Schools no longer allowed to authorise holidays

stiltwalker

DD starts in September so next year will be the first time this applies to us. As a teacher's child we never went away in term time, UK hols only til I was 11 then house swapping to keep costs down (great way to do holidays BTW and something we would love to consider but think the letting agent would be less than keen). Even UK holidays go up in school holidays and it is all right for some to say think creatively, well we have to at the best of time due to having 2 kids with disabilities. We try to get a couple of weekends away in Premier Inns in family rooms, but more than 2 nights would send us bonkers as we have to keep very quiet the whole evening so as not to wake the kids in the same room and they need to be in bed early due to tiredness (they have no reserves to pull on for a couple of late nights). So we will be taking her out of school for a week to go to Center Parcs when it is a semi reasonable price as CP is a rest and a break for all of us, the environment (designed for pushchairs) means we can get about and it is completely disability friendly. When we broached this with the head he was fine with it and we did ask what time of year would be least disruptive for us to go and booked for then.

If we have to pay a fine then so be it, it will be worth it for our kids to have a holiday in an environment where their needs for access etc are as normalised as possible. Together with fantastic staff and activities we can all enjoy - and yes I do mean the kids clubs and the babysitters who mean that my husband and I get to spend a bit of us time! as well as the nature activities which meant that this year DD came back having met a hawk and talking (as much as she is able) together with signing about scorpions that light up with the special light (UV).

Dunroamin

nottslass wrote: »

In many Households both parents are working and with most employers restricting how many staff are off at any given time,it can be a logistical nightmare to coordinate both mine and DP's annual leave dates,hence being left with the choice of taking a term time holiday or not going at all.
Families gain so much from quality time together,sod the culture,simply playing by the pool together , having a laugh,enjoying an unhurried meal out or simply getting all excited about going on holiday together are all valuable life experiences,something which our children will look back upon with a smile and that is worth just as much a week or two of algebra !!

You never know, the extra 22 weeks of education that children miss might put them in a situation where they tell their employer what holiday dates they're going to have rather than waiting on what an employer allocates.;)

seven-day-weekend

Dunroamin wrote: »

We had a fantastic holiday when our lad was about 10/11 spending a few days doing things in and around Cardiff (staying in a business based hotel with pool) and then a week at this youth hostel on the Gower, right on the beach. One of the cheapest holidays we ever had.

http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/port-eynon

I love Port Eynon, one of my favourite places!

Dunroamin

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I love Port Eynon, one of my favourite places!

I'm not mad on UK holidays but it was absolutely lovely.

seven-day-weekend

Dunroamin wrote: »

I'm not mad on UK holidays but it was absolutely lovely.

The whole of the Gower is lovely. I can even put up with the rain. It's my favourite place to be.

securityguy

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Also, if you are in a University town, you can quite often book their Halls of Residence for a reasonable price.

Yes, but tricky with small children, I would have thought, although I'd be interested to hear of people who've done it. I've stayed in plenty myself over the years (probably twenty or thirty universities) but I can't think of many I'd fancy with smaller children who can't stay in rooms on their own.

RHUL, I notice, has started fitting double beds in standard student accommodation, and I hear others are going to follow. Parents please note!

peachyprice

daisiegg wrote: »

Completely agree with this...I have never ever heard of a teacher being allowed time off during term time - so I am really surprised to see all the people saying their children's teachers have done this! We can't even take one day off for things like family weddings or funerals, unless it is a spouse, child or parent's funeral, and not at all for wedding. Absolutely no chance of a holiday in term time! Which is as it should be....we get many weeks of holiday a year.

However, it must happen somewhere, as lots of people seem to have experience of it and I presume these aren't all in private schools or anything! And yes....if a school was letting staff go on holiday in term time it would be pretty hypocritical not to allow families the same right!

A teacher at DD's old primary was allowed 4 WEEKS holiday in January to go home and get married in Australia and have her honeymoon, I'm not so sure she would have been allowed if she hadn't been marrying an England cricketer.

meritaten

I don't even get why schools should be able to 'authorise' holidays. if parents want to take their child out of school they usually have a good reason. to say that any reason is wrong and take it out of the heads hands is just eroding parental rights.
because it isn't just for holidays is it? it could be for bereavement or a marital dispute. there are often very good reasons why a child wont attend school. and if it looked like those reasons would result in Me getting sanctions - then I may well take them out of the state education system - which I am perfectly entitled to do.

fawd1

barbarawright wrote: »

I wonder how parents who take their kids out of school would feel if teachers abandoned the classrooms during term-time? It's just as expensive for them...

This is true, however teachers are doing a job which they are paid for, and chose to have. It's pretty decent pay, and they get around 13 weeks holiday per year, almost treble what anyone else gets.

I'll tell you what, when my kids get 30k a year to be in school during term time, I promise to only take them out in the holidays. As it is, I don't like to take them out during school, but if it means we can't go anywhere as a family, then we'll be going during school. As long as you're good about attendance otherwise, what's the problem?

iammumtoone

meritaten wrote: »

it could be for bereavement or a marital dispute.

When my sons father left my son was understandably very upset, he would get upset in the morning and was often late for school due to this. I spoke to the head and explained the situation that I would be bringing him to school every day but he may be late on occasion due to the circumstances. The head was very understanding and said he did not have a problem with it but the lateness would have to be reported to the LA as this was the law and there was nothing he could do to stop it. I never got fined but I wonder if it had happened too often I would have done?