time off school hypocrisy!

[wotnochocs]

have recently been reading a fewposts about welfare officers/schools hounding parents of children with health problems about their attendance.How come they frown on or even refuse to authorise a week's holidays in term time.Government literature tells us that puplis education will be permanantly and irrevokably damaged by just a week or 2 off a year
So how come the school can shut for a week for a couple of inches of snow, or one case of swine flu (both happened at local schools)or an athlete in DS's class has had weeks and weeks off in Y10 & 11 to compete overseas with the schools/government's blessing?
Or what about independent schools who are 3 or more weeks short of state schools every year, do their pupils all lag behind?

[JinnyS]

Or what about when some children got refused an afternoon on the last day of term to allow for arrival before the reception closed yet others in the same class were allowed a fortnight to go to Florida in January?

[twirlymum]

At dd's school, there is a (very talented) little girl, who has been in two west end shows, authorised time off over 18 months (15 hours in school per week), yet I asked for one day for dd to attend a charity concert (she was singing) and it was refused.

[childrenofthecornsilk]

The snow was a freak occurance. Schools very rarely close in reality. As for the athlete he/she would no doubt have been recieving tuition. However I agree that EWOs hounding parents with health problems is very wrong. It is a result of targets. They have targets to meet and improve on and don't really care about the stress they cause for the families.

[Myleetlepony]

The little girl in the west end show will be getting extra tuition to make up for missed schooling, won't she? Don't atheletes have some sort of similar arrangement in place?
I can't see the problem with the occasional day off. A week or two I can, because that puts extra pressure on the teachers to provide ways for the children who have been off to make up the work they have missed.
If the whole school is shut for a reason it's easier in a way, because the whole class is on the same mission.

[amidaiwish]

it's because it is a PITA for the teachers
which then takes time away from the other 29 kids.
i would love to take my kids skiing, they would benefit more from a week in the sun/snow with me and dh then they will a week at school, BUT i won't do it because i know the school will go mad. dds are 5 and 6 and top of their classes. it is a joke.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

Why is it a PITA for the teachers?

I got a letter from my daughter's INFANT school, explaining that if I took her out of school for a set period, the time off equates to her dropping two levels or so when it comes to her GSCE's!!

It never takes into account the fact that many children do not have family who live in the UK (flights during school holidays double in price!!) and what is the advantage of victimising the children ...!

I am a parent and I would like to believe that I know the importance of regular attendance and don't need some nanny at school making my daughter and me feel like some scrounging, naughty child.

[wotnochocs]

How can them not being there for a week or 2 take time away from the other children? Would give them more time surely?

[childrenofthecornsilk]

It is all about targets and Ofsted.

[amidaiwish]

because when they come back they take up the teacher's time - they need 1:1 to be shown what they have missed.

that is what we've been told.
plus my friend is a teacher and she says she understands and doesn't have a big problem with it herself, but it is quite distracting and would be a nightmare if everyone did it.

[WowOoo]

If a teacher has a long term plan and needs everyone to understand A and B before they can possibly understand C that's how it could screw things up.

If child has been away and missed A and B, doesn't understand A and B, they'll not have a clue what C is about and therefore need extra help to catch up.

I think
But, I also find the other stuff annoying too. Just had one day off refused for after half term.

[atswimtwolengths]

Not when they get back, wotnochocs.

I'm a teacher and it drives me mad when I don't have a full class. Most lessons build on the one before and it's incredibly difficult to teach properly when there are one or two who've missed the previous session.

I would think the welfare people are checking up on whether the children actually are sick - many children are kept off school to help their mothers.

It's completely different for someone who is competing at an international level and who will get private lessons throughout that time to take time off, compared to a child who is going on holiday.

I can't believe people can't see that.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

But why did some deputy teacher tell me that it looks better on OFSTED if the leave is authorised???

Personally, I don't mind taking some work or books with me to keep my DD up to speed. Seriously, what could possibly be missed in the two weeks leading up to the Christmas break that she would need 1:1 treatment?

IIRC the last two weeks is just school Christmas play, carols, fete and decorating the school. Surely, just making sure she reads a few lines/pages from a book every day she won't miss out??

