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Original poster

Will my son miss out on important learning?

45 replies

WhenDoWeGo · 26/05/2021 23:26

We’ve booked to go to Disney world, Florida in October this year. There’ll be 14 of us going in total. We’ve decided to postpone it as we don't think it will go ahead or if it does we won’t get the best out of the experience.
We’ve discussed rebooking for either April 2022 or October 2022. I’ve said I’d definitely prefer October but some of the group are saying they would prefer April.
My problem is my eldest son will be in year 6 in April. We would be looking to go term time due to cost but will it be really bad for him to miss out on this learning time just before his SATS. Is there a lot of the time leading up to the SATS spent preparing for them? It would be the last two weeks in April that we would go.
Also the dates at the moment for SATS for 2022 are 9th - 13th May, Are they likely to change? Someone mentioned going the last two weeks in May but initially I’d said definitely not May due to the SATS dates not being set in stone.

OP posts:

mindutopia · 27/05/2021 06:00

SATS really don’t mean anything. They’re just so the school knows how they compare to other schools. Personally, given the option, I’d take him out during SATS as I think they’re unnecessary stress.

Otherwise, I’m sure it will be fine. I would just give a week between getting home and SATS so he can recover from jet lag and not be falling asleep.

RampantIvy · 27/05/2021 06:04

Better to go in year 6 in term time than year 7.

cariadlet · 27/05/2021 06:08

Primary school teacher here. Ideally, parents wouldn't take children out of school for holidays but if you are going to take a term time holiday then I'd say go in April.

Close to the SATs, your dc will probably be missing revision. In October, they will be missing new learning which is far more detrimental, especially if it leads to gaps in their maths knowledge and understanding.

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Mumdiva99 · 27/05/2021 06:10

Sats are a big focus in primary school. The dates will not change. I agree that a sat result is not going to impact long term on his life. But, his experience of year 6 will have Sats as part of the focus so it feels a bit unfair to have him working towards them only to take him out in the crucial 2 weeks before the SATs. If there is anyway you can take him in late May/June it would be better.

VenusClapTrap · 27/05/2021 06:16

I wouldn’t take a child out of school in year 6 at all. It’s an important year.

Crunchymum · 27/05/2021 06:19

How much school would the child be missing?

Surely, as the parent, your preferences of when you go should take into consideration what is least disruptive for your child? (And missing potentially weeks of schooling a month into Y7 doesn't sound like a good idea!! Although missing weeks of schooling, by choice, at any time isn't ideal)

MrsWombat · 27/05/2021 06:22

Out of those two options I would go for April 2022.

starbrightstarlight8888 · 27/05/2021 06:24

I wouldn't take a year 6 child on holiday in term time.

EversoDelighted · 27/05/2021 06:25

I'd be wary of missing SATS week or later because the week itself is made into a big event, my two loved it as the school put on breakfast in the hall and they had things like games of rounders in the afternoon. Then towards the end of term its their final sports day, settling in sessions at secondary school, leavers events and just generally making the most of being the senior year in the school. Mine would have hated to miss any of this.

Autumn101 · 27/05/2021 06:30

I would miss time in year 6 rather than year 7 - he’ll just be settling in and adjusting and making new friends etc.

SATs didn’t happen this year for the current year 6s so you never know what can happen!

Cattitudes · 27/05/2021 06:32

Missing the two weeks before SATs will probably be frowned on by the school but to be honest some schools whip up the stress and concentrate on lots of past papers which makes the lead up to it quite stressful. If you are concerned about his work then I would invest time/tutor now in him while he can develop that understanding at a slower pace than rely on two weeks of cramming before the SATs.

Sittinonthesand · 27/05/2021 06:43

You definitely should not miss school in the October of year 7, really important settling time. It’s just the time when school starts to feel ‘normal’ and they are getting through the work and friendships are being consolidated. You would be doing your child a great disservice by going then.

Y6 not a problem. Assuming your child is going to find the SATS easy.

