Our kids refused time off school during term time - please advice

Jagraf

consumers_revenge wrote: »

Gotta love teachers...


Gotta love councils...


Both milking the cash cow and complaining....

Could you explain how it's profit making for a child to be absent from school. I'd particularly be interested in how a teacher is milking a cash cow.

rachy182

Its easy to say that kids dont miss out by going on term time holidays and they actually benefit from it but i think those instances are rare. Unless your kid is bright and you've arranged to do catch up work there may be important work or concepts missed. During GCSE missing out on the wrong day can really set you back. I once missed two days to illness and missed the introduction to a concept and i always struggled to understand it. If you looked at my grades you wouldn't see a problem but i hated them lessons because i never got it.


On these types of threads i always get the impression that everyone has kids who are going to be brain surgeons and they go on enlightening holidays. However i imagine thats not the case for over 90% of families and thats what who this law protects. Lets face it most peoples holidays revolve around a pool or beach and offers 0 educational value.

In primary school term time holidays arent that bad but once you get to secondary the game changes. I left school nearly 10 years ago and over the years my old school has been getting stricter to get better grades. During school holidays they are offering revision/coursework classes and no more end of term slacking, every lesson is put to good use until the year is finished. This isnt even a 'good' school (one of the worst in the area) but i think this will slowly filter down into primary schools and no more wasted lessons that people use to justify going away the week before a holiday.

k12479

fierystormcloud wrote: »

]It's utterly idiotic to suggest or imply that letting a child have a week (or two weeks) off during the academic year is going to have a huge impact on their education. I will tell you how much it has shall I? NONE.

I have 9 nieces and nephews and 5 of them were taken out of school for one or two weeks, every year between around 7 and 13 y.o. on family holidays, and the other 4, a few times too. Not one of them has ever had a bad school report or failing grades, and 4 of them are at universty. (The rest are still at school!)

Do you know what anecdotal and empirical evidence are?

fierystormcloud wrote: »

A child kept out of school for one or two weeks a year is no more likely to be a failure in life and fail their education, than a child who is NOT taken out of school for holidays is going to be a professor of physics.

What are you basing your claims on? Do you have any FACTS?

fierystormcloud wrote: »

And despite all the unsubstantiated and frankly rude comments...

Few are as unsubstantiated (and in fact, rude) as yours.

FBaby

"It didnt affect my education, as I had my holiday and then the teachers put me first so that I could catch up while everyone else waited".

Why always assuming that teacher have to help any child who take time off to catch up? I've never seen this happening in the school my kids have gone too but kids do catch up easily. Unless they struggle in the first place, catching up the work of one week is not going to be much of a challenge for them.

As to assuming that kids miss out so much on education, I took my kids to an uneducated sun holiday, but my DD read three large books during that time, one of them being '12 years a slave'. That book had much effect on her and we spent much time talking about it, which then included DS too, something that we rarely have time to do in normal time.

Jagraf

FBaby wrote: »

Why always assuming that teacher have to help any child who take time off to catch up? I've never seen this happening in the school my kids have gone too but kids do catch up easily. Unless they struggle in the first place, catching up the work of one week is not going to be much of a challenge for them.

As to assuming that kids miss out so much on education, I took my kids to an uneducated sun holiday, but my DD read three large books during that time, one of them being '12 years a slave'. That book had much effect on her and we spent much time talking about it, which then included DS too, something that we rarely have time to do in normal time.

Most wouldn't read three large books while on holiday. The rules are in place to protect all children and their education. During gcses also it's not about learning anything, they need to learn what will be in the exams. the other thing I also recall when DD did pride and prejudice was that her particular teacher told them not to read the who book as she wanted to do it slightly differently (can't remember maybe watch the dvd first). Parents do not know teachers teaching methods but can mess it up if they take it into their own hands at that age. For some reason everyone thinks everything a child learns is education relevant to what they are learning at school, but that's like someone making a self diagnosis. Until parents understand the educational process (especially when they get older) they can't know the harm its doing.

Jagraf

rachy182 wrote: »

Its easy to say that kids dont miss out by going on term time holidays and they actually benefit from it but i think those instances are rare. Unless your kid is bright and you've arranged to do catch up work there may be important work or concepts missed. During GCSE missing out on the wrong day can really set you back. I once missed two days to illness and missed the introduction to a concept and i always struggled to understand it. If you looked at my grades you wouldn't see a problem but i hated them lessons because i never got it.


On these types of threads i always get the impression that everyone has kids who are going to be brain surgeons and they go on enlightening holidays. However i imagine thats not the case for over 90% of families and thats what who this law protects. Lets face it most peoples holidays revolve around a pool or beach and offers 0 educational value.

In primary school term time holidays arent that bad but once you get to secondary the game changes. I left school nearly 10 years ago and over the years my old school has been getting stricter to get better grades. During school holidays they are offering revision/coursework classes and no more end of term slacking, every lesson is put to good use until the year is finished. This isnt even a 'good' school (one of the worst in the area) but i think this will slowly filter down into primary schools and no more wasted lessons that people use to justify going away the week before a holiday.

This is an excellent post.

consumers_revenge

Teachers very happy to take days of to strike WHEN IT EFFECTS THEM!


Funny how they do not seem to think 'every lesson counts' at that point isn't it...?

neatheyc

chris_n_tj wrote: »

Twist it round and see what you think?


All teachers at OP's school decide they want the week after October half term off go to on holiday to India. Imagine the outcry from Parents.


OP, take your holiday whenever you wish but take the consequences. x

Difference is, teachers get paid to teach. Where as parents pay for their children to go to school (I think that's right? I am not a parent).

I think it's disgusting that they charge you to take your own child out for a week or two a year. Especially with the cost of a holiday in peak times.

ViolaLass

consumers_revenge wrote: »

Teachers very happy to take days of to strike WHEN IT EFFECTS THEM!


Funny how they do not seem to think 'every lesson counts' at that point isn't it...?

No teacher is ever happy to strike. It is a last resort.


neatheyc - tax payers pay for state schools, so we all pay.

Jagraf

Frankly its the naivety of parents who think they understand the teaching profession which has probably triggered the rules in the first place.

If parents know how to teach then by all means educate your children at home, no one is stopping you and it can be just as good a learning experience. If you choose the option for someone to teach your kids, at least ensure they turn up and are given the opportunity. After all, its a kids right to get the education on offer and who are we as parents to deny that right.

Next time my daughter has toothache I think I will pull the tooth out myself, surely I know as much about dentistry as I have a set of teeth. :rotfl: