holidays in term time

londonirish_3

I took my 12 year old out for the last 4 days before christmas, we went to Egypt, school refused permission,we went anyway, was threatened with a £50 fine.

I saved and worked like a mule for over 2 years for this holiday, which was a bargain AI 4*£330 each. So £50 extra didnt bother me. My daughter is not at exam stage and has had only one half day off before in the whole year, for the dentist.

When we returned I got a very snotty letter telling me about missed school etc. but no fine.

my daughter has excellent attendance and always has done, I couldnt afford to go in summer hols, and she was not at revision or exam age. I didnt think 4 days at end of term mattered. and on the last day they had a dvd screening and general christmas day so I didnt think it a big deal. Enjoy your holiday

Sarahlou_2

We're going on holiday for the last week of the summer term (4 days, they finish on the Thursday as Friday is a "training day") as it is a damn sight cheaper than the following week.I was just considering ringing up to say he is ill?

jackyann

You can appeal to the governors. Make sure that you state reasons carefully:
that you will ensure work is made up
that it will be a good learning experience for your child
that it is necessary for the well-being of the family (eg: following a period of stress or separation)
specific cultural / religious reasons

But really only do it if you think that your child & family will benefit.

miamoo

I'm taking my daughter out of school for the day on Monday to go to Alton towers, we have free sun tickets, and its my 17yrs old first army leave so we had no choice but to go on a week day. I rang school and explained and they were fine about it, her attendance and work standard is excellent so I would of taken her anyway, but its nice that they understand.

tesuhoha

One thing to be aware of is that if a parent applies for the child to go to another school attendance is one of the first things they look at along with behaviour. The school I worked for has been known to refuse admittance many times to children with less than 85% attendance.

puddy

in terms of EWO or ESW involvement this doesnt really kick in until attendance is around the mid 80s percentage wise.

in terms of fines, im unsure on what grounds these are issued. if they are court fines where the LEA has gone to court under the Education Act due to non or poor attendance then clearly they are valid and payable, but Im guessing thats not what people are talking about on here. I used to be an ESW and I never heard of these at those time but it was years ago.

in terms of the wisdom of taking children out of school there are different theories. I have been told by various educational types that a child takes 3x the time to catch up missed work, so one week off, means 3 weeks behind, thats not fair on a child obviously.

clearly if there are exams of study for something specific then its not a good idea, but i suppose i also feel that families work well together when they have shared experiences and if there really is no way of doing this in the holidays then this may be a good thing for the child on balance.

there is also the impact of the message that it gives children. they are not allowed to come out of school in the term time, but mum and dad are going to do it anyway. i dont know where i stand on this because i believe in challenging unecessary or unhelpful rules but i also believe in authority and boundaries.

a fence sitter

daska

puddy wrote: »

there is also the impact of the message that it gives children. they are not allowed to come out of school in the term time, but mum and dad are going to do it anyway. i dont know where i stand on this because i believe in challenging unecessary or unhelpful rules but i also believe in authority and boundaries.

a fence sitter

I know where you're coming from, if my kids moan about a rule I try to get them to think through the reasons for it and why it might be justifiable. If they still don't agree with it I encourage them to question the school and, if it still seems daft, to challenge it. I think it's worked as a principle, DSD has just managed to get her school to change a rule about where they have to be during a period of 'free time'.

At the same time I did lock the front door if she tried to go to school covered in slap because it was against school rules and, more importantly, it made it look as if we condoned her breaking the rules.

andy.m_2

while I am well aware that I am going to receive all sorts of abuse.....

Why not take them on holidays when it is school holidays?
I can understand a personal issue like a funeral of a direct family member but why not just take the kids on holiday at the correct time?

neneromanova

andy.m wrote: »

while I am well aware that I am going to receive all sorts of abuse.....

Why not take them on holidays when it is school holidays?
I can understand a personal issue like a funeral of a direct family member but why not just take the kids on holiday at the correct time?

Because it's double the price. Not very MSE is that? :money:

daska

neneromanova wrote: »

Because it's double the price. Not very MSE is that? :money:

But if it takes 3 weeks to catch up for every week of school missed, with extra time and effort from teachers and parents, those costs, while less tangible, are probably greater.