Term Time Holiday

Zoetoes

I agree, although I have kids I also like to go away when it's quieter!

Zoetoes

And we're having 2 weeks in Florida in September, no idea whether it'll be allowed now as the new rules will be in then, although the school say if attendance is 95% or more they're ok with it.

And his attendance is good and his work is top notch so should be ok.

hayhay2010

I am quite surprised by how many people agree if you have kids then you should only ever holiday until there 18 in school holidays.!!
I would not like to take my kids out often my eldest son will only be starting year 1 in september so he will be 5/6, however I do not see the problem with the head teacher being able to authorise leave with out having a fine.
Reason I am taking him out is for my sisters wedding which is abroad.
Although I would think for the future if I did take him out I would probably tag an extra week on to a school holiday as long as it was not every year and there was no important exams etc coming up.

I agree with some other posters on here re working in places with lots of other parents wanting time off this year my husband has only managed to get 4 days off in a row in the summer holiday result we will not go. Will probably have the same issue next summer holiday too so it is not always just about money.
Looking at the holiday we are going on next year my son will be 6 at such a young age some countries in Europe do not even start school until children are 7 I personally think spending time together as a family is important enough reason to take him out of school.

What I would really like to know is if they have figures on how much this would improve school attendance ie is a high percentage of the absence made up of students having odd days off rather then 1 whole week in a row for a holiday?

Spendless

David Cameron is currently on holiday for May 1/2 term and is getting a lot of stick for being there, instead of at home. :think:

Spendless

We are awaiting a date for an op for my daughter where time is of the essence, not because her condition is life-threatening, it isn't but because without it she faces a life time of medical problems. Consequently we cannot book anything for this summer as we don't currently know when she will be going into hospital.

As we wanted to book a hol as husband as recently been discharged from being diagnosed with Cancer back in 2008, we spoke to both schools about it and we are going to Florida in May next year, after dd has sat SATS but before transition to Secondary school starts.

Our LA has issued what they deem as 'outstanding curcumstances' for the rule change in September 2013 and as I believe we come under at least 1 of the criteria, possibly 2, I will be submitting the evidence for our reasons. If they don't accept it, I will pay the fine instead.

harrys_dad

fawd1 wrote: »

Yeah, except my friend is a teacher and at her school they have five inset days. The theory being that they are teacher training days. In reality, the head (along with the teachers) decided to have 10 evening training sessions so the inset days could be days off for the teachers as well!

But if you actually look at the history of this when the initial training days introduced by Kenneth Baker were actually taken from the school holidays. Children have always spent 190 days a year in school, and still do. This has not changed for a long, long time, well before Teacher Training days. The only thing that has changed is the pattern in which they are done.

Any decision on how and when these days are taken is made by the Governing Body and not the Headteacher.

PoorCharleyBear

Glad we are in Oz...my daughter in Grade 1 told me that two of her friends are on their hols- one visiting grandparents interstate (second time this year) and another in Paris..not an issue with the school.They say that at this age, 100pct attendance is not compulsory, but equally they work pretty hard when they are in school. So missing school means this kids have tp push themselves to catch up.

Loz01

Also Im not being funny but why do people 'own up' to taking their kids out of school to the headmaster if you're going to be fined £80 a child?! Just write a note to say they were ill for a week with sore throat/flu/bad tooth/sickness, surely thats not unauthorised absence? Obviously two weeks would be pushing it but one should be okay surely, especially if they rarely have other time off save for the odd day.

A woman in my nieces school took her kids out for a month to go to Africa on safari!!!

maman

fawd1 wrote: »

Yeah, except my friend is a teacher and at her school they have five inset days. The theory being that they are teacher training days. In reality, the head (along with the teachers) decided to have 10 evening training sessions so the inset days could be days off for the teachers as well!

harrys_dad wrote: »

But if you actually look at the history of this when the initial training days introduced by Kenneth Baker were actually taken from the school holidays. Children have always spent 190 days a year in school, and still do. This has not changed for a long, long time, well before Teacher Training days. The only thing that has changed is the pattern in which they are done.

Any decision on how and when these days are taken is made by the Governing Body and not the Headteacher.

It seems to have taken a huge amount of time for the general public to realise that teachers are having this training in the holidays rather than term time. People still talk about the 'six weeks holiday' in the summer but it hasn't been six full weeks for years.

One of the reasons all schools can't have training at the same time is that there aren't enough trainers to go around. I sympathise with the school that has swapped twilight sessions for training during the day. I've done much the same as it's more effective on time and money. What tends to happen is that if you book an evening slot then you get exactly the same input from the trainer but without loads of time wasted getting into discussion groups, reporting back, having 'wash up' sessions and generally padding out the day that many trainers seem to do to earn extra money!

I can't see what the objection is to teachers doing flexi-time in this way and saving tax payers' money while they're at it.;)

neverdespairgirl

Richard53 wrote: »

We sometimes forget that schools are there to serve parents, and ultimately society, not the other way round.

I'm glad we do forget that - in my view, schools aren't there to "serve parents" at all!

They are there to further the interests of children and society. Not parents and society!