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

DaisyFlower

kelloggs36 wrote: »

Maybe all the teachers should take their holidays in term times as they are also stuck paying over the top prices during the holidays? I wonder how many parents would be happy to find that there was no education for a week because the teacher has taken the opportunity to save a few £?

I can just imagine the response by the same parents if the teacher went away term time.

I disagree with term time holidays given that children get 13 weeks to go away in and the fact that holidays are not a necessity anyway.

Teachers have to then catch up the work missed on return, the children who have been at school have to be held back slightly whilst this is done. Even worse, if parents ask for work to be set which means teachers are expected to do even more.

It also teaches children that education is not important and that its ok to break the rules yet I suspect when the same child truants it will be double standards.

I do love reading the "educational" value of the trips though that some people quote - especially when its either a week in spain or disney :rotfl:

Bloomin_Freezing2

DaisyFlower wrote: »

I do love reading the "educational" value of the trips though that some people quote - especially when its either a week in spain or disney :rotfl:

Surely any visit is educational? Whether it be to a foreign country or from city/countryside for example?

Would a visit to La Seu Cathederal in Barcelona have no educational value?

What exactly do you think people do when they go to spain or disney I wonder? Are yu thinking anyone who goes to Spain sits round a pool or on the beach boozing all day long?

Where do you take your holidays and what makes them better than everyone elses?

bestpud

DaisyFlower wrote: »

It also teaches children that education is not important and that its ok to break the rules yet I suspect when the same child truants it will be double standards.

I think it teaches children that education is not the be all and end all, and they do not need to go into meltdown if they miss a week. I have always valued education but it doesn't have to take over everything!

I do love reading the "educational" value of the trips though that some people quote - especially when its either a week in spain or disney :rotfl:

This I actually agree with!

Bloomin_Freezing2 wrote: »

Surely any visit is educational? Whether it be to a foreign country or from city/countryside for example?

Would a visit to La Seu Cathederal in Barcelona have no educational value?

What exactly do you think people do when they go to spain or disney I wonder? Are yu thinking anyone who goes to Spain sits round a pool or on the beach boozing all day long?

Where do you take your holidays and what makes them better than everyone elses?

I do know what you mean and I know most things can be made educational, but I have to say I think it is stretching things to use that as a reason to take children on your average beach holiday.

Bloomin_Freezing2

bestpud wrote: »

This I actually agree with!



I do know what you mean and I know most things can be made educational, but I have to say I think it is stretching things to use that as a reason to take children on your average beach holiday.

Absolutely, I know there are plenty of undesireables we all see when we are on our hols but I feel the need to stress we're not all jetting off abroad just to lounge about getting pished

morocha

my daughter is only 3 and started school last september, i will be taking her to majorca during school term, main reason being, i can not afford the holidays otherwise.It has got an educational value, i speak spanish and only in Spain, my dd has the only chance to practice to speak fluenly the language. i try to take her there twice a year.

Spendless

Personally I wouldn't have a problem with teachers having a term-time week off, as long as it wasn't at the start of the year or at SATS times. I didn't mind when everyone had to muddle thru, when many teachers got stranded due to volcanic ash after last Easter hols. My daughter's school was without the head teacher, deputy head, school sec and a couple of teachers and they managed.

Teachers don't set the rules about hols though. I do get bemused that one industry (education) thinks everyone else working in different industries with their own peak and quiet times can slot in with theirs.

OP-I volunteered in a school office for a while, and people did write on the form it was due to cost, not usually purely to do with this but something along the lines of
'It was been a difficult year following the breakup of marriage/death of grandparent and the family are in need of a break, however due to now being a lone parent/redundancy we are not able to afford the cost in school holiday times'

rachbc

The issue is about whether the head can authorise the absence not whether they can actually allow it. Authorised absence goes on the register as a positive or neutral mark for attendance stats - unauthorised counts against attendance - the school are morelikely tobe bothered about the stats than the parents! Even if a head doesn't authorise absence - they cannot actually stop you going, or indeed returning to the school. If they were total numptys who wanted to alienate every parent they might try and get the LEA to fine the parents but its highly unlikely

themull1

DaisyFlower wrote: »

I can just imagine the response by the same parents if the teacher went away term time.

I disagree with term time holidays given that children get 13 weeks to go away in and the fact that holidays are not a necessity anyway.

Teachers have to then catch up the work missed on return, the children who have been at school have to be held back slightly whilst this is done. Even worse, if parents ask for work to be set which means teachers are expected to do even more.

It also teaches children that education is not important and that its ok to break the rules yet I suspect when the same child truants it will be double standards.

I do love reading the "educational" value of the trips though that some people quote - especially when its either a week in spain or disney :rotfl:

I think that you will find that although there are 13 weeks when you can take kids on holiday not during school time, its also finding a holiday in that time, they are often fully booked, i had no problem taking my kids during term time, normally the last two weeks of term where they don't seem to do much anyway!!

cte1111

Parents at my child's primary school have been fined £50 for each parent, so £100 for a couple, for just 1 day's unauthorised absence. So it does happen.

nottslass_2

cte1111 wrote: »

Parents at my child's primary school have been fined £50 for each parent, so £100 for a couple, for just 1 day's unauthorised absence. So it does happen.

I'd like to see how fining each parent £50 could be enforced - how would that work in the scenario of step parents or estranged couples ?

I really cannot believe that fining a couple £100 for a days unauthorized absence would be legally enforceable nor can I imagine that the head teacher would have the backing of the LEA for imposing such a sanction !! In fact if it were me I'd be complaining to the LEA