Teachers or experts help? When is least distruptive to have a holiday in October

[TattyBoomBoom]

Planning a 3 week holiday using the October one-week half term. So three weeks' holiday, but only 2 weeks missed of school.

Would it be more sensible/least disruptive to have the trip in the two weeks before half term and come home on the last weekend of half term, or take one week before half term and one week after?

Children will be Year 5 and Year 8 (England), so not exam years and both comfortably achieving greater depth educationally. Can't travel in summer as too hot in destination.

I know! Sometimes you just couldn't make it up. However, there are so many lovely parents out there - supportive, appreciative, and fully cognisant of the nature of the beast. They're great.

As someone who takes their kids out of school for holidays(live in Wales, so they arent so strict), I think taking them out for 2 weeks, is too much. Why do you need a 3 week holiday?. I'd do it before the Oct half term, if that's the choice but think twice about taking them out for so long.

@TattyBoomBoom where are you going which needs three weeks?

There is never a good time to take a child out of school for two weeks, exam year or not.

You'll probably miss the first Data Drop assessments for Year 8. Add in the three weeks they'll miss for your 90% attendance (ie, borderline severe absence), missing the end/consolidation of some topics and the start of others and I'm sure it won't matter that they've effectively missed an entire half term by July in favour of you having a holiday in Sicily/Florida/Jamaica/etc.

We had a parent earnestly assuring us that the week in Spain was "educational" and the children would teach the class all about Spain on their return! Er, no, the children who have been carrying on working in school do not want to sit through a slide show of your kids holiday pictures when they get back😳

It's always educational, @spanieleyes !

Does it have to be October ?

There's Christmas and Easter holidays too

@TattyBoomBoom ignore the naysayers. I'd take two weeks before half term so they come back for a new half term with others. For those ages it will have no impact.

School holiday dates are antiquated and don't work for modern families. Flexibility is further reduced when Easter and May half term are blown out in yr 11 and 13, which can impact a family across many years once siblings are accounted for.

I bet you'd be the first one to complain if your children's teachers had so much as a day off sick, let alone two weeks off for a holiday

All families are "modern families" , @Waterlooville . Most parents seem to manage more than adequately, manage their holidays and successfully steer their children through schooling in spite of the rigidity of term dates.

What would you suggest would work then @Waterlooville ? I agree it’s a pain especially in the (seemingly endless, just been there) year 11 to 13 for multi DC stretch but I don’t really have any answers and agree with others that in the current system two weeks out is a massive disruption on top of an already not great set of attendance figures.

I'm taking mine out 2 weeks before half term in October. Only in year 2 though

This has gone on quite a big tangent 😆 I appreciate those actually making good reasoning for which weeks to take. Yes, it has to be October and yes, it's a long trip because the destination is 14 hours' flight away. But the suggestion of 2.5 weeks leading up to half term was a good one. I'll play around with itineraries.

My kids barely did any prescribed school work in lockdown and are still working far beyond greater depth. As Y6 SATs results this week have confirmed.

But regardless, of course I wouldn't ask teachers to help catch them up! I'm very supportive of school and we've never taken the kids out of school for a trip/holiday/similar, not even a day. Barely let them stay off when ill. This is a one-off.

Year 2 is a crucial year in terms of development and progress.
Why do some people minimise and underestimate the importance of the primary years?

Did you even read the OP?

Why do you say this? 🤔 Absolutely odd.

We had one better than this even - set up a Google meet IN lessons and live stream to their destination!

Some holiday for the kids that would have been. But some parents are only interested in themselves.

Far been greater depth in Year 7? Is that what the school have said?

In which case, @TattyBoomBoom , just consult the school calendar for minimum disruption, as advised upthread.

Child is currently Y6 hence my reference to SATS 🙄

So what does far beyond greater depth look like in SATs then?

This isnt happening for almost 18 months then?
Cant even be booked until November this year?
Seems very drama llama to create a thread about it all.

My kids barely did any prescribed school work in lockdown

Then you've put them at a disadvantage compared to the progress they could have made and treated their teachers who prepare and deliver the curriculum with disdain.

As you'll do again by taking them on a 3 week holiday during term time, when you have 13 weeks a year to choose from.

So why do you care which week? Unless you're asking about which is least disruptive to ensure you can pick the opposite, in your contrary way.

I'm not creating any drama. It's a big trip and needs planning ahead, obviously. Not least to know what to budget!

I said "...are still working far beyond greater depth. As Y6 SATs results this week have confirmed."
My first clause above was quoting their end of year reports written by school and received recently. My second clause was to suggest it wasn't subjective, because standardised tests corroborate what teachers tell us. Since you asked.

Go in summer! They have 6.5 weeks off, it's disruptive to miss school in term time