To take them out of school for three days?

[lisad123]

I know this is going to divide all or turn into a bun fight, but I'm strong and have helmet and popcorn ready :)
I have two girls who we would like to take to Disneyland Paris. Dd1 will be in year 5 and dd2 will be in reception. They both have autism and don't manage large crowds and noise too well.
I have looked at school holidays but friend made it clear that the whole of France is on holiday in aug! Weekends are mad busy and we are better to go midweek.
Do I go knowing we might get fined from school but know the girls will have a better time OR risk the school holidays??

oh and they might not learn a lot of "culture" but they will learn about different language, currency, travel and such use of transport and hotels etc

Oh and if you take a docs letter stating diagnosis and hates crowds etc, they'l give you a priority pass, which means you can go on all the rides via the exits and avoid the Qs :-)

I have never taken my kids out of school for a holiday and when we were poorer missed out on holidays rather than take them out of school.
However your circumstances are completly different to mine.
If I was in your shoes I would do it tbh.

A lot of heads are very reasonable it and do understand. There is a points system in place which your head will have to complete for each child and if they come in under a certain score, then the hol can be authorised at heads discretion. At heads discretion means just that though, they CAN authorise up to 10 days agreed family holiday per sch year, however a lot of parents fall at this first hurdle when they make the assumption they are entitled to these 10 days agreed hol!!!!

There is nothing more likely to make a head say no, than being told it is your right to the holiday!!!!

However I digress, you could also write to the chair of governors at the school and send a copy to your schools education welfare officer (this is the person that issues the fine if one is to be issued and often getting jn first with them can be a blessing - especially if your head teacher is an arsehole!!!)

One thing to be aware of though, if you do get a fine, don't ignore it. You only have 28 days to pay it or it doubles, and if you continue to ignore it, you WILL be summonses before a magistrate (county court) where you could be fined up to £1000, given an absolute discharge or handed a community sentence or parenting order!

IME if you are making a reasonable request in a reasonable manner, then only an unreasonable person would turn you down flat without considering the situation.

There are various other loop holes too, and I'm happy to share them if need be some are a bit drastic though!!!! Lol!!!

@ willbeskinny LAs have been issued truancy penalty notices for term time holidays for at least the last 5 years if not longer!!

It's not the school per se that issues the fine, it's the local authority, and they are picked up on official register checks in school which should be done termly by the education welfare officer!

Schools c an request fines for repeat offenders and those with poor attendance anyway, but generally family holidays that are not agreed are picked up by EWO at register checks!

Can completely understand why you'd prefer to do it when it's less busy.

But to pretend it's going to be in any way educational or has cultural benefits is just ridiculous! (I know you didn't suggest it OP). Concentrate on your perfectly legitimate reasons instead.

I didn't know that Babylon1. I thought that kinda thing was for those who are persistantly off and have a low attendance. I didn't think anyone who took their child out of school for a hol could actually be fined :-s

And I disagree that it can't be educational. Whilst by visiting Disney itself, we weren't really getting much in the way of how the French live and their culture, we did encourage DC's to use the small bit of French they know, they tried different foods they wouldn't normally try at home and DS kept a holiday diary, which enabled him to practice both his spelling and handwriting whilst away. We also discussed the EuroTunnel (we drove) and how it was built etc and DS was also keen to know about the border control and what they do there.

While yes it was a holiday and we were there to have fun, I think DS (and DD) learnt a lot of things they didn't know before, that was not in any way Disney related.

Do it I'm taking Dd and ds3 out next September for 2 weeks yo go away and am excepting that I shall be either fined or flammed

But ds3 can not cope with crowds and wheelchair accommodation is tricky to find to

YANBU - they are really young and have no life-changing exams to face. Can schools fine you then? I had no idea. DH and I were plotting very long-term about a trip to NZ, in which the Easter break and a week skived off were mooted.

I'd feel like telling them to sod off, TBH. Any trip to NZ with me would involve geology and zoology ad nauseum... lots of walking has PE covered, maths by currency conversions, literature because they'd read a lot on the flight; only languages would suffer. I'm going off point here. Actually just expanding what willbeskinny has already said.

