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unauthorised abscence from school
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Karb wrote:Just to back up mom23 here, something that doesn't appear to have been considered much on this thread is that not everybody can get leave during the school holidays.
It's all very well for teachers to say that they are not allowed to take leave during term time, but that still leaves them with an awful lot of weeks left available to book a holiday.
Where I work, I am part of a team of 5 where only one person is allowed off at any one time and no leave is permitted during the Christmas/New Year period. Our leave is rostered one week in the spring, two in the summer and one in the winter.
This basically means that three of us will get our summer leave during the school holidays and two won't.
So the choice for us is not to go on holiday at all or go in term time. Now obviously, we wouldn't go away in the middle of the kids SAT's or GCSE's, but at the end of the school year, with no major exams taking place, we'd probably go.
My partner works in a team with similar rules, but in his people with children get priority. We don't have children so haven't been able to have a holiday for the last 2 years as obviously I don't have any flexibility about when I can take my hols. Personally I realise that the world is not perfect and can understand if parents have to take their children out of school once in the school year, but wouldn't do it more than once as the OP is suggesting.
Sorry for terrible spelling but I'm typing quickly. I promise to take more care in the classroom0 -
Slightly OT but my daughter had been off sick from school a couple of weeks ago for 4 days. She is in year 7. Last night was the parents evening and I said to her maths teacher about her catching up on the missed work and he pointed out that it wasnt a big issue as the class cover all the subjects more than once and she wouldnt miss out on a section totally due to being off.She also missed a test which she was able to retake when she returned. She is in the top stream in all her subjects which is the fastest moving group as well
So if this is the case surely it would be the same if a child was on holiday. And my kids are also in school in Essex same as the OPs0 -
to the Teacher who was complaining about only being able to take a holiday during the school holidays... I'm speechless.
In theory I'm allowed 4 weeks holiday a year. I'm very lucky if I can use 2 of those.
Every job has it's constraints which you assume when you choose the profession. I went for 3 years without taking more than 3 days in a row on holiday with my family. Holidays have to coincide with clients, colleagues, schools, the state of the business and so on. I'd love to be able to plan ahead for holidays but in generally only know a couple of weeks before that I can take any time off at all by which time the holidays cost twice as much as they would if I could book 6 months ahead.
So ti's not always a case of parents taking their kids out for extra holidays on a whim. It's often then or not at all.0 -
sickofhavingnomoney wrote:Also a holiday to the caribbean is hardly educational!
. Surely any trip can be as educational or as uneducational as you wish. "How does the plane stay up in the sky?" "when the plane lands why aren't bits of clouds stuck to the windscreen? (that one from my own 6yo;) ).
Tasting different foods or even just seeing them on show (if you are like certain members of my family and won't actually try them:rolleyes: ), hearing another language, even if you converse in English the whole time.:D Improving swimming strokes etc.
tired mum - have you found out if they will fine you or not?0 -
tired_mum wrote:if my kids had not been going to the dominican with us this year they would have gone to a scout world jamboree in Aus but we could not justify 13000 pounds to send them so we have had to let them down once already this year this would have been in jan also
i have to agree that butlins was not really acceptable to take the kids too but it was a gift from a relative and would have been churlish not to go we have not had a hol for 3 years as we have always given our time freely to take the local scouts away using our precious holiday time and the summer holiday coincide with the rainy season in the dominican so this has been a difficult choice to make
But the world scout jamboree is in Essex in July and August and your kids aren't old enough.
Sorry but I’m on the schools side, but I am a Governor, and husband of a teacher.
Regards
GDThe futures bright the future is Ginger0 -
Just to add an alternative point of view (which obviously you are free to disagree with!).
As a secondary teacher of 10 different classes, each of 29-32 students, it is incredibly frustrating when children are kept off school by their parents for holidays. Obviously as a parent you only think of your child being off school, but at the moment I have 11 different students off school because 'they have to go to barbados/butlins/benidorm'.
Nearly every week I have another student taking a week or a fortnight off, they then whinge when they return to school that they've got left behind or don't understand. It's all very well parents sending letters in asking you to give up your 25min lunch break to do catch up lessons or spend ages producing photocopied pages of what they have missed 'just for their child', but when you have one kid coming back and another going off on holiday every few weeks, it's a complete nightmare.
One of my year 8's complained the other day that everytime someone comes back from holiday, we have to waste 20 mins of the lesson recapping to help them catch up and 'it's not fair on the rest of us who don't skive off on holiday when we're not supposed to'.... Just an alternative point of view.
PLus it always amuses me how those people who think teaching is such a doss with so many holidays, don't take it up as a career and there's a shortage of teachers.
Memo to self; I do not need more shoes....::rotfl:0 -
Hi just a quick update the senior school has now said ok to 5 days authorized and 2 days unauthorized so we are very happy and no fine
as regards the jamboree at hylands park my kids are all scouts[yes including the 2 girls ]and are all old enough to attend i can assure you as well as hubby who is an ASL we could not afford the 1250pounds per person as there are 5 of us it is open to all invested scouts and above
the australia trip is organised locally with the jamboree in Brisbane again at 2000 pounds each these 2 options are out of our reach
many thanks for all your views and i promise to have a good time speak spanish and enjoy the island of Hispaniola that was found by Cpt Cook0
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