Term Time Holiday

Janepig

jellyhead wrote: »

I agree that 2 holidays during her childhood doesn't sound much fun, but it depends what sort of holiday you're after, I suppose. My kids will probably only go abroad once or twice in their childhoods because we're poor. A tent in Wales is still a great holiday though

Never mind a tent in Wales, my two think it's the best thing ever to stay in a Travelodge :D. We went on our half term road trip last week and stayed overnight in a Travelodge and you'd swear the kids thought it was the Ritz. We do this once or twice a year if we go to a theme park or something similar and it always causes huge excitement with my two. Easily pleased.

Jx

Spendless

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Year 11 - is that one of the GCSE years? That's a well silly time for a child to miss school unless they are ill or something.

My school's numbering was all different - GCSE courses were in the Lower Fifth and Upper Fifth.

Yes it is. It's the last academic year in which they take their GCSE's towards the end of that year ie in May/June.

At son's Secondary school they will (currently) only authorise for 5 days off in term-time in years 7, 8 and 9 (the first 3 years you attend) and 3 days for years 10 and 11 though you are asked not to take them out at all in yrs 10 and 11 because of the impact it has on their GCSE work.

In the case daisiegg talks about I just wouldn't have gone that year considering they had a couple of years notice about it and made 'more' of a holiday either the year before or this year after GCSE's are over but before the academic year ends.

daisiegg

Spendless wrote: »

In the case daisiegg talks about I just wouldn't have gone that year considering they had a couple of years notice about it and made 'more' of a holiday either the year before or this year after GCSE's are over but before the academic year ends.

I know, it is a bit crazy! And their actual holiday was three weeks long, as it encompassed the half term week so she missed the week before and the week after half term (the week before being typically when they complete assessments and the week after being typically when new topics are introduced). I'm not sure why they needed three weeks and why they couldn't just go for two weeks, using the half term holiday and meaning she only missed one week of school. Oh well, their decision!

Spendless

daisiegg wrote: »

I know, it is a bit crazy! And their actual holiday was three weeks long, as it encompassed the half term week so she missed the week before and the week after half term (the week before being typically when they complete assessments and the week after being typically when new topics are introduced). I'm not sure why they needed three weeks and why they couldn't just go for two weeks, using the half term holiday and meaning she only missed one week of school. Oh well, their decision!

My friend's son is in yr 11 and took his last exam one day this week. Ok he'll have his prom and maybe a leaver's assembly to attend but other than that he's finished school until September. Cheaper prices at min cos schools haven't broken up yet. This is when I'd have postponed my 3 week holiday till -lol.

ETA-I'm guessing that their thought process was they'd not be doing much the week before half term and could catch up on anything missed the first week of the following half term. That's a risky strategy for yr11 though. I find you need to know schools well to 'predict' what will happen. In Infant school mine would miss nothing much for the last week of an academic year even sports day was held on an earlier week and they never took them to their new class or meet the teacher for the next year, this was something that did happen at Juniors though and both yr 2 and yr 6 had farewell assemblies/leaving concerts in the last few days at that school. Son's Secondary depends very much on what half term you're on and what year. Last year in yr 7 he was doing end of year exams the week before may half term. This year all end of year results were on-line before we'd got to the end of the last half term and I've already read his school report on-line even though it doesn't come out till July!

jellyhead

You'd think a year 11 child could go away in June or early July when the prices are still cheap but the GCSEs are over? At my son's school the year 11's don't usually come back for activity week, but they can if they want to.

Mine's in year 12, and a few of the year 11's that he's friends with are going on the trip because they wanted to, but they had to ask, and they weren't invited to activity week at all.

A company's been in school signing kids up for the NCS summer programme which sounds brilliant. Mine was really excited about the PGL camp because we can't afford for him to go, until he realised it was during activity week The company was recruiting the year 11's because they have 6 weeks of free time before the main summer holidays start.

jellyhead

Janepig wrote: »

Never mind a tent in Wales, my two think it's the best thing ever to stay in a Travelodge :D. We went on our half term road trip last week and stayed overnight in a Travelodge and you'd swear the kids thought it was the Ritz. We do this once or twice a year if we go to a theme park or something similar and it always causes huge excitement with my two. Easily pleased.

Jx

Mine are too :rotfl:

This year's holiday is a few nights in a Travelodge, near some theme parks. I'll take them camping in Wales too, but they're really excited about the travelodge

Last year's summer holiday was 5 days in Great Yarmouth at various B&B's and a 'proper' hotel (£110 per night) and one on the broads but their favourite was the attic room in a small B&B that wasn't even en suite. Apart from splashing out on that one hotel on the pier, I only paid £60 per night for 4 people including full breakfast in august - bargain :T

trevorsminted

My old neighbour used to take her kids out for a month at a time (4 kids) and go off in their motorhome and she said it was her kids and her decision, fair enough!

They also never ever went to the dentist because she again as per above said it was up to her and she was terrified of the dentist and wasn't putting her kids through that, fair enough to that too!

I never gave away any facial expression when I saw her set of condemned houses for teeth when she spoke either

daisiegg

jellyhead wrote: »

You'd think a year 11 child could go away in June or early July when the prices are still cheap but the GCSEs are over? At my son's school the year 11's don't usually come back for activity week, but they can if they want to.

Mine's in year 12, and a few of the year 11's that he's friends with are going on the trip because they wanted to, but they had to ask, and they weren't invited to activity week at all.

A company's been in school signing kids up for the NCS summer programme which sounds brilliant. Mine was really excited about the PGL camp because we can't afford for him to go, until he realised it was during activity week The company was recruiting the year 11's because they have 6 weeks of free time before the main summer holidays start.

Well I suppose the point was the holiday in October was their 2012 holiday. If they go now in June/July after her GCSEs, that will be their 2013 holiday.

My husband's daughter did an NCS thing last summer, it involved camping and organising a charity project and sounded like it was really good.

jellyhead

daisiegg wrote: »

Well I suppose the point was the holiday in October was their 2012 holiday. If they go now in June/July after her GCSEs, that will be their 2013 holiday.

My husband's daughter did an NCS thing last summer, it involved camping and organising a charity project and sounded like it was really good.

It does sound really good. Mine can't go on the one that was mentioned in school because they're both busy during activity week, but the NCS were really helpful and found us another provider with a later start date. They get 2 different residential weeks (coming home at weekends) with all transport and food provided and then they spend another week or two planning a project in the community and carrying it out. It will look good on a CV, and it only cost £35 for mine, and £10 for the other teenager who's staying with me. They get a certificate

Luckily our travelodge 'holiday' is at the end of August, so they can do both. I've had to book an extra travelodge room because there are 5 of us. BOGOF tickets for the theme parks don't work out so well if there are 5 of you either. Ah well, it's still a cheap August holiday :T

Spendless

daisiegg wrote: »

Well I suppose the point was the holiday in October was their 2012 holiday. If they go now in June/July after her GCSEs, that will be their 2013 holiday.

I do understand that. At one point we had my holiday year at work running April-march, my husband's Jan-Dec and the kids in an academic year. Trying to find a holiday that 'fitted' in with holiday patterns was ermmm interesting. I'd just have said we forfeit a 2012 hol in order to do something special in 2013.

We have a similar set of circs, my husband has just been discharged from having been diagnosed with cancer in 2008. We wish to 'celebrate' the end of what has been an emotionally trying time for us as a family for the past 5 years with a special holiday but we are awaiting dates for my daughter to have an op, so we are having to put it off till next year.