Would you allow your child to skip school for some cheaper summer sunshine?

DrivingMissDaisy

Yes absolutely, no qualms about it. A week or two isn't going to affect them.

Turtle

My parents would never have taken us out of school for a holiday in a million years. We always went for the last week of the summer holidays somewhere in the UK and my dad did extra work to pay for it. I've never had kids but if I had we'd have gone in the school holidays or not at all. People who think the rules don't apply to them are a huge bugbear of mine.

SingleSue

We used to have our holiday in the last 2 weeks of summer term time because the routine changed in the classroom and youngest couldn't cope with it and it was setting the tone for when he went back in September and causing more problems than it was worth. He also stopped earlier than the other children at the end of the other terms too for the same reason...any easing up of lessons or changes in the decor in the classroom meant he had to be off or the year and/or progress made was lost.


As time went by, I gradually moved his end date more towards official finish time and by doing so, allowed him to get used to the changes whilst at the same time, learn to cope with the extra people whilst away. This carried on until he was able to end the term with his peers (think an Easter end of term was the first, strangely Christmas was the hardest!) and we were having our holidays in the main summer school holiday.

That said, we had a determined but understanding set of schools in his earlier years who wanted to see him succeed, who refused to give up on him and who worked with me rather than against me....the ending sooner than end of term was actually the school's idea and it was a massive turning point in his education that allowed him to reach where he is today (just about to go into his third year of an integrated Masters degree in a STEM subject)

mrgrtt123

No, my kid can enjoy a summer activity during weekends. I really do want my child to focus on her study, but if it is important and she really wants to joins I usually ask her teacher if she can be absent for a couple of days.

Kentish_Dave

I wonder if there’s a correlation between being willing to take your children out of school for a holiday, and struggling later in life.

I’d bet that there is, as it seems the very epitome of being unwilling to forego pleasure now for benefit later.

How many of those saying it’s acceptable set bad examples in other areas? Do you have Sky but few books in the house, for example?

In my (poor) household not attending school was simply never an option. You went in every day, respected the teachers, and did your very best. It was the same in my friends’ households, and this view of the importance of education is likely why so many of us rose so very far above what could be expected of working class children from a mining town.

onwards&upwards

Kentish_Dave wrote: »

I wonder if there’s a correlation between being willing to take your children out of school for a holiday, and struggling later in life.

I’d bet that there is, as it seems the very epitome of being unwilling to forego pleasure now for benefit later.

How many of those saying it’s acceptable set bad examples in other areas? Do you have Sky but few books in the house, for example?

In my (poor) household not attending school was simply never an option. You went in every day, respected the teachers, and did your very best. It was the same in my friends’ households, and this view of the importance of education is likely why so many of us rose so very far above what could be expected of working class children from a mining town.

Why don’t you do a research study on it and find out?

DigForVictory

Once a child is on an exam trajectory, unless you can afford tutors to cover what's been missed, skipping school for any reason is dubious. Tough on any other children but where this myth of "it isn't a holiday without foreign travel and sunshine" came from, I have no Idea but suspect Thomas Cook et al.

mirko

DigForVictory wrote: »

Once a child is on an exam trajectory, unless you can afford tutors to cover what's been missed, skipping school for any reason is dubious. Tough on any other children but where this myth of "it isn't a holiday without foreign travel and sunshine" came from, I have no Idea but suspect Thomas Cook et al.

It's all about keeping up with the Joneses. People look at me in horror at work when I describe the UK based holiday we normally do in the summer!

A week holiday abroad isn't a right.

I have genuine sympathy for those who couldn't afford a holiday otherwise without taking their kids out of school - and I probably wouldn't begrudge them too much for doing it, but I've seen a few people on facebook boasting about saving 2k because they went during term time....

I guess it comes down to what rules people are happy to break to save money.

maman

DigForVictory wrote: »

Once a child is on an exam trajectory, unless you can afford tutors to cover what's been missed, skipping school for any reason is dubious. Tough on any other children but where this myth of "it isn't a holiday without foreign travel and sunshine" came from, I have no Idea but suspect Thomas Cook et al.

I agree with the gist of what you're saying but children are on the way to exams from the day they start school. There are expectations of the level they'll reach in every year group. The national test results they get at Age 6 are used to project where they'll be at 11 and progress measured against it and on it goes. I don't approve of schools becoming exam factories but that's where we are.:(

Children spend 7 years at primary school and less than 5 at secondary. All school years are important although obviously taking children out at exam time is madness. I know someone who took his 11 year old to Butlins on a Sun holiday during the 11 year old tests.:(

maman

mirko wrote: »

It's all about keeping up with the Joneses. People look at me in horror at work when I describe the UK based holiday we normally do in the summer!

A week holiday abroad isn't a right.

I have genuine sympathy for those who couldn't afford a holiday otherwise without taking their kids out of school - and I probably wouldn't begrudge them too much for doing it, but I've seen a few people on facebook boasting about saving 2k because they went during term time....

I guess it comes down to what rules people are happy to break to save money.

I don't know why they do that. You're obviously in good company. Didn't 'Call me Dave (Cameron)'' go to Cornwall every year just to show how much he thought of this great country.