To think if parents can't take their kids out of school for educational holidays then neither should schools

[Prarieflower]

I'm not talking about cheap field trips but expensive jaunts few can afford to places like ski-ing or in the MS case Hollywood,Disney and Rodeo Drive.

Aside from anything else(the unfairness when parents can't even take their own kids out for a one day museum trip) having my kids being taught by jet lagged,exhausted teachers on their return for little educational benefit to a handful is not acceptable imvho.

Prarieflower do you work full time? Are you on a decent wage? If nt, why not. Is this something you can change? Then you might be able to afford to squirrel away some extra cash.

Whois my kids are good are generally don't badger atm as they're not materialistic and understand the value of money and not wasting in.Being presented with a letter from school is a whole different matter-they will assume it's necessary and I'm going against school.Tbh the waste of money/ resources and upheaval bothers me more.

I think it's time it got looked into.

I think children should be allowed out of school for a family holiday. Limited to a week even. Some children are always off school for no good reason. Mine weren't. I think it probably should be at the discretion of the Head. If attendance is good then I can't see the problem.

Who I've always worked bar when I had 3 under 18months as 3 in full time nursery would have cost me more.

I wasn't aware it was a crime not to be able to afford frivolous and non essential trips.

Vivienne I agree

Staff sickness causes upheaval and it will be a lot more than a planned tripped. With the planned trip, lessons will also have been planned to ensure other classes continue as normal... Sickness not always the case and the substitute has to try and work out what is going on.

Yeah I must be very loaded to squirrel away a tenner or so a month.

Children having time off during term time is already at the discretion of the head. It isn't just about attendance that is considered but the impact that it would have on the individual student. If its exam time, or if the student is already behind in work because they are struggling then allowing time off is not in the best interests of the students.

A tenner a month isn't going to pay for a £800 trip X 2 or 3.

The point is staff sickness is unavoidable.

It's not a crime, and you are perfectly entitled to not send your DC on them. However, demanding that all non-essential (in your very specific opinion) trips should be banned completely is a totally different matter.

If all parents should all be allowed to take kids out of school for holidays, does that include parents who are also teachers?

Many schools don't allow time off regardless and they are removing heads being allowed to ok it anyhow.

my 2 older kids school doesnt allow any time off in term time,trips sking disneyland have gone on for years when i was at school they did a ski trip,trips to disneyland in the usa(every 2 yrs) and i went to disneyland paris when it 1st opened with my school.

I didn't say all non essential trips should be banned I said it needs looking into to stop abuse of the system.

I just think there should be strict regulations and schools should be accountable to OFSTED re trips-maybe they already are in which case perhaps it needs to be tightened up more.

This subject annoys many parents,times change and all sectors are having to tighten purse strings and resources.

I totally agree Vivienne. It would save so much hassle and endless discussion about the why's and wherefores.

I am taking dd out for 7 days next year, have timed it so it's the last term of the year before she goes up to Year 2 so she will be well settled in to peer groups etc. I haven't asked yet as it's so far off but am dreading putting in the request.

Oh and I agree OP.

But don't you see though your reason about disruption is totally invalid because they do not cause disruption to the lessons. Do you really think that teachers just go off without leaving a lesson plan for whoever is covering? Just because the math teacher has gone, doesn't mean that the students wont have math for that week.

How exactly is the system being abused? Parents have their own priorities. Mine is to give my children a number of different experiences and I have made sacrifices to ensure this happens, including working around my partner so we both have an income. Not having a social life at times. Having budgets etc. As a parent many things annoy me, but I don't expect the rest of society to change to placate me.

akaemma AND OP - what about parents who are teachers? Do we get to take our kids out during term time too?

OFSTED have enough to look at without investigating trips. Abuse of the system? Oh please. Now you sound hysterical.

Abuse of the system? Huh? What 'system' and what 'abuse' do you talk of.

Prarieflower You still haven't answered my question about your working situation? If you are currently a SAHM of a pt worker with 3 DCs in school, then you might find that of you worked full time you would be able to pay for a school trip for your kids.

Plus, what's the going rate for a paper round these days? £10 a week? Give or take a few weeks off for holidays that's £500 a year, so you wouldn't need to find too much extra to top it up (birthday and Christmas money?) if one of your DCs REALLY wanted to go.

I am sure your DCs do not think you are 'going against school' by not paying for a trip to Euro Disney or whatever. That sounds more like child manipulation into trying to get you to cough up!

A £100 a night school trip to Rodeo Drive-enough said.Seriously! I still haven't been told what possible justification there could be for such a trip.If there is no valid justification it is an abuse of the system or the rules re organising trips are waaaay too relaxed.

You could have both parents working full time and still not be able to afford such trips.Not everybody has well paid work or disposable income after bills with 2 workers.

You do seem very obsessed about Rodeo Drive.
I don't know of a school which takes students there.

Ours does a ski trip every 2 years and a watersports trip to Barcelona every 2 years.
There are so many applicants, it has to be done by pulling names out of a hat.
And we are not in a posh area.

When dcs went, that was their holiday for the year.

OP. Here's what you need to do:

1. Find out which school it was that ran the trip (I expect it's in the papers, what with the recent coverage)
2. Phone the school and find out which member of staff organised the trip,
3. Ask them.

You are now apparently fixated on ONE trip run by ONE school, so asking on MN is unlikely to get you what you want.

Also, can you answer the question I asked which you are avoiding- if all patents should be allowed to take their kids out of school for a holiday, does that include parents who are teachers?

No teachers have signed terms and conditions like many other sectors.

Sorry using RD(which has been widely reported) as an example in reference to the extreme expensive end of these trips-the ones to DLP,ski-ing and other long haul locations-seriously a teachers life is busy enough as it is,organising something like this is unnecessary.Trips like this aren't a perk or needed.

I can't think of any part of the curriculum(bar Mandarin for those who do it)which couldn't be covered by a cheap trip in GB or Europe if they need to be enriched/supported by a trip.

One point I would like to raise is that if schools are going to organise educational trips, they should ensure that they can take all the pupils who would like to go. My ds absolutely loves History and is doing it for GCSe and intends to take it for A Level. The school are doing a trip to Germany, which interests him hugely and would benefit him enormously, but he cannot go because places are limited.

This strikes me as unfair.

The room was £100 a night, not each. The rooms had 3 or more students staying in them, thus reducing the cost. 50 pupils went, so not just a few. Could be at that school, pupils and parents were consulted about trips before hand. It does happen you know.

"No teachers have signed..."

And most parents sign a home-school agreement.

I teach about 40 students in yr 10. That could potentially mean a different student missing from lessons for a week every single week of the school year, that's before unavoidable illness. That would be an awful lot of disruption.

I see you have now changed tactics and are trying to make out that trips should be stopped because teachers don't have time to organise them. If teachers are doing it freely, without pressure, is that OK?

It seems to me that the OP won't be happy until she is able to write the rules herself and insist that everyone else follows them.

Not all the curriculum is based on topics that can be catered for within Europe.