School declined holidays and branded the kids truants

malkie76

If you can't provide studies then you can't make claims as strong as you are. It's just your opinion, and you need to make that clear in any points you are raising.

thommy

malkie76 wrote: »

If you can't provide studies then you can't make claims as strong as you are. It's just your opinion, and you need to make that clear in any points you are raising.

and yet you fail to see that is exactly what people are saying to you.

malkie76

Not really - people are constantly attempting to put words into my mouth, and ask me to provide evidence for claims I've never made.

Conversely users post definite statements, yet are unable to support them with evidence.

Do you appreciate the difference?

thommy

malkie76 wrote: »

Not really - people are constantly attempting to put words into my mouth, and ask me to provide evidence for claims I've never made.

Conversely users post definite statements, yet are unable to support them with evidence.

Do you appreciate the difference?

yes, absoultely. but you believe there is a risk of damage to a child's education if he/she is taken out on holiday. is that correct?

Zazen999

If you can't provide studies then you can't make claims as strong as you are. It's just your opinion, and you need to make that clear in any points you are raising.

sunshinetours

malkie76 wrote: »

If you can't provide studies then you can't make claims as strong as you are. It's just your opinion, and you need to make that clear in any points you are raising.

It works both ways Malkie - all of this is just speculation including your own points as there is no definitive evidence as I said above.

We can all however provide anecdotal evidence from our own experiences though.

I had three weeks off school when I was 10 as my parents took a once in a lifetime trip to Oz to visit our family for 6 weeks. I had an amazing experience and learned lots obviously just by the experience.
Whilst there our school was sitting the 11+ exams so my parents had arranged for me to sit this test on my own as soon as I returned. I passed and was one of only two from our year that did so and so went to a grammar school which certainly helped me get through my exams IMO.
Now that 3 week break in term time, over an important (at that time), exam period clearly didn't do me a great deal of harm and stopped me achieving in life what I have so far

Bottom line is I wouldn't by choice take my own kids out of school as I believe that rules are there for a reason. Point is that doesn't make me right or wrong

Zazen999

malkie76 wrote: »

If you can't provide studies then you can't make claims as strong as you are. It's just your opinion, and you need to make that clear in any points you are raising.

I did. I calculated the percentage time of a child's life lost in a two week holiday as compared to the full length of time from start to finish in their 'formal education'. And it's less than half a percent. So in the greater scheme of things; it is non-significant.

You are biting back as you have no evidence to support any of your ramblings by accusing people of having no evidence to support theirs.

Isn't that called being backed into a corner?

Have you ANY evidence at all apart from your own underlinings?

poet123

vikingaero wrote: »

OK, deep breath, my view:

I think that taking children out shows lack of respect to the system, the school, the teachers, other pupils and most of all your child.

I think that most education professional would agree that there are far worse and more prevalent ways of showing disrespect to schools and to your child than taking them on a family holiday in term time after having assessed the necessary factors.

If you show your child that you can flout the rules for your own benefit then you're raising your child(ren) in an incorrect manner.

If you want to take them out, then home educate them or place them with tutors where it won't disadvantage fellow pupils. Schools have enough on their plates without playing catch up for absent pupils. Not every pupil who takes a holiday is super bright, some will be only average or below average.

Then I would agree that their parents need to think long and hard before taking them out of school.



What happens when your son/daughter are parents, they probably do the same and think it's OK.

And the issue of qualifications. I sit on interview panels and a lot of qualifications are not worth the paper they are written on. You can have candidates with a fistful of qualifications and sweet FA when it comes to common sense.

[dons flamesuit]

I also sit on a lot of interview panels and I agree with you that qualifications are often not accompanied by common sense.

However to me it is common sense that if your child is performing well, has a good attendance record etc, then a short absence from school will not affect their education. Any more than a week off for snow, a bout of illness, OR a week or two of substandard, unqualified lesson cover will, all of which have happened to my kids.

malkie76 wrote: »

Sorry, but I've already clearly addressed the point in the first quote.

I cannot see where you have answered my questions re your personal experience with education and children.

