We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
School declined holidays and branded the kids truants
Comments
-
Why is the fine £100 per child per parent? Surely most children have 2 parents (apart from those where the parent has died) when they are a child, even if their parents live apart.
This sounds like some sort of money making scam. A fine by all means, but per child or per week surely.0 -
Please elaborate on what is educational about a week in Florida? :rotfl:
Well, it depends how the OP does it.
We took DS on a 3 week cruise to the caribbean 2 years back (he was 8). Before we went, on 2 or 3 occasions we got out the atlas to look at where we would be going. We talked about the countries we would be visiting
On the trip, we looked at the map on board every day to see how far we had travelled (and did the maths associated with that). One of the officers saw our interest, and showed DS how to read the ships charts.
When we crossed the equator, we talked about what that meant, why it gets dark so early in the evenings there, and why we were changing our watches every day.
At each island stop we went through a potted history of that island. DS learnt about colonisation, about sugar cane farming, about the history of the slave trade.
In Madiera on the way back, we boarded a smaller boat and went out dolphin watching. We saw dolphins in the wild, and talked about their habitat.
And along the way DS gained experience in how to behave in a good restaurant, met a diversity of other people, learned to make new friends in the kids club, and gained confidence and life experience.
He wouldn't get all that in 13 years sitting in a classroom, never mind in the 13 school days he missed (would have been 14, but the school had a strike day in the middle ).I try not to get too stressed out on the forum. I won't argue, i'll just leave a thread if you don't like what I say.
0 -
Liquorice_Twirls wrote: »Why is the fine £100 per child per parent? Surely most children have 2 parents (apart from those where the parent has died) when they are a child, even if their parents live apart.
This sounds like some sort of money making scam. A fine by all means, but per child or per week surely.
it's for balanced and equal parental responsibility. you can't then have one parent blaming the other or claiming ignorance if a child plays truant, eg. you're both accountable so, therefore, both punishable...0 -
Well, it depends how the OP does it.
We took DS on a 3 week cruise to the caribbean 2 years back (he was 8). Before we went, on 2 or 3 occasions we got out the atlas to look at where we would be going. We talked about the countries we would be visiting
On the trip, we looked at the map on board every day to see how far we had travelled (and did the maths associated with that). One of the officers saw our interest, and showed DS how to read the ships charts.
When we crossed the equator, we talked about what that meant, why it gets dark so early in the evenings there, and why we were changing our watches every day.
At each island stop we went through a potted history of that island. DS learnt about colonisation, about sugar cane farming, about the history of the slave trade.
In Madiera on the way back, we boarded a smaller boat and went out dolphin watching. We saw dolphins in the wild, and talked about their habitat.
And along the way DS gained experience in how to behave in a good restaurant, met a diversity of other people, learned to make new friends in the kids club, and gained confidence and life experience.
He wouldn't get all that in 13 years sitting in a classroom, never mind in the 13 school days he missed (would have been 14, but the school had a strike day in the middle ).
fantastic answer. thx for taking time and trouble to make such an important point.(which i wasn't going to do!!)0 -
fantastic answer. thx for taking time and trouble to make such an important point.(which i wasn't going to do!!)
Thommy, it's a subject close to my heart. Education should happen every day and everywhere, and it means more if you LIVE it.I try not to get too stressed out on the forum. I won't argue, i'll just leave a thread if you don't like what I say.0 -
Why do people think it is acceptable to take a child out of school because the holiday is a bit cheaper at that time?
For me, its nowt to do with the cost of the holiday and everything to do with what fits in my family and my business.
Mrs Cat and I are, by a huge distance, the most important things in my childrens lives. The role of the school / education system comes way down the pecking order.
Fortunately, my sons Headmistress has a very realistic & real world attitude to term time holidays and I (by the sounds of it) are fortunate in that respect.
It is a shame that other Head Teachers/LEAs don't hold the same opinions.
I made a post about her a little while ago in DT, if anyone is interested, it can be found here.0 -
Well, it depends how the OP does it.
We took DS on a 3 week cruise to the caribbean 2 years back (he was 8). Before we went, on 2 or 3 occasions we got out the atlas to look at where we would be going. We talked about the countries we would be visiting
On the trip, we looked at the map on board every day to see how far we had travelled (and did the maths associated with that). One of the officers saw our interest, and showed DS how to read the ships charts.
When we crossed the equator, we talked about what that meant, why it gets dark so early in the evenings there, and why we were changing our watches every day.
At each island stop we went through a potted history of that island. DS learnt about colonisation, about sugar cane farming, about the history of the slave trade.
In Madiera on the way back, we boarded a smaller boat and went out dolphin watching. We saw dolphins in the wild, and talked about their habitat.
And along the way DS gained experience in how to behave in a good restaurant, met a diversity of other people, learned to make new friends in the kids club, and gained confidence and life experience.
He wouldn't get all that in 13 years sitting in a classroom, never mind in the 13 school days he missed (would have been 14, but the school had a strike day in the middle ).
Great answer.
We do similar and make sure our children learn about the place they are visiting. We've just been to Turkey and hired a car and missed a turning for the main road. We ended up on a back road going through rural villages, and we all really enjoyed just watching people go about their day to day lives and looking at the housing and stuff like that and talked about how different it was to home. Ended up pleased we made the mistake as it was a lovely journey!
The boys have also shared things they have learned about places in class. James class did some work on Mayan's and as we've been to Mexico, James was able to stand up and give a talk about Chichen Itza and the customs of the Mayan people. The teacher said afterwards that he'd mentioned stuff that she didn't know about! The class loved it, and other children have done similar for other lessons.Here I go again on my own....0 -
Wow Murphy, that is FANTASTIC. Mind you, your school will get downgraded in an ofsted inspection for it.I try not to get too stressed out on the forum. I won't argue, i'll just leave a thread if you don't like what I say.0
-
oh yes wallbash, have a think about the terminology 'price-fixing', while you're at it...
You should look up yield management. You can't simplistically apply the idea of current demand to the set price. Holiday companies have years of data showing month by month demand and fix prices accordingly.
I suppose you think everyone should pay the same for our holidays, with those of us without children subsidizing those who do. Oh hang on, we already do that with the ridiculous hand outs in the form of tax credit you get for pursuing your lifestyle choice..........0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 351.9K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 454.1K Spending & Discounts
- 244.9K Work, Benefits & Business
- 600.5K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.4K Life & Family
- 258.7K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards