School ski trip atranged in term time "to save money"

[Snog]

Y9 have a ski trip scheduled in term time as this is much cheaper than scheduling it inthe schook holidays. ost is £1,000
I am stunned at this. Given that the school see fit to take students out of class in term time how can they have
any issue with parents taking term time holidays?

[LadyMilfordHaven]

i agree
contact school and ask them - copy in chair of govs

[tiredaftertwo]

I agree too. The only justification would be if somehow they pitched it at kids who would not otherwise get a holiday abroad, say, which somehow this isn't. Or it it is an option in an activities week, and everyone else is off timetable too.

I don't see how they can possibly justify it if the others are slogging away in classrooms.

[gallicgirl]

I guess that would be a good week to book your own holiday.

[LadyMilfordHaven]

agre 0 might be aimed at Pupil Premium kids

[RobotBananas]

Pretty standard isn't it? I've never heard of schools doing trips in the holidays, its all during term time

[cornyblend37]

Is your dc going on the trip? Makes sense to me to book it at a cheaper time.

[Areyoumadorisitme]

Our school is doing a ski trip in Feb half term costing £850. Cheaper and in school holidays.

[NoComet]

A school being total hypocritical, how surprising.

[mamij]

Bit you wouldn't expect the school to take the kids away for a school trip during the school holidays would you?

[mamij]

*But!

[QuintessentialOldDear]

"Bit you wouldn't expect the school to take the kids away for a school trip during the school holidays would you?"

Thats what my sons secondary is doing. They are going away the first week of the Easter holidays. This means we will have a bit of a problem with our Easter holidays at home with my dad. - Easter is our FAVOURITE holiday, as no stress with "making Christmas" etc and shopping....

[HairyPotter]

My dd (14) has missed two full weeks this year due to two school trips. I'm happy to pay and for her to go but did wonder what the response would be if I wanted to take her out for 2 weeks.

Neither trip was educational either. Ski trip in Jan and Disneyland/Paris in May (she does German)

[joanofarchitrave]

Oh God that's ridiculous!

Except that I do think it's potentially educational - mine certainly was it educated me that past-their-best ski instructors may make passes at even the most acne-ridden and unattractive 17-year-old. But then I think children ought to be encouraged to have at least 2 weeks out of school a year.

Flog the story to the Mail? You might make enough to send your child on the trip :)

[BackforGood]

How can they be charging £1000 then, if they are going in term time ?
It's less than that to go in half term (the most expensive week you can find).

[VivaLeBeaver]

I'm stunned at that price. Dd's school are going at half term and its £800.

[tiredaftertwo]

But the criterion for taking your own dc out of school in term time is not whether or not the holiday is educational. You could arrange a week going to museums and schools would say no.

Schools cannot then organise their own holidays in term time, disrupting the education of those who are going and also often those who are not because they cannot cover core topics as so many are absent.

It undermines the whole rationale for expecting parents to pay more to take holidays outside term times, and send completely mixed messages.

If the rule was everyone can have two weeks out a year on an approved activity or family holiday in certain circumstances, then fine, but that is not the rule and judging from posts on here, there are many occasions when HTs turn down requests for authorised absence even in cases of family weddings, illnesses etc, as they have little discretion.

[englishteacher78]

Our trips mainly go in holidays, a few don't and it is a cause of much anger in the staff room.

[northernlurker]

Would this be because the accompanying teachers (who work very hard on such trips) don't want to give up their 'holiday' time as well?

[CrazyOldCatLady]

I think the problem with parents taking kids out is that it's one kid missing a particular area in every subject which the teacher has to then try and cover with them. If the whole class (or the majority) go, it's easier to coordinate catching up.

[cardibach]

SChool trips have always been mainly in term time, for the reason northern points out - why would teachers give up their holidays to work 24 hours a day? Absence from school is banned by Local Authorities, not individual schools. IT is a product of the stupid league mentality and pointless Inspections which judge on what they can easily measure rather than on what is valuable.
Don't worry though, schools are getting so difficult to work in that soon no teachers will do anything they aren't actually paid for any more and trips will be a thing of the past.

[englishteacher78]

I happily give up my holiday time to accompany the bi-annual PGL trip with our school. It's a jolly to the South of France and shouldn't occur in school time.

[BackforGood]

I think there's a difference in pupils going to something such as an exchange to a foreign country to live with, and talk the language for a few days, or a history group going to Auschwitz for a couple of examples, from a ski trip - which, although no doubt a lot of fun and a great experience for the pupils who go, can hardly be seen as part of the curriculum like the other type of visit could.
I think that is the difference.

[tiredaftertwo]

I completely see that about teachers' holidays - I think it should mean no skiing trips organised by schools, unless teachers want to run them in holidays, or outside bodies start doing it, or some other arrangement (and I know some who do - there is no need for sarcasm, everyone is different - and some of the numbers are made up by non teaching staff anyway)

HTs used to have more discretion and could take into account a family's circumstances. In the same way, it was reasonable for them to do that with school trips in term time.

I think the new stricter rules and attitudes will be unenforceable, practically and morally, if families who cannot afford 1k, or whose children hate skiing, watch others miss a week's school on an officially sanctioned jolly or educational trip. And then cannot them take their dc out of school even for that same week on something more fun/educational/better value, simply because they have organised it not the school.

It just doesn't make sense.

[Snog]

is there any point in me sending my dd to school during this week or can i take her on a family holiday without fear of being fined?!!

[TheYoniWayIsUp]

I can totally see your point, but you have to understand that it isn't individual schools that make these rules.

Do parents REALLY want us to stop bothering with residential trips? Really? Because, you know, they're hard work to organise, hard work to run and really stressful. But we are doing our best to provide some fantastic experiences that the children might not otherwise get and will always remember.

I can't give up my holidays to take other people's children away, as I need to look after my own.

One thing about teaching- it's a good job it's rewarding in itself, because we'll never bloody win with parents or the general public.