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

duchy

fierystormcloud wrote: »

And as for me saying 'I tell you how much difference it makes, keeping your child off for one or two weeks; NONE.' I don't NEED 'proof.' Anyone with a shred of common sense knows that letting a child have one or two weeks off in the entire school year, will make NO difference. There is no statistics or facts needed; it's blatantly obvious, and it's laughable that anyone would think it would make a difference.

That is assuming a child has no other time off for colds, flu, broken bones, serious illnesses, family issues, moving home etc - All parents have crystal balls so they reliably predict this presumably .

My friend took her son off in October one year -she wasn't expecting him to spend January to April in hospital with cancer the following year.

lynsayjane

duchy wrote: »

Possibly because October half term is usually one week ?

Ah ok, I'm in Scotland and we get two weeks, just presumed England was the same.

SandC

I believe the government should step in and do something about this racket that the holiday companies and airlines have with the pricing of holidays as often it is ridiculous the leap in price from one week to the next coinciding with school holidays.

I do understand that prices are going to increase by the hoteliers in high season, usually this is very transparent in the room prices that are often quoted at the hotels when you get there, but not to the extent that UK tour operators increase them.

For what it's worth I too don't believe it would be hugely detrimental to a child's education if they miss a week of school each year to holiday.

Aside from the above though, I do think that if you like to take holidays abroad then you should take this into consideration when deciding to have a family. It's another of those costs, not least that once they reach teens they will be paying adult price.

pinkandblueshoe

October holiday in Scotland is a week as far as I know, always been known as the October week (what a surprise) as long as I can remember. Might be different in different areas but where I am, its a week.

lynsayjane

pinkandblueshoe wrote: »

October holiday in Scotland is a week as far as I know, always been known as the October week (what a surprise) as long as I can remember. Might be different in different areas but where I am, its a week.

Up here we call it the 'tattie holidays' as it originated that kids were off to help their parents with the harvest. Was 2 weeks the whole time I was in school and in Perth and Kinross (where I was schooled) the calendar shows two weeks just last year too.

http://www.pkc.gov.uk/schoolholiday

pinkandblueshoe

In Glasgow and surrounding areas, it's a week. Not sure about Edinburgh and can't be bothered looking it up

But it's definitely the October week here. Its 6 weeks in the summer and schools break up two weeks today where I am, its around two weeks at Christmas (been slightly shorter the last few years) and a couple of bank holiday long weekends.

Personally, I always book holidays for the end of May and the last week in August, because flight prices get hiked up so much during July, its not worth paying for the increase.

burlington6

They let minority children have time of for cultural reasons

SandC

lynsayjane wrote: »

Up here we call it the 'tattie holidays' as it originated that kids were off to help their parents with the harvest. Was 2 weeks the whole time I was in school and in Perth and Kinross (where I was schooled) the calendar shows two weeks just last year too.

http://www.pkc.gov.uk/schoolholiday

Still 2 weeks in Aberdeenshire as well. I lived up there as a kid and remember my mum used to do the tattie picking and my friend did it as a teen also. This was as recent as the 80s. I was well jel of my pal (kept in touch by writing to each other) as she got £100 for a week - that was a LOT of money for a 14 year old! Bloody back breaking work mind you.

SeduLOUs

SandC wrote: »

I believe the government should step in and do something about this racket that the holiday companies and airlines have with the pricing of holidays as often it is ridiculous the leap in price from one week to the next coinciding with school holidays.

That's not how the system works.

Want to know why they get away with charging so much in the Summer holidays? Because people are willing to pay the higher prices and the airlines/hotels still fill up their flights/rooms.

If all parents took their kids out of school whenever they felt like it instead of going away during 'school holidays', then there wouldn't be the demand during school holidays, and the prices would then naturally come down.

So it seems to me that the vast majority of parents think that keeping their children in school in far more important than saving a few quid on a holiday, as their willingness to pay the additional premiums is exactly what is keeping the prices up!

I never had a single day off school throughout primary/secondary/sixth form either due to holidays or illness. My parents couldn't afford to take me abroad in the school holidays, but weren't willing to potentially damage my education by taking me out during term time. Instead we went on days out almost every fortnight, to museums, cities, castles etc. I loved every trip (particularly science places) and and probably enjoyed (and learned a lot more from) those regular outings far more than a single week on a hot beach.

dsab

It probably also depends on regions. Holiday arrangements in NI are especially terrible, as it effectively only allows you to go on Holiday (for more then 7 days) during Summer.

9 weeks Summer Holiday
3 days Halloween Break
13 days XMAS Break
3 days Spring Break
9 days Easter Break