To take our kids on hol in term-time

[zozzle]

We are taking our kids out of primary school to go abroad in term-time (end of June) and have been surprised at the slightly shocked/negative reactions I have had from other friends (mums in the playground). DCs are 4 (Reception) and 8 (yr 3).

My friends seem to tow the line more than me though, and admit they don't like breaking the rules. Breaking the rules has never bothered me though if I think the rules are unreasonable!

It will be the first time we will have been abroad as a family since DC were born and it's also partly to celebrate my 40th. We have holiday'd in the Uk for the last 8 years and fancied a change this year.

We can't afford to go abroad in the school holidays and the possible £100 fine we will incur from taking the kids out of school (although DC 2 is only 4 and doesn't legally have to be in school yet - so fine will prob only be applied to DC1) will still make the hol much cheaper than going in the school holidays.

Won't the hol be an educational experience in itself for the DCs? Wouldn't do it in SATs years or exam years. It is a v. middle class school with quietly pushy parents.

I just don't get what the big deal is!

I really feel for you.

You know, I used to be a real stickler for good attendance and disaproved of people taking their children out of school for a holiday. But if it boils down to going in term time or not having a holiday, then of course the holiday wins.

But I think there should be pressure on the government to not let these holiday companies bump up their prices in school holidays. That's the answer really. Or someone should start a travel company offering the same price holidays term time and holidays. They would make a killing and put pressure on other companies to follow suit.

Oh (and I'm whispering this) - I had LOADS of time off primary school due to my mum not being very particular about attendance. It affected my short-term school performance but in the long run....? Not at all. And that's with around 70% attendance, not just a one-off week or fortnight.

Hot or in England the fact is during the holidays all holidays are out of most people's pockets-even camping.

Really surprised that many of you think that my DCs visiting a foreign country for the first time holds no educational value - can't get my head round that attitude. We will be doing a lot of sight-seeing!

"But I think there should be pressure on the government to not let these holiday companies bump up their prices in school holidays."

You think a government that wants privatised healthcare is going to interfere with holiday companies' business models?

:o

A holiday in the sun is a luxury, not an entitlement.

The government's job is not to make sure everyone in the country gets a fortnight in Torremolinos every year to top up their melanomas.

Regardless if whether it is detrimental to your children the point is the rule is there for a reason.

If it were 'allowed' for parents to take their kids out of school whenever they fancied, it would make planning and teaching a cohort impossible.

Once you say it's ok for every child in the school to disappear for a week or two each year ( probably all around the spring/summer period) and of course a couple of long weekends ( or we'd never get to have a long weekend on Legoland/Eurodisney etc which is clearly our right), plus random days off for relatives birthdays, Saints Days or any number of other perfectly 'valid' reasons , the teachers at a school would never know who was going to be in their class from one week to the next.

And yes once you make it acceptable to miss school that is what would happen.

Or perhaps you think it's reasonable for your dc to do it, but obviously not if everyone does it?

Being actually AT SCHOOL has more educational value than a holiday.

The point isn't just whether being on holiday is more educationally beneficial to your children, but more about the impact on the rest of the class/school.

And Hairy makes a good point.

You have to have a definition of "educational" that is so broad as to be practically meaningless to think that going abroad is educational, in and of itself.

If doing something unremarkable for the first time is educational, then children should never go to school.

I think alot of heads say no because the EWO tells them too. That's what happened in our school. Head quite happy to approve term time holidays until forced to sign agreement by EWO.

fuck any family holiday imo where a dad who has been working hard all year, usually 14 hr days at least 3 times a week, can kick back and spend quality time with his family.

Not sure why everyone thinks that holidays are sitting by the pool. Our last family holiday we went to seven different states, two different national parks. Experienced what it is like walking at 10,000 ft on the nations highest road. Ate lunch with an elk, climbed into a ceremonial room built by people between AD 600 and 1300. Crossed the continental divide, saw high desert and low desert, alpine meadows and big cities and small villages. Saw monument valley, drank a date milkshake, saw the red rocks in Sedona, and four corners where four different states meet. I don't think we went in a pool the entire time we were gone, not unless you count the natural river pools in Sedona. Oh we also visited some universities because my son is 16 and starting to think about that. He really liked the University of Colorado in Boulder and went home and looked up what grades he would need to go there. That one thing alone probably did more for his schooling than anything else. (N.B. schooling, not education. They are different things).

No holidays aren't the be all and end all, but I think spending time making memories with your family are. There are many ways to do that but I believe holidays are something that help make you who you are and a more rounded person.

With families living so far apart from each other these days it is often the only way people can visit. Flights are far too expensive in school holidays.

Oh what a load of shit. Jeez anyone would think you're giving your children a lobotomy! Enjoy your hols OP

YABVU

I don't like the message it sends that rules are fine to be broken if they personally inconvenience you. After all, it personally inconveniences me every time I drive to the station at 30mph when I could merrily bomb along at 70 mph and have an extra three minutes in bed. What makes you special?

I don't like the message it sends that holidays are more important than education.

I don't like the inconvenience that it causes to teachers (who will have to supply materials in advance) to cater for your children's needs

I don't like the self-delusion or self-justification that holidays are educational experiences in themselves. Just be honest.

Parents who do this? It's just me me me, I reckon.

I'd like to see the LA fines up to £50 per child per day of unauthorised holiday. Useful source of revenue for the LA. Has to be a stick to counteract the carrot of cheaper flights, I reckon.

Big fat LOL at the holiday boasting :o

Wow, you have money to burn on long-haul holidays.

That doesn't make seeing an elk any more educational than seeing a badger. Or going to seven states more valuable in terms of family time than going to seven counties.

hope you sound like a bundle of joy

Thank you . I am the life and soul of every party.

I just don't like ... people who think rules are for other people. Ultimate form of selfishness. Like being a litter-lout, really.

Sorry if I am coming across as a bit of a table-biter on this subject.

Not at all, it's just that life isn't so black and white sometimes so rules need to be adapted occasionally.

There is an important difference between thinking rules are for other people and thinking certain rules are stupid.

The OP seems to be of the latter mind.

What I would like to know is whether the people who think the school holidays are too short are the same people who think it's imperative to take children out of school for cheap foreign holidays.

Because that I think is an inconsistency that should be challenged.

This position seems perfectly able to be interpreted in black and white.

If the OP had posted that her mother in Australia was breathing her last and she was taking the DCs out of school to say their final farewells, or some other such schmatlzy stuff, then that would indeed be a bit less clearcut situation.

Here the OP is just being self-centred and disruptive.

Where are you going OP?

Have a great time is what I say!!! Why are other parents so concerned with your actions, its nowt to do with them. I reckon they're just jealous . AGree with ElizaRegina, MN is not a good place to post this, you will just get a whole pile of vitriol.