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

purplegirluk1

Goodness this thread has strayed from the point a little.....

Thank you for your replies some have been very kind and useful (others not so much but that is to be expected I guess!)

gregg1

whitesatin wrote: »

A bit of an assumption going on there, if I may say so. I worked in the "real world" for 6 years before I decided to train as a teacher. Part of my motivation was that I was so bored in the various places I worked, often asking for extra work because I couldn't keep up the pretence of being busy. You can imagine how that went down!

Not going to get involved in the old chestnut of training days except to say that they were imposed upon us as part of a pay deal a long time ago, not something we chose at all. Please do your research. As for twilight sessions, as long as the work is done, that is what matters. After all, it leaves more time to plan what to do with the long holidays and all that money.:rotfl:

For sure, some teachers will put in more effort than others, just like in any other walk of life but if they come up with the goods and do a good job, everyone is different in their approach.

As for my halo slipping, you did make me giggle, so thanks for that.:T

Well said although I would like to add that training days were originally taken out of holidays! Also twilight training sessions at any school I know is done so that no days are lost to make it easier for parents to deal with them!

gregg1

savagevixen wrote: »

Hilarious! Actually a holiday is as important as your child's education... It is very valuable to a child, and the last week of the summer term is not.

I have taken my children out of school for holidays. Until last year our school authorised up to 10 school days holiday every school year, provided you asked at least 1 month in advance. The school managed to get it's 'outstanding' ofsted last summer and immediately changed it's policy! I totally respect and understand this, I am not out to give schools a hard time.

Research your area carefully. The school has to apply to the local authority to fine you, so it's the school you need to correspond with first. In January, I took my 5 school age children away for 1 week. I wrote to the head and explained why we were taking our children on holiday at that time. (Mainly the cost of holidays in the holidays means that our family actually can't afford to go- why we go rarely and don't take the mickey, and 2 of our children are -shock horror to the disability bashers- disabled and find crowds/busy places etc very stressful, this is not just difficult for us but for other holidaymakers btw). As the school know our family well, they did not apply to fine us and we were given permission at their discretion, to go. We also mixed in to our time away some very interesting educational experiences-very old churches/jails/mountains etc. The school knew we weren't just of to get sloshed and ignore our kids!

It is worth researching, as when fining, most LEA's take into account your child's attendance and if their attendance is very good (i.e 90% or above) and you do not have 10 UNAUTHORISED absences, they do not usually fine.

Do not feel bad for wanting your child/children to have a holiday, it is something very pleasant for a child to enjoy (and often harder work for the parent than staying home!) it is a valuable life experience.

Actually I have sympathy for the op and agree she should be an exception to the holiday rule. However your first sentence made me laugh. Ridiculous comment.

mrs_sparrow

We are taking the kids out of school next year for a respite break in the US with a specialist travel company for disabled people. They give grants to people in the US to go with them, but we are obviously having to pay for ours as we are not American.

We can go on holiday as a family and then there is a respite care on hand should we need a break or want to do something with DD for a while.

Unfortunately the US term times do not run the same as UK term times so we will be taking the kids out of school.

I don't particularly care to be honest, we get no help or respite in the UK, no family or friends help us out, I mention the D word and never hear from a club again, no help with my son being able to go to sports/activity clubs, I cannot even find an extra curricular activity that will have him. A local support group used to run a sprts club but the council took the finding away for that. So much for equal rights for disabled people - so until the UK get's it act together and starts giving disabled children (and adults) and their families opportunities, they will have to go elsewhere for it. Yes, it is expensive but it will be worth every single penny and every bit of scrimping and saving we will do to get there.

My DD even got told she could not go to Young Carers as she did not do 'enough' caring for her brother!!

So for the first time in years we will be able to have a meal with our daughter without my son kicking off, we will be able to go and see a movie and sit and watch it all until the end with her too. Things that everyday 'normal' families take for granted when they are on holiday.

