Term Time Holidays???

poet123

bestpud wrote: »

Admissions are done by the LA here so the school have no say - not sure if that's the case everywhere, but it should be!

Even if it is not there is still a set of published criteria for admission that must be followed. Taking Johnny out of nursery for a week in the sun isn't currently on there in any school in the public sector.

claire16c

onlyroz wrote: »

Well October half term 2013 starts 26th October. A week here costs £2068 for a family of 4, all inclusive:

http://www.firstchoice.co.uk/fcsun/page/details/details.page?packageNumber=009765WITUAX138276450000013827771000004630138338910000013833948000004631&fhCurrentSelectedDate=26/10/2013&linkName=&sttrkr=mthyr:10/2013_durT:7/w_ls:false_tuidesc:CMS227_day:26_mps:9_isvid:false_dufp:0_sda:true_pconfig:1|2|0|2|0|8-8-/_tchd:2_rating:0_dess:true_act:0_jsen:true_hffp:0_attrstr:||||||||null|null_mdest:false_tinf:0_mnth:10_desc:636_bc:17_margindt:7_tadt:2_numr:1_atfp:0_spp:mainSearch_depm:7_dur:7_dtx:0_df:false_dxsel:0_ratfp:0_dac:*LN_imgsel:0_loct:0_tsnr:0_bbfp:0_year:2013_dta:false__uc:009765_pid:009765WITUAX138276450000013827771000004630138338910000013833948000004631_sd:26/10/2013

Going a week earlier (i.e. during term time) costs £1904. So with the cost of the fine added there's not much in it.

It would be freezing cold there in either week so would be pointless anyway.

onlyroz

pipkin71 wrote: »

Where have they said that they are teaching their children that school is unimportant?

Where have they said that they are going to lie?

Where have they said they do not care about the education of their children?

1) It's implicit in the fact that they are happy for their child to miss a significant fraction of their education just so that they can save a few hundred quid

2) As detailed in my other posts, unless they seek approval or pay the fine they will have to lie to the school about where their child is

3) See 1

onlyroz

claire16c wrote: »

It would be freezing cold there in either week so would be pointless anyway.

http://www.holiday-weather.com/benidorm/averages/october/
http://www.benidorm-spotlight.com/climate.htm
Sounds lovely to me

poet123

onlyroz wrote: »

If it's approved then what's the problem? Presumably a school that approves such holidays is happy for the teachers to spend extra time helping the child catch up and doesn't care that the other children in the class will be missing out on their teacher's time.

You said the options included lying, that is always not the case.

Even if not approved, unauthorised holidays carry no sanctions here. Last time I did it, it was unauthorised but the head of year sent a letter saying she hoped we understood why it wasn't authorised (LEA policy) but that she hoped we had a great time!!

pipkin71

onlyroz wrote: »

1) It's implicit in the fact that they are happy for their child to miss a significant fraction of their education just so that they can save a few hundred quid

2) As detailed in my other posts, unless they seek approval or pay the fine they will have to lie to the school about where their child is

3) See 1

School is not the only place a child receives an education. Given that the children already have excellent attendance records, they are hardly being taught that school is not important.

Nowhere has the OP said they will lie to the school, it is you who has made that assumption.

Taking the children on a holiday does not mean that the OP cares little about the education of their children, especially when the school is not the only place where a child can receive an education.

bestpud

onlyroz wrote: »

If it's approved then what's the problem? Presumably a school that approves such holidays is happy for the teachers to spend extra time helping the child catch up and doesn't care that the other children in the class will be missing out on their teacher's time.

The OP hasn't asked the school yet so presumably they don't know.

I guess some schools realise the problem isn't as big as some make out, given they have the power to request a fine for the parents and choose not to.

Maybe they've realised it is more beneficial to work with parents and the benefits of a positive parent/school relationship outweighs any cost of term time holidays.

bestpud

onlyroz wrote: »

1) It's implicit in the fact that they are happy for their child to miss a significant fraction of their education just so that they can save a few hundred quid

2) As detailed in my other posts, unless they seek approval or pay the fine they will have to lie to the school about where their child is

3) See 1

Several of us have told you number 2 is not true.

onlyroz

poet123 wrote: »

You said the options included lying, that is always not the case.

Even if not approved, unauthorised holidays carry no sanctions here. Last time I did it, it was unauthorised but the head of year sent a letter saying she hoped we understood why it wasn't authorised (LEA policy) but that she hoped we had a great time!!

Oh well that's great then. We can all take our kids out of school with a clear conscience willy-nilly because we, personally, will not be sanctioned. I pity the poor teachers if every kid in the class decided to take a random week or two off school, not to mention the negative effect on the school's OFSTED rating and the disruption to the other kids in the class.

onlyroz

bestpud wrote: »

Several of us have told you number 2 is not true.

So what would you do if the school declined approval and you did not want to pay a fine?