Holidays with kids in school time, have you done it?

gratefulforhelp_2

gregg1 wrote: »

bestpud wrote: »

Surely one of the main objectives is to teach them what they need to know to pass exams being that exams are the tool by which they will be measured on when chosing universities and careers!!!!!

And in fact when holidays are long forgotten, employers will still be looking at the child's examination results.

blue_monkey wrote: »

My daughter spent 12 weeks making herself sick in morning registration before the school finally relented and thought she may be doing it to get off school. They would stand in front of her saying 'she has to have 48 hours off now'. It was Monday, she was 'allowed' back on Thursday. They eventually agreed she could go in if she was sick and then she was never sick after that. Funny that.
No teacher has yet answered me though.

I'm not sure how it works in your daughter's school, but

1. In our school, trained first aiders or the nurse decide whether a child should go home or not. I don't have medical training and so am not in a position to make medical judgements about a child's fitness for school or otherwise.

2. I don't have the time to go around searching for piles of vomit, I'm paid to be in front of a class, and that is where I have to stay.

3. Some schools rightly have a policy of 48 hours at home for people with sickness type illness, this is to stop the school becoming a centre for infection as can otherwise happen. This is a sensible public health precaution, and if sometimes children lie about vomiting(or the causes of vomiting), then their parents have to deal with the consequences of that.

Zoetoes

gregg1 wrote: »

Funny how everyone justifies taking their kids on holiday during term time by claiming they are "top of the class"!

Not at all, I was just pointing out that his education isn't suffering because of a week out of school.

As I said, the kid with behaviour problems in the class is causing more disruption than a week's holiday. And all those kids kept off for having the sniffles.

Zoetoes

maman wrote: »

zoeleigh wrote: »

I just hit on this thread and looked in to see if it was the same as ever and it is.:rotfl: Every now and again a parent will post about taking chldren on holiday in school time and a teacher(s) will bite. The parent(s) don't like to hear what they know to be the truth from the teacher. They dress up the holiday as educational and then descend into teacher bashing. As an adult, how would your employer respond if you took off on holiday when you were supposed to be working? The principle is the same and that's one of the many things schools are trying to teach children. The children themselves generally understand and would prefer to go on holiday at the 'proper' time. What a shame that their own parents don't set them a better example.

Really? Have you read through the whole thread? I haven't called anyone selfish, implied they are not fit for their job or implied they are a bit 'thick'.

As for taking time off work for holidays, I can't just take any week I like off, it has to be agreed within a team and with the manager, just like the Easter holidays/royal wedding week I would have liked off but can't. So we can't always fit in with the teacher's holidays however many weeks and weeks they get a year!

bestpud

gratefulforhelp wrote: »

gregg1 wrote: »

And in fact when holidays are long forgotten, employers will still be looking at the child's examintation results.

Or for the young adult with some life experience and good exam results.

One who realises life is a balance and it is possible to combine hard work with fun, and taking time out is not a crime as long as they take responsibility for catching up.

The two aren't mutually exclusive because education is down to so much more than time sat in a classroom.

How absurd to suggest every child who has term time holidays will leave school with less GCSEs and less to offer an employer.

Hastobe_Katt

moggylover wrote: »

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I still believe that if we did actually have to direct fund instead of through the back-door of taxation we would see less parents wanting to take their children out of school in term-time:) Sometimes it is only by actually handing over the cash that we truly appreciate something properly (and I say that despite being a staunch socialist who would fight tooth and nail to prevent our state education system being privatised/adulterated in any way:)).

My brother and best friend both send their kids to private school (three kids for my brother and two for my friends) and they take their kids out of school. My brother's kids missed a week last month to go skiing.

(As an aside you don't know how much the poster and his partner are paying in tax - so you may be making rather a sweeping assumption.)

Personally I think it depends on the children. If you have academically bright children who are performing well at school and the week is not a key tuition or exam week I don't see that it's a problem. Holidays can be very educational - we have taken our kids to large capital cities, tropical rain forests, to Auschwitz and Terezin etc We tend not to go on holidays where we lie by the pool / on the beach all day. Well we went on one last year - during school holidays - but the kids got their SCUBA diving certification while we were away.

Edit - I would add that my son got straight A/A* at GCSE and is forecast straight A* at A level (planning to study theoretical maths at a top 5 Uni - so didn't do him much harm . Actually, when it comes to applying for degree courses, the good Universities want to see rounded students who can discuss a range of subjects, have interests outside school, are economically and politically aware etc. They don't look only at their academic results.

covlass

I took my daughters out of school for one week every year up until our eldest reached year 9 and it has not done them any harm at all. I always gave plenty of notice so the teachers where aware well in advance of their absence and requested that any work that they missed out on and home work was sent home. My eldest received some work once which she completed.
Regarding taking children out of school and causing problems for teachers, my eldest daughter who is sitting her GSCE's at present laughed at this. Her reply was "Well they do not seem so concerned in our school at pre planning lessons as her English teacher has been absent from school for 2 months and will be away for another 3 months and they have no replacement teacher. They have been using cover teachers who just sit and watch the children". So who has caused more damage to my childs education, me as a mother taking her out of school or the school for not supplying an English teacher during the most important year of her school life?

I do not think missing a week off school will do any harm at all always ask if they will miss out on any thing of importance and if so work sent home. Give plenty of notice so teacher is aware in advance of absence and not to do it above year 9

gratefulforhelp_2

[QUOTE=bestpud;41808184How_absurd_to_suggest_every_child_who_has_term_time_holidays_will_leave_school_with_less_GCSEs_and_less_to_offer_an_employer.[/QUOTE]

The expression should read "fewer GCSEs" rather than "less GCSEs" and I personally haven't made such a sweeping statement.

What I have said is that there should be some balance and an appreciation of what students will miss while they are away.

We may well have a list of posters whose children have not suffered from holidays in term time, but that doesn't mean that in general it is a good idea.

That would be a bit like the old smoking argument...

" I've smoked 20 a day since I was 12 and it hasn't done me any harm" cough cough.


I LOVE the direct funding suggestion and I think it is a good one.

shellsuit

What's the difference between giving 10 months notice of a weeks holiday during term time, and a pupil staying off school for a week with no notice because of an illness they have?

Serious question by the way!

And do children who have a teacher for a parent never get sick?

covlass

I always gave notice so the teacher knew my daughters would be away and it gave them the chance to put copies of work to one side for them. That way the teachers could say to me my daughter missed out on this because you took her on holiday.

bestpud

gratefulforhelp wrote: »

The expression should read "fewer GCSEs" rather than "less GCSEs" and I personally haven't made such a sweeping statement.

What I have said is that there should be some balance and an appreciation of what students will miss while they are away.

We may well have a list of posters whose children have not suffered from holidays in term time, but that doesn't mean that in general it is a good idea.

That would be a bit like the old smoking argument...

" I've smoked 20 a day since I was 12 and it hasn't done me any harm" cough cough.


I LOVE the direct funding suggestion and I think it is a good one.

Isn't that what we have been saying all along? That it depends on the child and the family in question?

As far as I am aware, we 'sinners' accept there are times when it is better not to take them out and there is lots of factors to consider. With careful consideration and supportive parents, term time holidays can be a positive experience and will not affect their schooling.

It is you who has been saying it is wrong and that is the end of it!

We are not caught up in the system and can look wider. You work with it every day and overestimate its value.