[MrsVincentPrice]

If a child is off frequently with health problems I would hope that the welfare officers are indeed checking that all is well at home, and not necessarily taking the parents' word for it without a little bit of verification.
I can understand that if it's all completely genuine then the parents would be upset by the suspicion, but I'd rather that than the alternative. OTOH (not having read the threads in question) the welfare officers should be sensitive - it's a tough balancing act.

[wotnochocs]

'It's completely different for someone who is competing at an international level and who will get private lessons throughout that time to take time off, compared to a child who is going on holiday. '
they won't employ a tutor for every subject the GCSE athlete is doing though will they? (say)French tutor,English tutor engineering tutor, chemistry tutor,Greek tutor?
In which case it is no different to mum and dad tutoring the child on holiday?

[twirlymum]

There was no extra tutoring for the child in the west end shows. She just had to do a minimum of 15 hours at school per week.

[atswimtwolengths]

The tutors that teach this type of student will have experience of getting students through a wide range of subjects. A parent doesn't usually have that skill.

[tokyonambu]

We used to pull the children out of school for the Friday before Whitsun in order to make a good getaway for our annual trip to Cornwall. This was fine, until a new head got keen and said that she wouldn't agree owing to the missing of academic work.

We pointed out that we knew precisely what happened on the last Friday of half term, but if her new broom included stopped teachers from showing children DVDs while they "cleared up" we'd be very happy - as we had already booked the time off work - to come in and do some classroom helper work. But if we came in for the day and found the children were, as before, watching DVDs rather than doing the vital academic work they were supposed to be missing, we'd be raising the matter with the governors.

We never heard about the issue again, and the permission slip was signed and returned to us.

[AlpinePony]

YANBU - from my pov, if my child's education would be destroyed by yanking him out for a week or two's ski holiday - well... let's face it, academia probably is not his forte and he's much better off slopside!

[Myleetlepony]

Those children with health problems are often catered for through Pupil Referal Units. If their needs are sufficient they will be taken out of their mainstream school for a while so that they can be taught flexibly, sometimes using home tutors. Obviously it's quite labour intensive.

[elphabadefiesgravity]

Dd is having time off school this week to be in a play. She has gone in today will be leaving at 2.30pm tomorrow, then at 11.30am Wednesay & Thursday and having all Friday morning off.

No problem with it being authorised but she had had to have a licence issued from the Local Authority. The other girl involved only needs 1 day off becasue of INSET and she has had to be licenseded too.

Perhaps that is the differenece between the girl in the West End show and twirlymums dd.

Friends dd will be having a lot of time offf over the next three emonths for local theatres Christmas production but again all licensed.

[JenaiMwahHaHaHaaaaah]

Time out of school for illness or in fairly exceptional circumstances (visiting family in Australia, competing at an international level) is a whole different matter.

Those absences are legitimate and I doubt any teacher would resent the extra demand put on them.

I have friends who take their dcs out of school because otherwise they wouldn't get a chance to go on holiday at all - this is a grey area for me but I fully understand why they do it.

I don't really see any hypocrisy though, Tbh.

[trashingthecamp]

I`m sorry but the old excuse rumbled out time after time by teachers / heads about children missing out on the sequence of classes (ie needing to have done A and B to understand C),or falling behind if they miss a couple of days is IMO a load of rubbish. It suits them to say it to put parents off taking children out of school BUT when its in school activities that the children are missing lessons for (concerts, choir, netball competition, Cross county comp, some inter school dance nonsense, to practice the recorder for the mayors visit, to learn to play the digeridoo - all things my DD missed acedemic lessons for last term)then they cope fine...when schools fill 9-3 with academic work, and dont suddenly find three weeks free to practice the Xmas play/ leavers assemby etc etc etc- then I will stop taking the odd day off to suit my families needs.

[twirlymum]

DD's performance was licensed, as it was in school time. There were thousands of children taking part, and from speaking to the organisors, dd's school was the only one who did not authorise it. Pee'd me right off, as others are authorised for gym comps abroad too.
The education welfare dept thought the headteacher was being unreasonable, they were happy to give her a license for it but it still goes down as unauthorised in her school report.

[JenaiMwahHaHaHaaaaah]

But trashing, those things require the teacher to plan for all their pupils' learning, all at the same time. They won't be missing out - these diversion from the standard curriculum are easily worked around.

That's far easier than having to help children play catchup here, there and everywhere because their parents fancy going on a jolly.