Real-life MMD: Term-time truancy for a cheap hol

drspouse

In some schools, a lot of parents DO take their children out regularly for long term-time holidays and it's usually the very children who really need intensive education, and in some cases the parents won't think to try and find out what the children need to do to catch up. Even at 6, a couple of weeks' practice of an essential skill helps. If it didn't, why not make all the schools' terms shorter by a fortnight or a month each year?

Even if parents do try to find this out, teachers don't have time to arrange holiday homework/catch up work for all the children whose families would like to take them out.

And teachers can't just take off for a week or two in term time to get cheaper holidays!

(and yes, teachers do pay a "fine" when they are on strike aka a day's pay. And no, I'm not a teacher. But I am the child of a teacher. And I work for an organisation that limits when some employees - including me - can take holidays, but not when other employees can take them, which is EXTREMELY galling, but I suck it up.)

(and, for the record, I was taken out of school in term time but my school had worked out my brother and I were ahead anyway, and that it wasn't necessary to give us holiday homework to cover the last 2 weeks of term. And also for the record, we have a preschool age child, and we will probably consider taking him out of school in Reception year before he is 5, but not after that).

Anja

I remember a family taking their children away after phoning the school to report that they were ill. A part-time teacher from the same school bumped into them at the airport. Ever since that day they have followed the rules and applied for leave of absence!

whatsername

Absolutely, he should go. Though I agree that you should probably not lie to the school. He will undoubtedly gain far more from the experience than he would in school and can quickly catch up whatever he missed. Education is about far more than school.

lovemystudentloan

Do it! A holiday with close family will be much more beneficial to a child than school.

A child off school long term for health reasons need only one days tutoring per week, because one to one education is so much more effective than group education. Children learn much more quickly this way because they can ask 'why' and get immediate answers.

Dilly

tgroom57 wrote: »

A six year old will learn far more going on holiday than he/she would learn in an equivalent time in school.
Take him and enjoy.

I agree I can't see why education only is available in schools. Its the teachers being superior as usual.
Education also doesn't only come from books. Quite honestly I'm quite sick of hearing these arguements, as if the rest of the world is completely stupid
I'd definately let my child go

ValleysGirl

wildthing01 wrote: »

This is a rather sweeping statement, with no evidence base as far as I am aware. Many people with degree-level education and above make grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors sometimes. Sometimes well-educated people have literacy difficulties, and sometimes they're just having a bad day, or trying to type on their phones.

PS I'd say take him out of school. He's six. This one fortnight off will not matter when he is taking his GCSEs, but the missed opportunity to spend quality time with his grandparents might.

But don't lie about it - that's wrong.

I didn't make a statement; I was simply musing, as shown by my use of 'I wonder' in my original post.

DrB1

When you choose to send your child to a school, join a club, start a job etc., you agree to abide by their rules. The rules are that you send your child to school when it is open. if you can find another school that will allow you to truant, please do so.

sallyd23

Why not get your grandparents to take your child away on a shorter/cheaper holiday outside of term time? From a teacher's perspective, if a child misses lessons for a fortnight, they can find it very difficult to understand what's going on when they return, setting them back even further. By the time you've factored in the fine, is it really worth it?

sledge82

The grandparents should time their holidays to suit term times, these days I am pretty certain that with a little investigation they can get a reduction on the quoted price. Education is more important than saving a few pounds on a holiday, further more if the parents are willing to pay a fine that money would be better put towards a holiday in school holiday time.

kevanf1

How would it be if the teachers just took weeks off willy nilly? Oh, hang on, they do I say this with authority as my wife works in a school, not as a teacher by the way she's far down the pay scale from that. Yet she is not allowed to take the time off!!! We end up having to pay full whack for our holidays when we can afford to take them.

However, at 6 years of age I say let the child go. When they are in their teens it's a different matter.