holidays in term time

[ruledbyheart]

Yes probably am being unreasonable but I am looking at booking our first family holiday next year only to a haven holiday camp but thought it would be nice for the DC to have a holiday and for me it would be the first since I was 16, But 2 of my 4 dc will be in full time school only reception and yr1 and I have found out I cannot take them out in term time.

I have looked into the prices and to go term time it would only cost us £150 but if we stuck to the school holidays the price quickly jumps to £450.

I think its disgusting as a family on an extremely low income (less than 12000PA) we cannot afford to go on holiday, factoring all our costs I need to save about 100pm to be able to afford to go in term time which will be very tight and impossible to save enough to go during school holidays.

WIBU to just take the children out of school for one week its not like at the ages of 4 and 5yrs they would miss much or do I not risk it (Ive heard rumours you can be fined?) and have to wait a lot longer for a holiday?

Haha. I obviously mean doing it with them. Shouting out spelling, listening to reading etc.

Actually if I could do it on my own, it would take me half the time.

Then I think that's what you should do, summerblaze

As two working parents, we earn less than £30 k. I have 2 jobs.

Yet still it's us who will lose a holiday due to the current government and their policies.

I agree, I would prefer my children in school learning, therefore tackle the holiday retailers somehow or stagger school holidays

£1,000 for a holiday in the school hols? For 2 adults and 3 children? for a week?
Dream on.

2712 do you mean the cost of everything for the week (food, trips, etc)? Then you may be right.

But we've just booked a holiday in Cornwall for a week in summer, two adults, two children for less than £900. I didn't include food because we would be eating whether we were on holiday or not.

We are going next sat! We've paid £380 I think for 3 adults and 3 children but we got a discount, I've been looking fwd to it for the last 5 months. Can't wait

Surburban. Yes if I get the work, which is not contracted/guaranteed to pay for that.

Or I could do a long weekend, Fri to Mon during term time for a fraction of the price. No stress.

rhonda I agree - there are loads of s/c cottages available all over the UK this summer that sleep 6 or more for far less than £1000 a week.

due to our jobs (we are self employed) we cannot take our holidays in school holidays so we have to take our kids out in term time. the schools all know this. we seek approval before we do it and we do it to minimise disruption. our kids prepare before we go by getting ahead of some work and buddying up with other kids who take the notes for them whilst we are away. they then spend a week plus on return making sure they have caught up. if properly planned and done responsibly then I have no problem with kids being taken out. mine have never had a day off sick. as for tackling the holiday retailers sharptic - get real. the prices are as they are due to supply and demand. if more people want a product then the price goes up. when less people want it the price is reduced and some of the profit made during the busy times is used to offset the loss of income during the less busy times. simple economics. the government cant tackle it because theres nothing to be tackled. why are Tesco food deliveries more expensive at certain times? because that's when people want their food delivered the most. it goes across every service industry. you cant tackle it - its not the public sector.

You seem to be able to go to Greece for £161 pp self catering in august, and there's a week in spain all inclusive in august for £272 pp.

So if you have £1000 to spend you could actually go in school hols by the looks of it, even adding on insurance etc

Owlina that's a great price for one or two people but when there is 6 of you plus spending money etc it soon adds up especially if none of you have passports.

The thing is a holiday in term time can be douable at £1000 inc food/spending money and other costs incured, out of term it jumps to nearly £1500 when your only earning a small amount its a big difference and yes I could like its been said save for longer but I'm already looking at spending the next 10mths saving for the holiday its not like I am able to go next week.

We are a family of seven and we holiday in the uk. Tend to hire a self catering place, normally £500-600 for the week. This year its £800 but we are going with my parents so cost is split between two families. Food i dont count as we buy food anyway. We will pay for some activities but will do free stuff as well.

There are cheaper holidays available if you look around or dont book.through big organisations so we book with the house owners etc.

We are looking at doing france or somewhere next year or ywar after.Will be via ferry and taking our car and hire a gite. Passpports buy one every few mths in the year beforehand is what we will do. Ds1 has lost his and the little ones all need first one and mine needs renewimg. Its going to cost loads so cant do them all at once.

We have never spent £1500 on a holiday or anywhere near that.

I would take them.out of school.btw op.

Try bookinh caravans direct with the owners it may be cheaper.

The thing is a holiday in term time can be douable at £1000 inc food/spending money and other costs incured, out of term it jumps to nearly £1500

But you're planning a UK holiday, which is a lot cheaper and plan to take the DCs out of school - so presumably, your budget is a lot lower than £1000?

where is this ibiza cove hotel?

Ahh, the passports is an issue, are the £70 now? that would add £420 to the cost i guess!!

If you book the Sun £9.50 (and similar) holidays on line as soon as the final clue is released you can manage to get a break during the school holidays, if you aren't too fussy about where you go.

We went to the IoW during the Easter holidays for less than £100 (ferry extra).

There is a very similar thread to this one running mat the same time and on that I've said that the teachers I work with would love the children they teach to have a holiday every year and comes back to school refreshed and ready to learn.

But they have to abide by the attendance rules, they have absolutely no choice in the matter ( though, as has been pointed out, some discretion in compassionate or other circumstances, but even then they would have to be careful of what they allowed), otherwise the fallout for the whole school and the children in it could be massive (failing Ofsted).

Don't blame the school - you're wasting your energy.

my son has cerebral palsy. 18months ago we booked to take the kids to florida in october this year. were now being told the HT wont be able to authorise this. my husband can only get 1 week off at a time during school holidays and i struggle to get any. my son wouldnt be able to cope with the heat and crowds of people in the summer either. does taht mean i should take him and my family away during low season and give them a once in a lifetime holiday or just say no thats it ere never going away again?

DH and I both teach. We get 6 weeks off in the summer and the rest.
OP, you are not alone not having had a holiday for years. For 1st 7 years after having DC , we could not afford to go away at all in the summer and so didn't. There are so many families who can't afford these luxuries, not just low/ single income ones. Don't feel too sorry for yourself.
As for taking your DCs out of school, it's up to you really but be prepared for the school to fine you. They may not but it's a risk.

marie, I would call that exceptional circumstances and I would go.

hi, suburbanrhonda. ive already booked and so we are going. sent passports off today. we do small breaks away during holidays such as a couple of nights in cleethorpes in a quiet travelodge or we did edinburgh at feb half term. last time my son had time off for a holiday was when he was 4 in 2009. he was in nursery and it was for my wedding. i dont think im keeping him off a lot. we probs wont do this again for 3/4years and hes my child to decided whether i want to take him or not.

my hubby rang the school today to ask for a leave of absense form. they straight up said NO we cannot authorise any holidays anymore. did you not read the letter we sent out? we did read the letter and it said about exceptional circumstances. as soon as he mentioned our younger son has CP and that he would end up stuck in his chair for 2 weeks during school hols as its too much for him they changed their tone a bit and said to put it in writing to the head but no promises basically. the receptionist said well lets face it your going anyway. she said at least we've been honest about it though and that looks good on us instead of ringing up saying he has tonsilitis.

marie, sounds to me like the school might authorise it, which would be great for you and of course is what they should do.

I can't think that anyone with a caring bone in their body would object to what you're doing - hope you all have a wonderful time