The second quote is offtopic fluff - there's no relevence in your questions to the discussion at hand. However, purely to humour you; there is no benefit to taking children out of school, whereas there are obvious benefits to walking to school or a trip to Alton Towers (of course not all parents will agree the risk is acceptable).

Where's the benefit of taking your child out of school?

It may be OT fluff to you, but not to the rest of the thread contributors who see that as quite relevant.

What benefit does a trip to Alton Towers in term time give that a family holiday cannot provide?

How is it different?

How is watching DVD's at school in term time better or different to doing so at home?

The benefit of taking your child out of school to be able to visit places they would not otherwise see, at a time of year when they are doing very little of quantifiable educational value in school should be obvious.

To say go next year, misses the point that they can go somewhere else next year and thus see more of the world.

malkie76 wrote: »

I've already (repeatedly) addressed your point. Sorry you are unhappy with what is an exceptionally clear response to your question. You are asking me to provide evidence for a claim I didn't make, so I'm not sure exactly what you are concerned about.

Your blinkered view must come from somewhere, I would be interested to know how you formed these opinions, and on what evidence you base them. We have all given details of why we believe the risk you perceive is worth taking. Some of us have kids who have come through the system unscathed and are now taxpayers in professional jobs (one of mine is a teacher) so for us, it would seem to have worked.

We are not talking about missing several weeks each year here, willy nilly, regardless of other attendance issues or academic standing. We are talking of a well timed, short break for a child who is on an academic par with (or above) their peers.

It is time to get the perceived risk into perspective, and to give an indication of how your views have been formed and why. To do so is not to add fluff, but substance, something any debator needs to have to remain credible.

hippyadam

JVRMac wrote: »

I am being advised that there absence will be classed as truancy and we will be taken to court and fined £100 per child.

As someone who has worked extensively in schools as a Teaching Assistant, my response would be "see you in court!"

And for the record, if it's a choice between no holiday for a year or holiday in term time. It's holiday in term time for my brood. Quality time together as a family is as essential to a child as ensuring they attend school imho...

As others have said it's a free country and i defy any school, LEA or jobsworth in the council to prove me wrong :rotfl:

blue_monkey_2

I've not read all of this thread but wanted to give my own experience.

Our school cannot accept holiday dates for the following academic year. We are away in November but cannot book this off til they go back in Sept, however I have asked and they said it will be fine.

For us it was the only date we could go and our holiday backs onto half term. Our children are allowed to have 10 days off a year however we always, always get a letter from the school, signed from the LEA to say it is detrimental to their education etc... in fact, our church school is happy to have families having holidays together and if holiday overuns the 10 days they give children an authorised sickness absence instead.

If they want to report us then we would have our explainatins ready, hubby was working over Xmas and summer is too hot for my son who has a disability and he (in fact none of us) could take the heat in Florida in the summer so we chose to go in October. I think that the LEA will investigate and not do anything so IU would call ther bluff. What is the worst that can happen? Heck, some parents never send their kids to school for months and still nothing happens to them, you'll get a slapped wrist and a fine that will be less than 2k.

However, now you know hubby will not be paid for his week off save a few extra ££ a week. For us we are off to Florida and for us it is the holiday of a lifetime too, it's not the kind of place you can go for a week because of how much money it costs their to get there either so some families it will be their only time of going and at an age where the kids are old enough to appreciate it.

A few years back when DD started Y1 she was making herself sick to get off school. I told the school but they refused to believe me and said 'she has been sick she cannot come in'. So she started making herself sick on demand and then had to have 2 days off. This went on for 12 weeks with her doing 30 minutes every 3 days before she was sick again and I had to come and collect her. She missed 3 months of school and no-one said anything, no-one did anything - in fact I was pleading with them to let her come back in as she was not really sick and the head would say 'she obviously likes being with you a lot'. I certainly never had the truancy people onto me in those 3 months, no letters, nothing.

Anything could happen in a year OP, just deal with it as it gets nearer the time. They should not have been allowed to accept your holiday form now anyway, likewise my husband cannot book his holidays until the following financial year of work.