Taking children out of school a week before summer hols as I am disabled.

purplegirluk1

Hi, I am just wondering if anyone else has done this really. I have ME and am hoping to take my family on a uk holiday a week before the summer hols begin. We are hoping that is might make the drive a little easier with there being less traffic and that the places we visit will be a little quieter. Has anyone else done this? Did it make much difference?

Richie-from-the-Boro

All LA's have the right if they choose to issue penalties to parents for taking their kids out of the classroom during the academic year. In term time the cost of a holiday is 'x' at half term or end of term the same holiday costs in the region of two or three times that amount. All schools [ and by extension LA's ] will approve absences in term time for exceptional reasons. There is always direct correlation between performance and attendance.

There are two sides of the coin, if your children are young, and have no important tasks / tests / exams during the period they are unofficially absent and are primary school age, ask the question direct to the school and let them deal with the LA. purplegirluk1 - I assume your question "did it make much difference?" relates to your need for your chosen visits to be a little quieter and as such your question is not purely financially driven, I do however think playing the 'disabled card' to get what non-disabled can get is a wrong thing to do.

NOTE1: Most parents pay the £50 – it’s cheaper to do that than pay half-term prices

NOTE2: The law says :

- parents do not have the right to take their child out of school for holidays during term time
- parents cannot demand leave of absence for the purpose of holidays as a right
- they are asked to consider seriously the educational implications for their children before making application
- the headteacher does not have to authorise holidays in term time other than in exceptional circumstances
- exceptional circumstances can only cover a maximum of 10 days in a school year
- taking an unauthorised holiday could result in each parent receiving a Fixed Penalty Notice costing up to £100 for each child

zaksmum

Couldn't you just call in to the school that the child's sick?

kingfisherblue

I wouldn't call and say that my child is sick - it is quite possible that other children in the area will mention that the child is on holiday.

OP, you could just ask the school. They might agree to you taking the child/ren out of school for the last week, although to be honest it is still likely to be busy on the roads. You will get business and commuter traffic as well as some holiday traffic (different areas sometimes break up at different times - my kids often have slightly different holidays to their cousins).

MacMickster

I'm not sure that extending the school holidays would help you with your ME. It may depend on how old your children are, and whether they tend to get bored (and so nag Mum and Dad) towards the end of the summer holidays. I would imagine that having to "entertain" bored children for an extra week would worse for ME.

As for taking children out of school for a holiday, if you are ever going to do this then the week before the summer holidays is probably the best that you can do. From both my own childhood memories, and experience of my children's schools, very little teaching takes place in that week. It seems to be regarded as a wind-down week for most of the staff.

Oliver14

So a Holiday is more important than your child's education?

whitesatin

zaksmum wrote: »

Couldn't you just call in to the school that the child's sick?

Do you really think that school authorities are that stupid?

Not to mention the example you would be setting to your children.

I expect it would be the job of the teachers to help the child catch up when they come back to school.

Stefon

Yet another playing the disabled card....even if it means disd advantaging the kids education..you have all my sympathy if your disability is genuine, none at all for the way you are seeking to use it to your advantage..have a think about it, a family are all well and fit and sit in a traffic jam for several hours in order to queue at what ever place they are going..in what way is being fit and able more suited to that..probably its a disadvantage as they are more used to an active life style so perhaps they should all leave school a week early???

cte1111

I wouldn't think that going a week early will make much difference to the traffic unfortunately. You might well find that other areas have broken up from school earlier, I think Scotland usually finish earlier.

Your best bet to avoid traffic is to drive in the nighttime, I know this isn't great when you've got ME. I'm presuming someone else is actually driving? Then maybe you could sleep in the car for a bit and take a day to recover when you get there.

whitesatin

I think it is a convenient misconception that not much goes on on the last week of school. Even if it is not formal education, as such, things still go on and it is all part of the school experience.

When I was a child, that last week was spent helping the teacher clear out the cupboards ready for the following term etc. My favourite school memories took place in the last week of the summer term, teacher lightened up and we did lots of fun learning too.

These days it is unlikely that too much winding down happens as Ofsted can come in to inspect without much, if any notice.

Mista_C

I had to do this in 2008 due to an overlap in my allocated annual leave. I wrote to my son's school and explained that while I wouldn't normally agree with him missing a week off school it was the only time I was able to have away from work. I didn't tell them I was taking him out though, I wrote and asked them if it would be OK. They got back to me saying it was OK under the circumstances.

Even though it wasn't my goal the roads were fairly clear as were the beaches.