to think that taking a Nursery School child out of school during term time for a holiday

[akaEmmaFrost]

is not actually a big deal really?

Seeing as legally she doesn't even have to be there anyway?

What do we think abou this?

Nursery is childcare surely
anything learnt there is a bonus

Ofsted are only interested in the attendance levels of compulsory age children. Technically, your child doesn't have to be in school until the term AFTER they are 5, so if it's recorded as 'unautorised' that's inaccurate. The head can't authorise or not as you don't need authorisation IYSWIM.

Are you in Leicester by any chance? Council are putting huge pressure on heads to improve attendance levels here (they may be in other places, I only have DSis authority to compare with). Headteacher threatened to take me to court over DS having holiday in reception year, rapidly backtracked when I pointed out that, as a child with an August birthday, he didn't legally have to be in any form of education.

No in london but HT nuts about attendance, I suppose they all are really but it really seems to be her "thing".

cjbartlett Wed 15-Jun-11 17:48:53
Nursery is childcare surely
anything learnt there is a bonus

Yes it is childcare, but to totally negate the work that nursery practitioners do wrt to teaching and educating children is insulting tbh

Anyway, to answer the OP - YANBU

i did with my 4yo old a few weeks ago as i reasoned it may be the last time we dont have topay full price no big deal he does ent start reception untill september the school was absolutley fine with it

we just got back from a term time hol - DD1 is in pre school 5 mornings, but we just let them know she wouldn't be in that week. no big deal i my, or the schools opinion.

they did send out a notice a while back though saying that if children missed lots of school they risked loosing their funding for their place (if they were over 3 obv) don't know how true that is.

Pre school nursery is more than just childcare. People don't send their children to a setting for three hours childcare, it's there for children to learn. Even full time day care has to provide an education. Why do you think this government and last has provided free pre school sessions for three year olds, those sessions only lasting for three hours? It's not so that Mums can work for 2 and a half hours a day or get a chance to watch Jeremy Kyle. It's because effective pre school education has been proven to have a drastic affect on childrens achievement at primary school, and their future outcomes.

I find it really sad that parents place so little value on what nursery staff do. They do have to be qualified in Early Years Education, and every setting has to be managed by someone who has a degree in Early Years education. There is a lot to know!

I don't think you are being unreasonable at all. At that age, the emphasis is on learning through play for good reason. I'm sure I don't need to point out that learning does not just happen in the classroom. They have the rest of their lives for formal learning surely? I don't think anyone is saying education is not important, but let's put things into perspective a bit. They're still babies essentially!

I think it's fine but I also feel it's ok to take my kids out of school to go on holiday

I think it's fine. Does the head actually know your dc is not of compulsory school age yet?! Or do you have older children at the same school?

We did it with ds1 the term before he was due to start primary, no problem whatsoever - holiday was way less than half the price it had been in the previous (half term) week.

Can't do it now though No prob taking ds out still, but dh is now a teacher and that sort of behaviour is kinda frowned upon

Well it's not compulsory education but I take the point about disrupting planned learning.

Having said that, my DS' preschool (primary school preschool) have never batted an eyelid when I've taken mine out for a week's holiday. And we regularly take our DSs out for family days in the week as DH works at the weekends... We let them know as far in advance as possible.

They are still so so tiny and these years go so fast. The response of the nursery teacher is always 'Well come back and tell us all about what you did then!'

DD's keyworker always respond with a 'fabulous, have a lovely time, remember to take some pictures for us to look at'.

They've got 12yrs of compulsory attendance ahead of them. Your HT sounds a bit obsessive.

I can't see why it would be considered a problem for a couple of weeks a year.

Much more than that could cause problems with funding, but seeing as the average family wouldn't go away for months at a time I really can't see the problem.

I don't think a holiday would disrupt preschool education at all, I was just saying that it is education and it is far more than just childcare in response to another poster.

I actually think that at preschool age, a holiday can aid learning within the setting. For example, we had a child off because he went to Spain last week. As pre school education is supposed to be child led, we used that temporary interest in Spain to show where it was on the globe, to talk about the fact that Mummy and Daddy used different money when they were there, we listened to some flamenco music and watched some flamenco dancers on the government provided laptop. Small children learn about how airports work and security and planes and passports, all things that contribute to their understanding of the world around them, but for an older child that isn't quite as exciting, especially if they have already found out about it all while they were younger. Which is one of the reasons why I think if you are going to do it, you most definately should do it while they are still at nursery.

A good nursery would have no objection to this from the aspect of learning because they should be able to support the learning that goes on during a holiday, but a HT might just because they care so much about attendance figures. That doesn't mean the HT is right though!

of course its ok, but then i would happily take my children out of school for a holiday too.

me too knittedbreast but I suspect we will be roasted alive for saying so.

Personally and speaking as a former teacher myself, unless the child is taken out during the run up to Y6 sats, then I never had a problem parents taking any primary children out of school in term time for a week or two. It's not the end of the world. It's disgusting the way travel companies and hotels put up prices during school holidays. We now run our own company which means we are extremely busy all summer and will have no option but to take children out of school if we want holidays. Of course there are some families whose children will lie on a beach for a fortnight, but there are also many where a visit somewhere new can broaden their horizons and educate them more than sitting in classroom with 30 others.

Oh right
mine went to nursery while I worked
I don't get the three hours a day if you're a Sahm
I think a holiday with your parents would be far more beneficial
but I've always had to work so I guess I'm missing something here

it's ok, knitted and emma

i almost did a little dance when i read 'please try not to book holidays during this time' on the DDs school website, under the calendar listing for the SATs tests - so happy she's got in there

OMG - do it now - you will get such grief for the next 12 years! At nursery age take advantage of the cheaper deals.

no. i took my dd out of reception, because she was not yet 5 and not of compulsary school age. may have pissed off the head though, especially ewhen i pointed this out to him.