To take DC out of Reception a week before hols?!

[NeedToHoliday]

Planning to go on holiday next year and thinking of taking our daughter out of school during the last week of term, or maybe the week before that

We wouldn't do it ordinarily but I'll just be back from maternity leave so money will be a bit tight. As it's reception Class, will she likely miss much?!

There were a few children taking on hol during reception year our school’s stance was they don’t mind in reception but not in other years

Nah, it's fine. DS has just finished reception and quite a lot of the children went on holidays in term time. The school don't mind in reception year.

I would check the school's policy. If she is 5 when you go you could be fined.

If she'll have turned 5 before Easter, there is the risk of a fine.
Other than daily maths and, when lower down the school, phonics, mine have never done any work in the last few days of school. My DC absolutely love it and would be disappointed to miss it. Would it affect their education in any way? I very much doubt it.
Do tell the school that you're off as then your DD will be able to bring all of her stuff home on her last day.

It’s fine a child in the uk doesn’t legally have to attend reception year. After reception year they will not authorise any leave.

You have to attend from the term after you are five.

I'd avoid the absolute last week tbh. In our school the children find out their new teacher and spend time in their new classroom, plus there are parties etc.

Just do it.
I’ve booked a holiday for next year after Easter.
My four year old in reception will miss three days of school.

I wouldn’t worry about it.

The school won't authorise it and they might fine you, just check the amount you did have to pay and see if it's still cheaper to take a holiday in term time. A few friends have done the same thing, been told there'd be a fine but then nothing's ever come of it. You'd be best finding out from people who have children in the school what generally happens.

I used to be a teacher, I'm taking my DCs out during term time for our holiday. It's rarely the children who miss a block of school who can't catch up, it's the children who repeatedly miss days here and there. In our family we work to live and that applies to school too, as long as the DC are putting in the effort and reaching their targets then I'll take them out during term time so that we can afford a decent holiday and spend time together.

The authorities are tackling the wrong kind of absence.

It’s fine a child in the uk doesn’t legally have to attend reception year. After reception year they will not authorise any leave

Not true, unless they are not 5 till the summer term. They have to attend the term after they reach the age of 5.

The school do mind in reception year.
Schools still have targets to meet. The basic learning of letters and numbers starts in reception, if your child misses those basics, they will struggle to catch up.

That being said, the last week of term won't matter but there are lots of transition stuff that goes on in the final couple weeks to help children and ease their worry about changing teachers and going into year 1

It depends on whether she'll be over 5 or not. My DC's school were fine with my aunt taking DD out early when she was 4, but as soon as she turned 5 they said it would be an unauthorised absence.

Do it. My year one dc took home pe kit the week before final week and all textbooks on the Monday of final week. By all accounts the last day was an assembly and watching tv!!

Said to dh, I won’t have any issues taking them out ever after witnessing that.

At my dc’s school, everyone has a “transition” week up to their new classes (and the oldest children to their new school) in the last week of the school year. They don’t do a lot academically, but they settle in to their new classrooms, get to know their teacher, put up a new display, and might start with a bit of work on the new curriculum.

I always find a term-time holiday thread fascinating.
Sometimes It really feels like we take our education for granted in the UK.
There are children in the world denied education because they are girls, there are people work 2 or 3 jobs to ensure their child’s gets education. It would scandalise a lot of people to see that some adults prioritise a holiday over school.

Our school move the children up into their new classes for the last two weeks of term, so those weeks are really important. I wouldn't want my DC to miss them. There's also a school disco, picnic day and school trip. They're really important weeks socially. Plus, you lose the right to moan about all the six weeks' holidays to fill if you've intentionally made them 15% longer!

She will be exhausted too and might want a bit of downtime when school break up. The last week of the holidays is often just as cheap.

I'd avoid the absolute last week tbh. In our school the children find out their new teacher and spend time in their new classroom, plus there are parties etc.

Depends on the school - all done well before this point in ours - this last bit-week in particular is just enjoying the time left with their old teacher and there are a fair few kids on holiday across the school at the moment. I personally wouldn't - but my younger one's attendance is always on the lowish side because of medical and therapy appointments so I try to keep it higher the rest of the time (the other one's at like 98.9% attendance so we're obviously not a family of school skivers).

