Term Time Holidays???

ash28

Haven't read the whole thread.....

We are bringing up our grandson, he is in year 7 and in July of next year he will be going on a school trip, I use the word "trip" loosely - they are going to Disneyland Paris.....

Educational? Apart from a day trip to Paris, I wouldn't have thought so, though I'm happy to be enlightened.

They are spending 3 days in the theme park and one day in Paris, had we decided to take him on a similar trip he would have spent 3 days in Paris and one day in the theme park.

Is it ok for the school to take the kids on what is in reality a holiday but not the parents.

He will get less educational value from the school trip than he would on a holiday with us, sitting round a pool or beach getting !!!!!! up is my idea of hell.

We don't take him out of school for holidays but we have done in the past, there is no need now as we took early retirement a couple of years ago. For us it was never about the money it was about time off work for OH, like many others his time off was not always when we or the school would have liked it. GS's junior school had absolutely no issues when he was taken out of school and when the timing issues vanished so did the term time holidays.

His term time holidays were always authorised.

dizziblonde

When I was a teacher I'll be honest - I actually didn't give a stuff if you'd decided pulling your kids out for 2 weeks to bake on a beach in Lanzagrotty was what you wanted to do to be honest. Your kids - your choice - you pick up the pieces later on in life if there's an impact. You might have a battle with the head, or the school office or attendance officer - I always just worked with whatever was in the register and put ticks or circles in the requisite places (ok, so if we'd had a bank holiday or whatever meaning we didn't have a full school week - I usually put ticks or circles in the wrong places but still...)

What I was NOT prepared to do was to sit there and "just give us the worksheets" in advance when lessons weren't planned in that much detail for weeks ahead (like lots I knew the general objectives I was covering, but what would be done when would always be adapted depending on how the previous day's lesson had gone, and I tried to avoid death by worksheet anyway), especially knowing they'd be ignored for the entire holiday and done in 10 minutes the night before and be utterly meaningless anyway (especially without the lesson input going with them). Funnily suggestions of positive things that could be done - that would have required parental effort were always met with utter horror. Hell, I'd keep the work covered retrospectively and send it home if needed - but I wasn't going to jump through hoops to do it in advance - especially not when toward the ends of terms you could have one kid off for a week, then another pair, then a different child again and never have a full class for weeks.

What I also was never prepared to do was to interrupt the class lesson when the kid got back and wailed all the way through "I wasn't here for this bit" - I'd pull them to the side after I'd explained things to the whole class and go over the missing bits quickly (and I'd have told them I'd do it this way in advance too) - but quite often the little cherub would expect the entire 2 weeks to be re-done for their convenience immediately... sorry, but no, not when there are 29 other kids there who are waiting to move ON from work covered.

Now you can all go and flame THAT as an example of bad teacher attitude, someone not accepting their entire soul is owned by an individual parent, no doubt distort it into neglect/child abuse or whatever else ridiculously sensationalist spot of handwringing you want to... I've got my MSE Teacher-Bash Bingo Card (TM) ready and printed for you all... I think we're missing "I'm glad you don't teach MY children" (trust me - some of the attitudes and usual suspects on here - the feeling's often mutual) for the full house and free sparkly pen.

As for the ringing in sick thing - trust me your child will drop you in it within 10 minutes of returning to school!

poet123

As I am also in education what I will say about the above is that it is a statement containing sweeping generalisations both about parents and about teaching staff.

And I would ask if as a parent you have ever, or would ever, envisage a situation where you would take your own child out of school for a holiday?

johnnyl

dizziblonde wrote: »

What I was NOT prepared to do was to sit there and "just give us the worksheets" in advance when lessons weren't planned in that much detail for weeks ahead !

and back in the real world

http://uk.ask.com/web?l=dis&q=lesson+planning+online&o=APN10645A&apn_dtid=^BND406^YY^GB&shad=s_0048&gct=hp&apn_ptnrs=AG6&atb=sysid=406:appid=113:uid=210cc740242eeaec:uc=1347302809:src=crt:o=APN10645A


or

http://teachers.net/lessons/

bestpud

dizziblonde wrote: »

When I was a teacher I'll be honest - I actually didn't give a stuff if you'd decided pulling your kids out for 2 weeks to bake on a beach in Lanzagrotty was what you wanted to do to be honest. Your kids - your choice - you pick up the pieces later on in life if there's an impact. You might have a battle with the head, or the school office or attendance officer - I always just worked with whatever was in the register and put ticks or circles in the requisite places (ok, so if we'd had a bank holiday or whatever meaning we didn't have a full school week - I usually put ticks or circles in the wrong places but still...)

What I was NOT prepared to do was to sit there and "just give us the worksheets" in advance when lessons weren't planned in that much detail for weeks ahead (like lots I knew the general objectives I was covering, but what would be done when would always be adapted depending on how the previous day's lesson had gone, and I tried to avoid death by worksheet anyway), especially knowing they'd be ignored for the entire holiday and done in 10 minutes the night before and be utterly meaningless anyway (especially without the lesson input going with them). Funnily suggestions of positive things that could be done - that would have required parental effort were always met with utter horror. Hell, I'd keep the work covered retrospectively and send it home if needed - but I wasn't going to jump through hoops to do it in advance - especially not when toward the ends of terms you could have one kid off for a week, then another pair, then a different child again and never have a full class for weeks.

