To think children shouldn't be taken out of school for holidays?

[MidiMitch]

Just that really. An article today says four million school days a year are being lost by parents removing children for holidays. I am a teacher so probably rather biased on this but I think it's dreadful that children are taken out of school because of a cheap holiday. I definitely think that more needs to be done to stop the hiking up of prices in holiday time but I don't think the answer is to disrupt a child's education.

As a single parent on a tight budget the only way I could afford to take my daughter abroad on a couple occasions was during term time. She went on to get 10 As and A stars at Gcse and is now at uni doing well. I don't think I did the wrong thing. She still talks about the time we went pony trekking in Spain as a special memory.

As a single parent on a tight budget the only way I could afford to take my daughter abroad on a couple occasions was during term time. She went on to get 10 As and A stars at Gcse and is now at uni doing well. I don't think I did the wrong thing. She still talks about the time we went pony trekking in Spain as a special memory.

As long as your kid is ok, eh? That seems to be the theme here- my kid/i am ok.

Seriously. It is not people like you that this rule is meant to help.

The reason free nursery places were introduced is because some kids have such a shit home life that the sooner they get into an educational setting the better they do.

These kids need to be in school. Our rules are designed to catch the weakest. If you believe all family holidays are lovely enriching trips learning about local culture and “making memories” you are very, very wrong.

I said before, i was taken out in term time and i do think it affected me because i had no educational back up at home. I at least had a reasonable home life, kids who don’t must be affected even more.

These kids need to be in school. Our rules are designed to catch the weakest. If you believe all family holidays are lovely enriching trips learning about local culture and “making memories” you are very, very wrong.

Do your honestly think these kids are the ones being pulled out for a fortnight in Florida or Spain? Because in my experience the children with the most problematic attendance are the one who are missing a day or two every week because their parents aren't engaged enough to bother to send them to school daily and as most local authorities don't fine until after a block absence of ten sessions/five days how exactly are "the rules catching the weakest?"

And as for thinking about my kids and what they need, you're right, of course I do and quite rightly because education professionals quite rightly have to consider children en masse. Therefore it's my responsibility to consider and act for my children and what's best for them individually.

As long as they fall behind I don't mind really, although they never do. I have had a parent complain because I wouldn't spend two hours a week after school helping their child catch up on three weeks of gcse maths, which they had missed because her parents decided to take her to Florida as it was cheaper.

Not my problem unfortunately. If you miss my lessons, I'm not running them twice, I've got my own kids to see after the bell goes.

So by all means, book the cheaper holiday but make sure your child can catch up on the work missed, or won't suffer as a result of not doing so.

It's not about a cheaper holiday. I work during the holidays.

It's not about a cheaper holiday. I work during the holidays.

Loads of people work in the school holidays, including my DH, who takes annual leave for our family holiday. Could you maybe do that?

suburban my annual leave is set by my employer.

What Msgame said. With bells on.

So my kid should miss out because some other kids parents are shit? Not on your fucking life, sorry.

bauble

It’s more that some children’s lives are shit because of poor or inadequate parenting, if that helps gives you a bit more perspective.

suburban you haven't responded to my point that I have set annual leave and isn't not because I hadn't thought to ask for leave?

I'm absolutely aware of that and don't need patronising. But I worked my fingers to the bone as a single mum with no help or maintenance and tried to give my daughter ( who had perfect grades and behaviour and attendance except for 2 weeks in the entirety of primary school) an experience I couldn't afford to do in term time and that makes me a bad person? Fuck right off.

I really can’t believe that primary age children fall that far behind because they have a few days off school!
DS1 had a month off due to an emergency operation. He did a small amount of school work in the last week or so. He did not need to catch up on anything when he got back.
Now to be fair he has always been top of the class so was ahead of everyone anyway so It wouldn’t have been too noticeable if he had slipped but in primary or at least ours the kids all work to different levels anyway

Give us a chance, nicky! We’re not all wedded to our phones on a Saturday night.

That’s a shame you’ve got a job where you’re never able to take annual leave in school holidays. It’s also a shame you didn’t mention this a little earlier in the thread as in my school it would put you in the category of someone whose term-time holidays would be authorised.

Brie that's because they don't unless other problems ( that education services and social services fail to tackle) exist.

You did reply to a latest post than mine!

I have mentioned it.

That was to suburban

Yes I did answer someone else’s post first and then did something else more interesting. Didn’t realise there was a hierarchy

suburban what I am surprised is that your surprise that I have set annual leave. You acknowledged it this afternoon.

We do it only for famiky reasons. SIL got married on a Thursday in Ireland and dd1 was part of the wedding party so had wed, Thurs, Fri off.

Then we went home to Australia for 3 weeks over christmas this school year and missed 9 days.

I probably wouldn't do it when she's in high school but think y2 is ok.

Famiky sun holidays are during school holidays.

You acknowledged it this afternoon.

I did read you posts where you say that you work in the school holidays as you’ve mentioned it several times on this thread but I don’t recall you saying your holidays are set by your employer and that I acknowledged that.

I’ve just been back through the thread but if it was this afternoon I’m sure I’ll find it.

I think it's fairly obvious that if I work through the school holidays then it's not by choice.

I think it's fairly obvious that if I work through the school holidays then it's not by choice.

Oh ok, so you didn’t say your holidays are set by your employer and I didn’t acknowledge it in a post this afternoon. Glad we’ve cleared that one up.

suburban be as awkward as you like. It doesn't matter why I don't have annual leave during annual leave. All that matters is I don't so I take my kids out of school and nursery and don't think twice about it. Despite your concerns about my kids school attendance figures.