Factor in though that by this point in the term my Reception kiddo is horrifically overtired and bloody vile - no way would I be doing the holiday thing with her until she's had a week or so of downtime to become vaguely human again!

I would for the last week of term as there isn't much going on. The rest of the year I wouldn't. They have so much to learn in reception nowadays.
If they miss a week of term time then that's sounds they will have to go back and learn whilst the others move on to the next so your dc is playing catch up.

I always find a term-time holiday thread fascinating.
Sometimes It really feels like we take our education for granted in the UK. There are children in the world denied education because they are girls, there are people work 2 or 3 jobs to ensure their child’s gets education. It would scandalise a lot of people to see that some adults prioritise a holiday over school

This ^^

It's so easily ditched for a luxury. There are thirteen weeks a year to go away in and fifty two weekends. If money is tight then a holiday isn't needed anyway or can be shortened to fit time off school and the budget.

She would likely miss all the transition stuff, time with the new teacher, prep for the year ahead etc.

As it's reception Class, will she likely miss much?!

Aargh! It drives me mad when people think that children just spend all day playing in Reception and that term-time holidays matter less in Reception than they do higher up when children do real learning.

I generally think term-time holidays are a bad idea as children can come back and find that they are being taught something which builds on prior teaching which they have missed. The teachers then need to try and catch them up as well as teaching the rest of the class.

Having said that, the 2 times of the year when learning is unlikely to be affected are the last week before Christmas and the last week before the summer holidays. I was teaching Year 1 this year and it was a real struggle to keep the children going during the last week. They were so hot and tired that there wasn't much point any of them being in school!

00100001 - your post is the equivalent of "eat your vegetables, there are starving kids in Africa". It's not a particularly useful contribution to the discussion. Yes, we're fortunate here - doubly fortunate, in fact, because our kids get BOTH good schooling and holidays. We're faced instead with the first world problem of finding a balance between two things which are both positive for kids. "First world problems" might be a running joke, but discussing them isn't helped by comparing them to problems we DON'T have.

There are thirteen weeks of holidays it's true, but many of them are not really holiday weather.

Not everyone can have time off when it's the school holidays, and it's a lot more expensive.

Personally I would prioritise the chance for a family holiday once a year. The chance to all spend time together without the pressure of daily life and enjoy each other's company. Some families are working opposite shifts, weekend etc so get limited time together.

It's not ideal to miss school but the prices can make a difference between a holiday and no holiday.

I'm a teacher and my DS has the last week off "sick" every year so he can go on holiday with his grandparents, who can't afford school holiday time holidays but love taking him away.

In his school, where I've actually taught, transition activities are done weeks in advance and as there are only 120 pupils, they all know their next year's teacher anyway. That last week is spent colouring, watching films and playing board games.

DS is also more able, his test scores were very above average and missing school for five days would have no impact whatsoever on his education. Which we do value, thanks.

Holidays are enriching experiences. He spent time with family, he visited several educational attractions, he learnt something every day he was away, which is more than what he would have done in the last week of school.

I have no problem whatsoever with children of primary age taking term time holidays.

Is there not the option of saving up a little more and going away for a week in the holidays?

The last week or so in schools often includes lots of special events as already mentioned. I teach (albeit secondary) and we have things like rewards assembly which all pupils attend, whole school charity walk, give out form room info for September etc. So, while these events may not involve learning in the traditional sense, the kids really enjoy them and get into them with their friends. It would be a shame if your daughter missed out.

Also, do remember that these special events do take a lot of organisation on the part of the staff and it would be a shame if everyone thought it didn't matter and went on holiday.

I do understand that the school holidays are an expensive time to go away but it is possible with saving up/going for a week instead of two / going somewhere less exotic.

Take your child out in term time if you must but please don't think that in Reception it matters less than at other stages of education - it's insulting and demeaning to highly trained early years teachers.

I have always taken mine out up until this year (dd going into year 10), they usually have high attendance so I don’t see why missing the last few days of school matter. I took dd1 out for one day last week, they were doing sport all week so she wasn’t missing anything important, last year I took them both out for the last week and didn’t get fined.