To wonder why it's deemed acceptable to take children out of school for cheap holidays?

[shrunkenhead]

Am I the only one who thinks it's not on to make your child miss school for the sake of a cheap holiday???

suburban er to anyone who doesn't realise how lucky they are!

Not into challenging rules but if it's breaking them to have one bloody holiday with my dcs and dh every other year when we don't see him in weeks then yes I break that rule.

Family life is rather more important to us than 100% attendance.

As such I will send her to school but I won't necessarily follow the rules I disagree with if breaking them won't cause harm or disruption to my daughter or her classmates.

Wow, they're going to love you at school!

If you can, I urge you to volunteer in school - you will be able to see for yourself how and why rules are enforced. You will also see that teachers and other staff are normal people, often with their own families and with similar concerns to you. It may change your mind about going into the experience having already decided not to follow all the rules.

stooshe well put.

Totally agree stooshe

family time is important. I think parents should be able to decide whether they want to 'risk' a sub level of attainment by taking them away for a week. I think you should have:

5 days up to year 9
Schools should specify which weeks are ring fenced so do not disrupt assessment weeks, and longer if it is end of key stage.

If you are supportive of your child, always make sure homework gets done, value education generally and have good attendance otherwise 5 days does not have a severed impact.

Otherwise we shall just keep getting shafted by greedy holiday companies. Plus some sunny places are too hot for some people during peak season, it's nicer to go off peak.

stooshe have you been at the sauce?

stosshee put it a lot better yes agree with all thayt

YABVU.

*Wow, they're going to love you at school!

If you can, I urge you to volunteer in school - you will be able to see for yourself how and why rules are enforced. You will also see that teachers and other staff are normal people, often with their own families and with similar concerns to you. It may change your mind about going into the experience having already decided not to follow all the rules.*

I am a teacher. I think I have a good understanding of which rules directly effect pupil progress, and thus are important, and which do not. I'm not going to be a problem parent or start breaking every rule in sight (as I mentioned up-thread unless I change career or stop working at some point in the future I wouldn't be able to get time off work to take my DD out of school for a holiday anyway) but that doesn't mean I am going to mindlessly follow every rule either. I don't find it a problem when students in my class are taken out of school for holidays and don't think the occasional few days or week of school makes a huge difference in most cases.

Well said [stooshe]

andsmile, that would be ok if teachers, Sencos, pastoral support, TAs, LSAs, heads and others who are not allowed holidays during term-time were also allowed to take five days off. Same rules (avoiding assessment time), but otherwise absolutely when it was convenient for them.

That seems fair to me.

I don't know why people always include the adverb "mindlessly" when talking about following rules.

It's rather patronising to assume that only people who have an "anti-authoritarian streak" think about their actions.

andsmile, that would be ok if teachers, Sencos, pastoral support, TAs, LSAs, heads and others who are not allowed holidays during term-time were also allowed to take five days off. Same rules (avoiding assessment time), but otherwise absolutely when it was convenient for them.*

Even as a teacher who would love to be able to take time off outside of holidays I recognise this is a ridiculous sentiment. I don't think it's logical to view the children in school as the same as staff. For a start most children are there because legally they have to be in full-time education and there is no reasonable, affordable alternative for most parents. Staff-members have made a career choice. Also to suggest that a child being out of class has the same impact as a teacher or another staff member being out of class is ludicrous. If parents take their child out of school then their child misses a weeks learning. If a teacher takes a week off then the whole class miss a weeks learning.

That said if the school can put good cover in place I think it would be great if teachers and other staff members could take time off term-time. I have a friend who teaches Finland and she can request unpaid leave for holidays and family events from her headteacher. She recently took four weeks unpaid leave from school to travel to China and had a brilliant time.

chester, your second paragraph completely undermines your first!

I never said it had the same impact.

Just interested in fairness.

In fact, so long as we are holding teachers/staff in schools to the same expectations as the children how about all school staff roll up to school at 8:45, leave at 3:15 and only take home half an hour's worth of homework each night.

That seems fair?

Sounds fab to me

I know my second paragraph contradicts my first - I would LOVE teachers to be able to take unpaid time off in term-time. It would certainly benefit me. That's not to say that I think it is logical to think that if children can have 5 days off term-time teachers and other staff should automatically be granted the same right or that the impact of a child being out of class is equal to a teacher or other staff member being out.

Perhaps I should have spent more time on my message to try and tie the two points together though!

A I posted before, I never said the impact was the same.

However, I don't disagree with most of your points, chester.

But these threads appear on MN with such tedious regularity and there are never any new points to be made that I end up losing the will to live. I should stay off them, really I should

I don't really understand what it has to do with anyone else?

We all have different values, bring our children up differently.if you think it happens to be wrong to take your child out of school then don't

Due to my work currently I can only take holidays term time. I have taken my DS out for a trip to Lego land and other short breaks when he was an infant . He has had barely any sick time. one day this year. I am happy with what I have done and as a parent that is my decision to make IMO.

I find this view that only education can happen in the classroom. Our last trip we went on we visited Bewilderwood. My DS has read the series of books that are connected to the place and it really bought the books alive.

Those who are against missing school ..Do your children only learn at school and homework?

"holidays are important" just how exactly FFS i have had one holiday in almost 20 years and i was working 3 jobs so i could afford it but i never got the time because i had three jobs now i have kids and i can't actually afford it i really don't miss it my kids get trips away for a day here and there they are happy with that what is the fuss for? to see parents relaxed? trust me anyone that has my kids all at once is not relaxed we did go on holiday paid for by my mil we didn't "relax" till we got home there were no stairgates between the toddler and the cooker he worked out the door latch hated showers middle son wanted to gamble everything in 2p machines (he really had fun doing that) the car broke down and we came home on a lorry it was overhyped and not relaxing at all

the kids prefer day trips they can go out run riot and then come home happy and secure in their own home (which is important to my middle son i wont lie he hates sleeping away from home he has had issues) if i could afford it i would holiday in england every year its not important to go on expensive holidays just to relax

the thing we should do is be able to set our own timetable to a degree and do it for the entire area not just school by school but lea by lea that way you should get siblings with the same holiday don't announce it to the holiday companies and allow one day with discretion at the beginning or the end for travelling (except the first week in september its the only time things are really done on the first day) that way everyone who wanted the cheap holiday deals can have them personally i know holiday companies will never drop their prices till people stop going in term time the more people pay the fine or lie about where they are the more the status quo will exist and nothing will change

Speak for yourself Deaky, 2 weeks at a villa with it's own pool in France is not only relaxing but enjoyable for us all.

But my kids are 6 and 12