What I also was never prepared to do was to interrupt the class lesson when the kid got back and wailed all the way through "I wasn't here for this bit" - I'd pull them to the side after I'd explained things to the whole class and go over the missing bits quickly (and I'd have told them I'd do it this way in advance too) - but quite often the little cherub would expect the entire 2 weeks to be re-done for their convenience immediately... sorry, but no, not when there are 29 other kids there who are waiting to move ON from work covered.

Now you can all go and flame THAT as an example of bad teacher attitude, someone not accepting their entire soul is owned by an individual parent, no doubt distort it into neglect/child abuse or whatever else ridiculously sensationalist spot of handwringing you want to... I've got my MSE Teacher-Bash Bingo Card (TM) ready and printed for you all... I think we're missing "I'm glad you don't teach MY children" (trust me - some of the attitudes and usual suspects on here - the feeling's often mutual) for the full house and free sparkly pen.

As for the ringing in sick thing - trust me your child will drop you in it within 10 minutes of returning to school!

:rotfl: Do you feel better now?

You didn't read the thread very well as that is more about you than anything typed on here!

That said, I agree parents shouldn't ask for work to be set and I agree teachers shouldn't hold up the class for one child who has been away.

Nobody on here has mentioned lying except the term time holiday objectors, and they made it up!

But anyway, hope you feel a little cooler now you've let off all that steam!

zagfles

On a tangent to the flame war here - for the last 10 years, since DD was 5, we've never taken holidays in term time (generally we take 2 or 3 holidays a year). Not that we have any strong views on this, just that it really is quite easy to get cheap holidays in the school holidays if you put a bit of effort into it.

A few tips:

1. Don't book packages, do it DIY
2. Look for the local off-peak times, ie try to find out when it's school holidays in the UK but not the country you're going to. Second half of August is usually a good time.
3. Flights aren't generally much more expensive in the school holidays, except at the start and end of half terms. We've had some good deals in August and Easter (eg £50 return each to Lake Garda in Aug, £100 return each to Sorrento at Easter).
4. For the half terms consider flying from another part of the country where it isn't half term. We've had some very cheap deals from Glasgow, even with the extra travel, parking and a night in the airport hotel saved a fortune compared to going from Manchester at the same time. This works for packages too.
5. For hols in the UK, again look at differences in holidays in different parts of the country. We've had loads of cheap weeks on the south coast first week of Easter as our Easter hols are usually a week earlier than down south
6. Consider campsite holidays, not necessaily camping, but a static caravan can be more comfortable and spacious than a hotel and easier/safer to let the kids go off on their own. They're often right on a beach and usually loads of entertainment etc. And if in France (or even Spain) consider driving rather than flying, no worries about baggage allowance etc.

johnnyl

bestpud wrote: »

:

That said, I agree parents shouldn't ask for work to be set and I agree teachers shouldn't hold up the class for one child who has been away.

it isnt rocket science to see that if the teachers presented the work that they already had planned rather than witholding it out of spite, then this could go some way to preventing the hold up later down the line. It is responsible of parents to mitigate the effects of taking the kid out of school and going through the work with them goes someway to that.

Welshwoofs

From a purely selfish POV, it's certainly the case that many child-free (or parents of grown children) book their holidays for school term time simply so that they can enjoy a child-free holiday. If it became 'the done thing' for parents to take their kids out for holidays at any time of year then vacationing for many others would become infinitely less enjoyable.

So in advance I'd like to suggest a compromise. Child-free holiday people take Italy, inland Spain, the Lake District and all the accommodation in the Mr & Mrs Smith guide. Parents with kids - you take coastal Spain, the Canary islands, Florida and all the hotels in big holiday company brochures. You can also have Easyjet as a 'child only' carrier...and Ryan Air.

Sorted!

bestpud

johnnyl wrote: »

it isnt rocket science to see that if the teachers presented the work that they already had planned rather than witholding it out of spite, then this could go some way to preventing the hold up later down the line. It is responsible of parents to mitigate the effects of taking the kid out of school and going through the work with them goes someway to that.

You don't really think mere parents are capable of understanding the primary curriculum and helping their child catch up, do you?

What, without a teaching degree?? Surely not!

:rotfl:

FBaby

zagfle, thank you for your suggestions, but I have to say that

We've had some good deals in August and Easter (eg £50 return each to Lake Garda in Aug, £100 return each to Sorrento at Easter)

doesn't seem like a great deal to me at all. My experience of going to the South of France every summer at the end of August, coming back just before the end of hols is massively expensive and has been for many years at least.

I even looked at going to Lyon, France in February (visit friends) and again, the prices for returns on the last couple of days of the holiday week (which is not the same than that of the local French) are ridiculous meaning that even though we wouldn't have to pay accommodation, it is way above what is reasonable.