Religious Trips and Time off from school

jackieblack

Voyager2002 wrote: »

I think that Mecca will still be there once your children have finished school, so why not save the Hajj until then.

And as the dates change every year, due to the Islamic calendar being 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, in two years time (and for the several years following) the Hajj is due to fall within school summer holidays

GwylimT

LEAs will generally allow trips for religious reasons, or to visit family abroad. We didn't have a problem when our son did the hajj when he was in year nine.

theonlywayisup

callum9999 wrote: »

Well my point seemed incredibly obvious so I didn't know if English was your second language...

Your point wasn't 'incredibly obvious'. Correct, English is not my first language.

steve1500

callum9999 wrote: »

Well if today's high court ruling is anything to go by it seems you can take your child out of school whenever you want as long as it's less than 10% of the year.

Indications are that the Govt are going to tighten up the rules so that nobody will be in any doubt.


Take your child out in term time and you get fined.

starM

I am sure Mecca will be there but my parents are going aswel and my father is 80 years of age. We want our parents to go and we need to go in order to support them.

pendragon_arther

callum9999 wrote: »

Assuming they know their aunt, I'm sure they'll just about manage to cope. There are kids not much older living in boarding schools!

Yes you're right there are. But your answer doesn't indicate that some emotional damage doesn't take place. I stayed with an aunt for about three weeks at 5 because my mother went into hospital and I still remember the trauma attached to that time. I also went to boarding school at 11 and that too was quite traumatic to be away from my family for two weeks at a time.

callum9999

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Your point wasn't 'incredibly obvious'. Correct, English is not my first language.

Perhaps it would have been if English was your first language, everyone else seemed to understand it. Usually when people misinterpret something and I look back at my post I can see where the confusion came from, in this case it still seems incredibly obvious!

pendragon_arther wrote: »

Yes you're right there are. But your answer doesn't indicate that some emotional damage doesn't take place. I stayed with an aunt for about three weeks at 5 because my mother went into hospital and I still remember the trauma attached to that time. I also went to boarding school at 11 and that too was quite traumatic to be away from my family for two weeks at a time.

Boarding school aside, I can't accept that 3 weeks with loving family is "traumatic" for the average 5/6 year old. For some, yes. For a significant number? I don't see it.

Unless you're just being hyperbolic? Because emotional damage and trauma is very different to being upset because you miss your parents.

blindman

callum9999 wrote: »

Unless you're just being hyperbolic?

English (well Yorkshire) is my first language and I had to look that one up

I stayed with an aunt for about three weeks at 5 because my mother went into hospital and I still remember the trauma attached to that time. I also went to boarding school at 11 and that too was quite traumatic to be away from my family for two weeks at a time.

Bless :cool:

silvercar

starM wrote: »

I am sure Mecca will be there but my parents are going aswel and my father is 80 years of age. We want our parents to go and we need to go in order to support them.

Then you need to balance your parents desire to go this year, with your children's education. Maybe a compromise is that either you or your partner accompany your parents and the other stays at home?

I also don't understand why you are taking one child and not the other. Surely the children will be less likely to suffer anxiety if they are together and you can take both of them on a future trip together.

FBaby

Just do it, I'm sure your child's life will be much enriched from the full experience and will much more useful memories from it in their adult life than whatever they will have learnt at school during that time.

Be prepared to be fined though as this is still a choice of yours to take your child, so no different to other reasons parents have to take their kids out for the purpose of a holiday.