Cannes12 · 27/05/2021 06:47

The teachers will understand but will not be happy at all after the years and effort they have put into your son. If you really must, go for October as they can catch him up when he's back.

Sittinonthesand · 27/05/2021 06:54

Er Cannes, in secondary school the teachers won’t ‘catch him up’ it will be up to the child to do that. Different if school is missed through illness.

Onceuponatime1818 · 27/05/2021 06:56

@mindutopia

As a secondary teacher I would really disagree.

Their GCSE targets are based on their year 6 SATs scores. So sadly, imagine the secondary school can afford 1-1 interventions for 10 kids in maths/English etc. They would never pick the kid without SATS for extra support as that kids data won’t count in the % of the school.

Wrong but true.

Smartiepants79 · 27/05/2021 07:02

How well is he getting on with school? Some kids could miss that time, come back and breeze through the assessments.
For others they will have missed preparation time that could have made all the difference.
As a year 6 teacher I’d be fed up with a child being taken on a jolly at that time of year.
SATS are a big deal to the school. And no, they are not going to change his life but they are used to set expectations for levels going forward. They may impact which classes he’s out into in year 7.
I hate SATS but they are still part of our assessment system so have to be taken seriously.
You need to decide if you think he’s going to be disadvantaged by missing the time.

GenderApostate19 · 27/05/2021 07:02

Easter is April next year so he could end up having the whole month off.
Prices the week either side are usually just as expensive too.
October is also a FAR better time, crowds wise, for doing Orlando. It’s US spring break as well as Easter.

Cannes12 · 27/05/2021 07:02

@Sittinonthesand
Ah sorry yes the October one will will be in year 7 won't it. If it was October of year 6 the teachers absolutely would catch him up as we're desperate for them to pass their Sats.

extravirginoliveoil · 27/05/2021 07:05

Personally, I’d do October. Easter and Christmas are the two busiest times under usual circumstances. Thing is, it’s going to be hugely busy all round as over a years worth of holidays are now being crammed into next year. I’d focus on 2023 personally. I know that’s hard when you just want to go though.

GenderApostate19 · 27/05/2021 07:07

Also, in October you get the parks decorated for Halloween then during the 1st week of November they switch over to Xmas 😉

ineedaholidaynow · 27/05/2021 07:07

How would your child feel missing that much school at either of these crucial times?

Some children will worry that they are missing the practice for SATs. As one poster has said they can be important for Secondary School. Many children want to do well in their SATs.

Sittinonthesand · 27/05/2021 07:10

You need to start to consider if you should be missing 2 weeks of school at all, rather than which is the least bad.

Roselilly36 · 27/05/2021 07:16

Easter/Spring break is a busy time, certainly. There is no good time to take a child out of school, but lots of parents do it. Including myself, when we went to Florida I took my boys out for one week of our trip. Sadly we did have exceptional circumstances so we did not receive a fine. But the week made a difference to whether we could afford to take the trip, that we knew we wouldn’t be able to do again to medical reasons. Having been through sats with my two & starting high school, I would choose yr6 rather than year7. Have a lovely time.

RampantIvy · 27/05/2021 07:17

@Cannes12

The teachers will understand but will not be happy at all after the years and effort they have put into your son. If you really must, go for October as they can catch him up when he's back.

No they won't, not in secondary school. The onus is on the child to catch up.

Could you not go for the spring bank half term week and the week after instead? In year 6 the weeks after the SATS are more fun and less focussed on learning.

Iamnotthe1 · 27/05/2021 07:25

Y6 teacher here.

The dates for the end of KS2 assessments won't change.

To those who say they don't matter to the child, I'm afraid you're very mistaken. A child's official GCSE targets are set directly from their KS2 assessment results. Schools cannot change these and will be judged against. They may set their own internal targets but these don't matter outside of the school.

If a child performs well, they will be pushed and challenged to reach the higher targets. If they perform poorly, they won't. If a child has no KS2 data, they won't count towards the secondary school's score (upon which a secondary school is judged). As a PP said, this can lead to them being less of a focus for support, intervention and challenge.

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