Schools no longer allowed to authorise holidays

pinkladyof66

if you do not pay a fine that the LEA has imposed you will be taken to the Magistrates court and fined which then you have to pay to the court I would not suggest you ignore a fine the LEA gives you otherwise this will happen and the bailiffs could in effect be chasing you for the fine and their costs which could run into hundreds of pounds.

FBaby

I don't know why these threads always go on for pages and end up with trying to justify how you can go on holiday on the cheap, locally, avoiding term time etc...

...when in the end, most parents decide to take their kids out in term because they simply believe that taking them on the holiday that really gets them all excited is more worthy than what they might learn that week at school. No need to pretend that that's not what it is and no need to feel you need to defend your decision.

I am happy to say that I work hard, and we all make sacrifices for doing so (I'm often exhausted, kids don't get to have the best of my quality time etc..) and so holidays are almost like compensation. We usually are able to afford to go during school holidays, but if one day a dream holiday will mean going during school term when I personally believe that it won't harm my kids' education (because their education still does come first), then I will just do it and won't be justifying my choices. If the schools want to fine me for it, I will expect to show me EVIDENCE that THEIR education has been compromised because of it, or that their class has suffered from it.

zagfles

FBaby wrote: »

I don't know why these threads always go on for pages and end up with trying to justify how you can go on holiday on the cheap, locally, avoiding term time etc...

...when in the end, most parents decide to take their kids out in term because they simply believe that taking them on the holiday that really gets them all excited is more worthy than what they might learn that week at school. No need to pretend that that's not what it is and no need to feel you need to defend your decision.

I am happy to say that I work hard, and we all make sacrifices for doing so (I'm often exhausted, kids don't get to have the best of my quality time etc..) and so holidays are almost like compensation. We usually are able to afford to go during school holidays, but if one day a dream holiday will mean going during school term when I personally believe that it won't harm my kids' education (because their education still does come first), then I will just do it and won't be justifying my choices. If the schools want to fine me for it, I will expect to show me EVIDENCE that THEIR education has been compromised because of it, or that their class has suffered from it.

I think one of the problems is that a lot of people don't realise that they can get cheap'ish holidays in the school holidays, they don't need to pay the rip-off prices in the holiday brouchures. As a money saving forum this is exactly what we should be discussing!

Of course we've seen a lot of non-financial reasons why people take their kids out of school for holidays, and that's a separate issue. Personally, if I or my wife couldn't get leave in the school holidays, I'd probably take the kids out of school.

But there should be no need to do so purely for financial reasons.

Beetlemama

I wish it were the case he was missing vital education but as joint top in his year (joint third in the school) he spends most of his day reading his library book while the teachers help the other pupils that need to catch up. He comes home some days and he's had assembly, computer games, read 30 pages of his book and spent the afternoon watching a video. He's already in the best school in town. We learned more this morning watching a psychology dvd if I could quit work I'd home school but we'd starve. The schools seem to be awesome if your child needs help, but if they can already do the work, they are considered "up to the required standard" and left to their own devices.

Dunroamin

FBaby wrote: »

I don't know why these threads always go on for pages and end up with trying to justify how you can go on holiday on the cheap, locally, avoiding term time etc...

...when in the end, most parents decide to take their kids out in term because they simply believe that taking them on the holiday that really gets them all excited is more worthy than what they might learn that week at school. No need to pretend that that's not what it is and no need to feel you need to defend your decision.

I am happy to say that I work hard, and we all make sacrifices for doing so (I'm often exhausted, kids don't get to have the best of my quality time etc..) and so holidays are almost like compensation. We usually are able to afford to go during school holidays, but if one day a dream holiday will mean going during school term when I personally believe that it won't harm my kids' education (because their education still does come first), then I will just do it and won't be justifying my choices. If the schools want to fine me for it, I will expect to show me EVIDENCE that THEIR education has been compromised because of it, or that their class has suffered from it.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you, most people are trying to justify this on financial grounds because that's the reason they do it.

There's a big difference between a one off dream holiday and a regular missing of two weeks' education almost every year just to sit on a beach somewhere more cheaply than in the school holidays.

If you did this every year (and some people do) your child would be missing a whole year of education and for ittle return in terms of worthwhile additional experience.

pinkladyof66

zagfles wrote: »

I think one of the problems is that a lot of people don't realise that they can get cheap'ish holidays in the school holidays, they don't need to pay the rip-off prices in the holiday brouchures. As a money saving forum this is exactly what we should be discussing!

Of course we've seen a lot of non-financial reasons why people take their kids out of school for holidays, and that's a separate issue. Personally, if I or my wife couldn't get leave in the school holidays, I'd probably take the kids out of school.

But there should be no need to do so purely for financial reasons.

My son starts school this september and as it was previously just me and hubbie we did holiday out of school term as it wasnt an issue for us previously. unfortunately this is the year we would like to take our son away on a plane, as he has never had a nice holiday as such. Does anyone have any advice on how to get a cheapest break away in school holidays apart from trying to do an over night trip somewhere in uk to get him on a plane i dont know how else we are gonna afford it.

ebaybaby

We have always taken our children out in term time and will continue to do so.
Both my DH and I are self employed and cannot take the kids on holidays during the summer 6 weeks due to us being overloaded with work and we just could not afford the extortionate prices charged.
My kids have always taken work with them, the school has a computer system set up so they can log in and catch up on things also.
I always tag it onto the Whit week or end of June first week of July when things are naturally winding down anyway.
I wouldnt take them out during exam times etc.

angelil

FBaby wrote: »

most parents decide to take their kids out in term because they simply believe that taking them on the holiday that really gets them all excited is more worthy than what they might learn that week at school. No need to pretend that that's not what it is and no need to feel you need to defend your decision.

Because that doesn't insult the work being done by the children's teachers, at all...

zagfles

pinkladyof66 wrote: »

My son starts school this september and as it was previously just me and hubbie we did holiday out of school term as it wasnt an issue for us previously. unfortunately this is the year we would like to take our son away on a plane, as he has never had a nice holiday as such. Does anyone have any advice on how to get a cheapest break away in school holidays apart from trying to do an over night trip somewhere in uk to get him on a plane i dont know how else we are gonna afford it.

For cheap flights look to book about 6+ months in advance (you're probably too late to get any cheap flights in the summer hols). http://www.skyscanner.net is a good place to start, but check on the airlines' websites too. Don't dismiss the likes of BA as you can get cheap deals on them too particularly for the non-traditional holiday destinations.

Half terms are likely to be expensive for flights as discussed, unless you're flying from somewhere where it's not half term, Christmas time can be expensive, so I'd look next at Easter, perhaps a 10 day holiday leaving say the first Monday of the holidays and returning the next Thurs, or next summer for a longer holiday, when it should be easy to get cheap flights if booked well in advance.

Hotels - look on the likes of http://www.booking.com

Local transportation - have a look at the arrival airport's website, where they usually provide links to transport service to/from the airport. The hotel can also usually help with advice (sometimes they'll pick you up from a bus/train station or even the airport if it's close).

tripadvisor is great source of info, especially the forums.

securityguy

Dunroamin wrote: »

There's a big difference between a one off dream holiday and a regular missing of two weeks' education almost every year

28 weeks over 5--18, or about three quarters of a school year.

It would be interesting to do a study on people who get into good universities and find out how much school they missed.