I don't recommend anybody doing this if they have responsibilities.

Going back several years, my Secretarys daughter was planning the holiday of a lifetime to New Zealand, to visit her husbands family, taking her 6 year old and 8 year old with them. They were flying out from the UK on Christmas Eve and they were going to miss the first 8 days of the Term starting in January.
They asked permission from the Head before comitting to it and he immediaitely authorised the abscence, going as far as to say what a wonderful experience it would be for the entire family, and how much he, his staff and the childrens classmates would look forward to hearing all about the trip. IIRC, she was also a playground assistant as well.
The flights were booked and saving up began in earnest.
Then the Head retired and another gadger got the job.
The new gadger then announced that he was going to have a no-permitted abscence policy, PLUS, he was goind to rescind any permissions that had been previously given, citing the reason that he believed that the previous Head had acted erroneously, plus, he was now in charge and he set the tone.
After a lot of increasingly heated discussions, and increasing levels of threats, the family went to NZ for their holiday, but came back not knowing what to expect.
But upon their return, no mention was ever made of the trip by the Head.
End result, Head loses respect from parents and (some) staff, and finds it increasingly difficult to get some areas staffed.

Murphy_The_Cat

malkie76 wrote: »

What's your justification for taking your children out of school during term time

For me. Its because I own a Company in a very seasonal trade, in a very seasonal part of the world and school holidays are for me the busiest times by a mile. I could do with every pair of hands that I have, but of course the parents that I employ want to spend their time with their children as much as they can (who doesn't).

So for me, School Term Time works best - plus, the school doesn't have an issue with me doing it.
Plus, it is impossible to plan a break of over a fortnight, unless you go in the 6-7 weeks of Summer holiday time which doesn't fit in for me.

Murphy_The_Cat

mogadon wrote: »

For the record, it does make a very pleasant change to hear from a parent who obviously absolutely loves spending time with their child. I don't mean that to be in anyway sarcastic or patronising. I suppose it's the nature of the beast that people are generally quicker to air complaints than compliments. But it is good to hear the other side as well. :A

I absolutely love spending time with both of my children, but sadly my work responsibilities don't allow me to spend anywhere near enough time with them. I'm up and out several hours before they get up in the morning, but at least I'm back each night (usually) to put them to bed and read stories, or be read to, by them.
What little time I get is absolutely precious to me, so weekends and holiday times are times to be made the most of.

Murphy_The_Cat

Antispam wrote: »

DirectGov states this

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Schoolslearninganddevelopment/SchoolLife/DG_4016103

Holidays during term time

You should not normally take your child on holiday in term time as it can be disruptive both to your child's education and to the school.
Holidays in term time can only be agreed by the headteacher or someone with appropriate authority. Schools can use their discretion to grant up to 10 days’ authorised absence in a school year if both:

• the parent the child normally lives with applies to the school in advance of the holiday reasonable to me
• there are special reasons for the holiday suitably ambiguous for me

Schools can only agree to more than 10 school days’ absence in any school year in exceptional circumstances.
Schools must judge each holiday request on a case by case basis. They can take into consideration:

• the time of year for the proposed trip seems reasonable to me
• if it's near any exam dates
• your child's overall attendance pattern seems reasonable to me,
  
• any holidays already taken in the school year seems reasonable to me
• the age and stage of education of your child this is a really important one for me
• your wishes this is a really important one for me
• the ability of your child to catch up the work that they have missed - but what if they are already a long way ahead ?
• the reason why you are taking the time off during term time seems reasonable to me,

Schools should not take into consideration:

• availability of cheap holidays can't argue with that
• availability of desired accommodation can't argue with that
• poor weather experienced in school holiday periods can't argue with that
• overlap with the beginning or end of term hmm, I always though that the end of a term would be the most appropriate time. Usually it seems to be mostly a dossing week, sometimes not even being a full week

The big word in their is discretion. In other words, using common sense and knowledge of the child/parents, rather than "following the script".

Murphy_The_Cat

balletshoes wrote: »

We are all different, and our school policies on term time absences appear to be different too. If my daughters school policy was zero tolerance, I wouldn't take her out of school in term time. That is not her schools policy however, and so, because she does not have an attendance record problem with sick absence, and she is not at all struggling to keep up or be caught up, I do take her out of school for a maximum of one school week in a school year. I do not, and will not, feel guilty doing so. Whether the current school rules regarding absence during term time is right or wrong in anyone's opinion, is beside the point as far as I'm concerned. The guidance is being applied at my daughter's school as they see fit, and I'm abiding by that guidance.

Absoluetly bang on the money.

My next holiday entails my son missing the week before half term break in October and it can't come soon enough for me/us.
& I won't lose a wink of sleep over it.

Murphy_The_Cat

poet123 wrote: »

and sports days (with the competitive element removed!).

oh don't start me off again.
Non-competitive sports days, what a load of c*ck and b*ll.
To the winner, the spoils, to the rest, try harder next time

kiis102

So basically the OP wanted to put money+holiday before her OH's job and her children's Education? £2k is a large amount to save so if you still want the holiday, i suggest you pay the fee of £400, you'll still save £1600 which is a alot to save for any family. If you can afford £3k on a holiday then you can afford £400. How much is medical insurance costing? what about travel to/from the airport? if you can pay for other costs then you should consider adding the school fees on too.

PolishBigSpender

malkie76 wrote: »

I think you are completely missing the point which is cost is never a rationale for risking your childs education.

Really? So - if a child is off school for two weeks with measles or chicken pox, do you feel that the child's education is at risk? Of course not. But from your viewpoint, because the risk is so large, the child should clearly be in school infecting everyone else as well.

I could guarantee that I could teach in a day what a child learns in a week at school.