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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think why are these children not at school?

75 replies

Pigsmummy · 19/06/2013 14:20

I am on holiday in a lovely British coastal resort, the weather is lovely so mid morning we took a walk along the beach and around the town, there are loads of british families out with school age children, ages ranging from 5 - 13 ish. It's term time so I am wondering why they are not in school?

I know that it's none of my business but we are intrigued, especially as it seems so difficult to take children out of school (our DD isn't yet in school but the impression that I get is that schools frown upon mid term holidays and impose fines too).

OP posts:
Yonihadtoask · 19/06/2013 14:21

Maybe they have an inset day today?

I know DS is off next Wednesday for that reason.

DialsMavis · 19/06/2013 14:22

Ex pats on holiday
Home schooled
Families who think a family holiday is more important than a week at primary school.

HeySoulSister · 19/06/2013 14:22

no,not all impose fines

maybe they have just gone on holiday....regardless

or are home educators?

insanityscratching · 19/06/2013 14:24

Maybe they are home educated, maybe ti's an INSET day in the area you are holidaying, maybe they have schools that authorise holidays like my dd and ds's school. We were on holiday last week with permission.

marcopront · 19/06/2013 14:24

Maybe they don't live in the UK and they are on holiday, that will be me next week.
Maybe they are home schooled.

MortifiedAdams · 19/06/2013 14:24

How do you know they are all British?

Sparklymommy · 19/06/2013 14:26

My daughter is off school today with tonsillitis. We have been in town, to the drs. She looks fine but isn't.

KikeriFreedomCastle · 19/06/2013 14:26

School is not compulsory (thinking home educated).

Feminine · 19/06/2013 14:27

op its not difficult to take them out...you just do.

afterwards however...Wink

Some parents think its worth the death stares from the staff!

InViennaWeWerePoetry · 19/06/2013 14:27

FDD and I were one of those families about 2 weeks ago, I'd just been given guardianship and she hadn't started her new school yet.

meditrina · 19/06/2013 14:30

We usually have insets at start or end of a week. But if even one local school had one today, that would loose an awful lot of DC.

Original poster
Pigsmummy · 19/06/2013 14:32

I was thinking home schoolers and actually quite envious that it might involve a day (or at least a few hours) on a nice beach!

OP posts:
KikeriFreedomCastle · 19/06/2013 14:35

In my experience, it's not uncommon for home educators to take their work outdoors in this weather, beaches and fields being amongst favourite places.

FryOneFatManic · 19/06/2013 14:40

There could be many reasons. I have been asked before, while on holiday, why the DCs were not in school.

It was the school holidays. But our county is often a bit different to most of England, and frequently the summer holiday can begin 1-2 weeks before other counties (but we go back 1-2 weeks earlier as well). The person asking took some convincing, he was all for reporting us Hmm.

It's the only time anyone has actually asked us, although given the shool holiday difference I'd be surprised if other people didn't at least think it.

IShallWearMidnight · 19/06/2013 14:49

have the Scottish schools not broken up? Otherwise private schools in Scotland may well have done.

LilacPeony · 19/06/2013 14:52

We had four days holiday authorised by school recently.

ConfusedPixie · 19/06/2013 14:55

I'd day home edders our steiner kids. I nanny steiner and he'd kids in brighton, parks are full of their peers and other home educated kids from lunch time! It's quite nice :)

BadRoly · 19/06/2013 15:01

May last year my dc had a week off school to go to their 2 grandfathers's funerals - one 3hrs drive away on the Tuesday and the other 3 hours on from that on the Friday. We did nice things on the Weds and Thurs so they would have been obvious school age children out of school and outside because it was sunny.

Then I took them out for a day trip about this time last year (we'd been given cheap tickets to the zoo) because I felt they deserved a lovely family day out after all the crap of losing dad/fil. Again they stood out as being unusual and that was another lovely sunny day!

teenagetantrums · 19/06/2013 15:07

They are on holiday? we always took our kids out for a week in the summer term. Its a nice day maybe the partents took them out of school for a fun day?

Also children often dont look thier age, the ones you think are five maybe are younger and have not started school yet. My DD is 16 and some of her friends look about 12 but they are all on study leave now and have finshed school apart from exams.

FreyaSnow · 19/06/2013 15:23

Some schools in the North have Wakes Week at various points in June, then have a shorter Summer holiday. We always went on holiday to the South in Wakes week because it was cheaper as most people were in school.

bochead · 19/06/2013 15:23

Chicken pox is doing the rounds and there's a few days between kids being properly ill & the same child being allowed back into school. daft but there's a possible reason - might as well be at the beach as be cooped up.

Inset days
Home edders

MerryOnMerlot · 19/06/2013 15:26

Scottish schools not off yet, at least in Aberdeen. My DS finishes on 26th and DD finishes on 5th July.

qme · 19/06/2013 15:27

GCSE's have finished - you might have seen some of those kids

usualsuspect · 19/06/2013 15:30

I would say they are taking advantage of cheaper holidays.
Don't blame them tbh.

Arudonto · 19/06/2013 15:39

Maybe they are not British. The Irish schools are off for two or three months over the summer depending on age....we used to always holiday in Wales before the British schools were off...and felt very sorry for the poor kids heading to school while we were on the beach/off to oakwood etc

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