So yes, I guess I will be playing the 'disability card' as we are travelling with a specialist company that organises holidays and supports disabled people with respite care - but with good reason, the UK offers no opportunities like this unless we want to ship our child off completely and this is not what we want - we want to go away as a family but be able to have him do the things that other kids can do such as go to kids clubs and his carer will look after him and help him integrate with the other kids there - so we are going for a well deserved respite break. It'll be good for him, my daughter and us - all in different ways. And we cannot wait!!!! In fact I am adding a few extra days on to meet up with long time friends who live in the US too.

I will be asking permission and giving my reasons, if they do not authorise it then never mind, we are still going.

And we have 2 heads at our school that work on different days - one tells the parents to make up an excuse and lie about why they need to go in term time (wedding etc...), the other then questions the child and hauls the parents in for a rolloking when the lie is found out!!

apesxx

We are away the last week of term, my dd finishes on the 19th but we are going away the 16th. I would have rang and said she was Ill but knowing dd she won't be able to keep it to herself so I'll have to apply to school. I might send her in until dinner on the 16th if I can. It was a sun hol and the only week I could get and our only chance of a hol this year as OH was made redundant at end of march and struggling to find another job

savagevixen

gregg1 wrote: »

Actually I have sympathy for the op and agree she should be an exception to the holiday rule. However your first sentence made me laugh. Ridiculous comment.

Well you obviously don't have the children that I have... The very few holidays they have added enormously to their learning of the world around them and wholly supported their learning in a school environment. A child who has never had a holiday has hugely missed out, on experiences and a kind of quality family time that you do not experience at home. As the daughter of a dairy farmer, who did not have a holiday until she was 17, I am well aware of these things. It doesn't have to be often, it doesn't have to be tenerife, but it can be a very important part of a child's life if you are able to give them that oppurtunity. As a mum of 6 (2 autistic, who hate change), it is far harder work for me to take them on holiday, than stay at home and send them to school. It's only a ridiculous comment if you are judgemental and cynical.
(And you clearly have no idea what goes on in the last week of my children's summer term...)

percycat

I took my daughter out of school for a holiday for one week, we couldn't afford a holiday and have had a bit of a rough couple of years.. my parents booked and paid for us to go away, the holiday was lovely, my daughter had a great time, had a go at speaking Portuguese, made lots of friends, experienced their culture and loved every second of her holiday.. do I feel her education has suffered? erm no, not at all.. and do I feel guilty about her missing 5days of school? no.. we all came back from that holiday feeling refreshed, relaxed and happy. My daughter kept up with her reading, her writing and we played number games so we got the maths in too, and she loved learning her little bit of foreign language.

leosayer39

OneYorkshireLass wrote: »

I went to a school where the students were mostly Asian and their parents took them out of school for visits to Pakistan/India during term time. These were classed as 'cultural' trips and no questions were asked. I suggest the OP words it in the same way.

I am shocked that no one commented or replied to the above post by oneyorkshirelass (or did i miss something)?

I have to say this still happens today.

Children are removed from school for between 2 and 4 weeks (sometimes longer and rarely shorter) for religious and cultural reasons.
Yet my grandchildren are refused one week away, with the threat of a £50.00 per day, per child, and indeed per parent, fine
Disgraceful

The following is from the direct.gov website and it doesnt mention fixed reasons for authorised absences
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Schoolslearninganddevelopment/SchoolLife/DG_4016103

OneYorkshireLass

leosayer39 wrote: »

I am shocked that no one commented or replied to the above post by oneyorkshirelass (or did i miss something)?

I have to say this still happens today.

I was last at school a decade ago and I'm sad to hear this still happens.

I remember one of my friends was taken on a 'cultural' holiday to Pakistan and it turned out her father organised the trip could show her off to her distant relatives in the hope she would marry one of them the following year. Glad to say that didn't happen because she was deeply unhappy about the situation.

leosayer39

OneYorkshireLass wrote: »

I was last at school a decade ago and I'm sad to hear this still happens.

I remember one of my friends was taken on a 'cultural' holiday to Pakistan and it turned out her father organised the trip could show her off to her distant relatives in the hope she would marry one of them the following year. Glad to say that didn't happen because she was deeply unhappy about the situation.

Agreed, its a truly dreadful situation, and yet headteachers still give authorised absence for as long the parents request.
The same headteachers still refuse my grandchildren a week away during term time.
It is a scandal!!