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?

I hated it when my parents took me out - just a week each year - I was bright but wanted to learn from the teacher - not play catch up from friends' books.

I had so much angst over this as a child - please make sure your kids want this....

I would just say they are ill and take them out. Not sure what illness I'd give for 2 but I'd research it a bit

Holiday companies do not hike prices in the school holidays. They have an amount of money they need to make each year and they know that they will have far fewer customers in term time, so to get any custom at all they need to charge a low price, then maybe people who home educate etc will be tempted. In the holidays they have more demand than supply so that is when they must make their money.

Companies that don't expect families to use them have much flatter price structures, albeit still influenced by weather.

So if everyone could take holiday whenever, a week that was £150 in term time and £450 in holidays would be something like £300-£350 all year round (again, weather dependent)

Don't tell the school they are sick. It's never a good idea to teach your children to lie, and you will have to ring the school everyday from a quiet area so they can't hear kids laughing and splashing in the pool to continue the pretense. The head teacher isn't stupid, your DC will go back to school with a tan, unable to share their experiences etc. Why would any parent do that?

I think it is wrong to ask your DC to lie, as they will be forced to sustain that lie when they return to school and want to talk to their friends about what they have been doing. And if you are found out in the lie, it will have a negative impact on your relationship with the school.

TheDoctrineofAllan, where can I get a holiday in school holidays for £450??

I was using the OP's figures!

YANBU, take them and have a great time! Just be aware that you could be fined for the over 5. I think that depends on the area you live in. I have taken DS out of school for a week, and didn't get so much as a letter, although his attendance otherwise has been good. I agree with you that at 4 and 5 they won't miss too much, as long as they are not struggling at school generally.

I am a lone parents and carer for one of my dc. Both have SN. If I didn't take my dc on holiday in term time we would never be able to afford to go, ever. So I will continue to take them out once a year for a holiday and I honestly couldn't give a stuff what anyone says or thinks about it.

is it fair that I should say to my children that you can't have a holiday even though there dad works really really hard but doesn't bring a great deal of cash in.

But where do you draw the line? Is it fair that some DCs don't have iPads, x-boxes etc because their parents can't afford to buy them, why can't parents just steal them instead?
It's the government dictating that theft is wrong, but the fat cats who set the laws don't understand that stealing is the only way some families can have nice things.

Holidays are a luxury, not an entitlement, and if DCs expect them, it's a reflection on the values they have been taught!

obviously taking days off for random crap like Xmas shopping is a possibility but surely that should be for the common sense of a parent to decide not the government/schools to decide, if you have a child, raise that child and pay for that child why should someone else be allowed to decide what they think is best for that child and go against that child's parent?

It's a fair point, and I'd agree with you if all parents raised their children well and paid for their children themselves. But sadly the fact is that many don't.

The government has to legislate while taking into account parents that are irresponsible, that don't pay for their own children,that dot see the importance of education and good attendance at school. Blame those parents if you want someone to blame for this. They are the ones who force things into being made difficult for the rest of us.

Lots of schools do have issues with attendance, and that affects things in the classroom, it affects results, and ultimately it can affect children's opportunities in life as they grow up. Something has to be done about that, it's just a shame that good responsible parents have to be part of the solution for other people's children.

Sorry prettypaperweight but I am not prepared to accept my place as a poor person who can't afford holidays and its NOTHING to do with "values". My dc deserve lovely experiences and down time and so do I and I not prepared to just sit back and accept our lot.

Taking a weeks holiday is NOT stealing and it's a ridiculous comparison.

Don't phone in saying they're sick. Small children cannot keep secrets. A little boy at school said to me yesterday, "I'm going on holiday to XXX next week but I'm not supposed to tell anyone."

Bless! I agree that small children can't be relied upon to keep secrets, but more importantly, what are you teaching your kids about honesty if you are instructing them to lie?!

We have had to take dd out of school for a few days twice during the last year. We don't do it lightly, but on each occasion, I felt that there was good reason to do so. The school had sent out a letter earlier in the year, saying that no holidays would be authorised, so I didn't know what to expect, but actually the HT approved our absences on both occasions. Had she not been able to approve them, we'd have taken it as unauthorised - as I said, we don't do it lightly, but ultimately we are dd's parents and we have to make the judgements about what is most important.

OP, I would check your own local authority statistics for issuing fines as if they do charge the maximum per child per day it may end up being out of your budget.

I'd take the £180 fine - I still save £600 taking them out for 4 days! (we go away for 10 days in Whit )

This bothers me as DH is a shift worker and is dictated his 4 weeks holiday by his employer which may or may not coincide with school terms. This year we are lucky and he's been given a week in Aug but who knows about next year?
I have zero qualms about taking DD out of school in the future. She has great attendance and is doing well at school.

I want, if your DP has no choice about holiday that may well be an exceptional circumstance in the head teacher's eyes.

Of course you are not allowed to take them out of school they do not need to authorise anything but Id take them book the holiday in advance look at last 2 weeks of term and just take them out, you might be fined but then again you might not, Unauthorised just means that they havnt said it was ok, but if you right a letter saying little X n Y will be off such and such days then you are letting the school know

I would say 80% of parents I know take their children out in term time. Its not a big deal, and nothing is usually done.

I know a couple who have been officially declared Occupational Travellers.

They are both self employed, and middle class.

One or other of them do a lot of travelling for their work, they've done this so that they can take advantage of it in these summer to take their DCs with them.

I think they are allowed 10 weeks a year.

No fining, nothing, all above board and legal.

They are currently out of the country for four weeks.

Sorry prettypaperweight but I am not prepared to accept my place as a poor person who can't afford holidays and its NOTHING to do with "values".

So what is it then, if not values? If you think your DCs deserve a holiday even though you can't afford it, why do they not deserve other things; two holidays, designer clothes, the latest iPhone, or private education?
You have placed a higher value on a holiday for your DCs than the authorities do and you are prepared to risk the consequences - but not everyone believes that a holiday is necessary - particularly at the expense of education.

It really isn't parents who allow truanting or whatever who spoil it for everyone else. The government has made a judgement that part of the "contract" of education is attendance unless there are exceptional reasons to miss school. It doesn't care what your reasons are unless they are exceptional, there is no other value judgement.

It's the same as the NHS, if you don't turn up for appointments without good reason you risk being discharged. It's part of the "contract".