Take them. :)

And, the story of your head refusing last time still makes me froth with rage. Just nasty and unkind and mean.

I'm taking DD (Y1) out of school for 2 weeks in summer term [shrugs]. Teacher is fine with it, and HT has raised no objection. 10 days per year is permitted in our school.

YANBU. If you were homeschooling it would be fine. YOU know you're not being irresponsible, and that your DCs will have great memories, and that's what matters IMO.

Do check out a forum like thedibb.co.uk which has a Paris section with lots of advice for travellers going to Disneyland Paris.

Disney also make accomodations for guests with disabilities - you can get a card which you show at rides eg to allow you to wait in a quieter area.

If they are interested in characters the meets are a scrum not organised like in Florida. A character meal would let them meet characters in a much more civilised fashion.

Have a lovely holiday.

I'm not sure about the meeting characters, dd1 used to have a massive meltdown at large characters in suits. Are they in full suits or just dressed up people iyswim

Hmm... just read Babylon's post. I see I will have to suck it up and not be so damned belligerent if the head at the time does object.

Two sorts of characters - you get face characters like princesses (a girl in a dress and wig!) and the ones in suits like mickey or winnie pooh.

No need to meet the characters if they don't want to.

The school thing is your call obviously.

But just so you know, even on 'quiet' days, Disneyland is heaving with crowds and loads of characters dressed up in full suits.

If you phone Disney in advance and tell them you are travelling with 2 children with autism, they will help make it less stressful for you. Disney are really good on assisting those who need it; whatever the reason. You can (or at least could) book a meet-the-princesses event without others around I'd that helps your daughters. They also have special passes for queue-jumping if that's something else they find difficult.

But, definitely pre-mention it for the food because Disney are really arsey about bringing food/ drink in except if your kids have specific dietary needs.

Just so you're clear, a fine would be £50 per parent per child, so £200 in total. Looking at some of the Disneyland Paris prices, you'd still be quids in to get a short break there "off peak" and pay the fine.

Is that correct-you are fined per parent and per child? So, you would pay more as a couple than a single parent?

If they don't like crowds you don't need to take them to Eurodisney at all. Just a thought! There are plenty of other nice places that they'd love where you can get away from it all.

Could it be that you fancy eurodisney, but don't fancy the prices during school holidays?

It's 3 days and by are primary cool age. Reality is that 3 days off cool is not oing to hav any notice effect on their academic learning, not now nor in the future. Honestly, it just isn't.

Whether you r isk the potential fine or not is something you'd need to weigh up.

But it will probably be busy even in term time.

Lisa - I'd definitely take them out of school to go. If you call Disney they will help you with the dates they expect to be quieter. Also ask them about a pass for the DD's & what you need to show them to qualify for a 'diability fast pass' and USE IT. If you can do that then the 'crowds' isn't too much of an issue, it's really in the queuing that you feel crowded and hemmed in.

Babylon - this Head doesn't have a shred of compassion - you should have read the thread last time :( DD1 was only in yr1 (from memory?!) and the Head was acting as though she'd fuck up her GCSE's if she had some time off - the fact that McMillan had given the family some money to go away after her Dad's dx really didn't seem to cross her radar - despite it being pointed out in no uncertain terms. It still makes my blood boil.

The girls have asked to go and we have been given a voucher to help with making this possible for them. The cost isn't the issue, we can get a few days in aug for a reasonable price tbh.
We have tried so many different holidays in our years and some have been a no go completely but others have been ok. We don't like to avoid trying new things because I'm not always going to be here to protect them but I can make their first experiences of new things easier on them then the hope is they will continue to try new stuff even when they know it might be hard iyswim.
Thanks for the tips, someone has suggested Davie Crockett might be best as not so busy and cabins rather than rooms, which sounds good for us.
We will take Eurostar as not quite up for trying dd2 on a plane yet
Will talk to heads (separate schools) when we go back and see what happens.

Thanks chippin, sadly the governors backed her too. They have also made it clear they don't want dd2 in their school do hence why they will be at separate schools, and I will have to do two school runs for the next two years. Got to love these "outstanding" schools