To consider a term-time holiday

[ScatteredMama82]

So I'm looking at prices of flights for February half-term next year to go skiing in Germany. For a family of 4 it's £1300 just for flights in half-term. For a different week it's £280! It's just a crazy amount of money. We love skiing, and are just getting back into it now that DS2 is old enough (he's 4). DS1 is 9 (will be Yr 5 next year). I think we're going to go in term-time. We did it this year, and it got approved by the school as DH is military and had been away all summer so we didn't get a family holiday. We won't have that excuse this time though (unless he gets sent away between now and February which is unlikely in his current role).

Would you do it?

We made the decision that, as long as our dc were doing well at school and were healthy with otherwise good attendance, we would take them out for a week each January during Primary school. By the end of the academic year they have always ended up in the green (highest) attendance category.

We always let the school know well in advance. During their time at Primary our council changed the guidance on whether or not the time off should be authorised a couple of times so we had a mixture of authorised and unauthorised over the years. Our county has never issued a fine.

Every teacher wished us a happy holiday and asked us to make sure that dc carried on with reading, tried to speak some of the language and used the local currency while they were away.

Our dc are both now in secondary school and as we’d planned we’re not going to take them out of school for any more family holidays. Ds1 however has been on a school ski trip this year which was during term time!

We are happy with the decisions that we have made.

We always took term time holidays when I was a child because of cost. I have memories of those holidays. I don’t have memories of what I did day after day at school.

Travel, holidays and family time are what makes those good childhood memories. I remember my dad telling me the names of all the stars on holiday because we were somewhere dark instead of under orange London skies - that triggered a love of science that has stayed with me my whole life.

That said, I’ve only taken mine out for odd days in term time because I can’t afford a holiday any time of the year 🙁.

I'm really stunned at what brainwashed, obedient little citizens so many MNers are now. You do all know that this wasn't even a thing until very recently? And the world went on turning, kids still did well at school & passed exams etc?

When my kids were at school we had several May half-term holidays stretching for 2-3 days either side, from both primary & secondary, & always with the schools' blessing (which of course they're not allowed to give now ). Despite our appalling criminal behaviour all our kids passed grammar entrance exam, without tutoring, got great GCSes & A Levels, & went on to university.

We don't need these draconian punishments. At term-ends most kids spend the majority of their school hours being entertained, not educated. There's no reason at all why they shouldn't have family holidays in those days instead.

I loathe SATs too . DC1 started school in 1987. There was no National Curriculum, no SATs, no pressure, teachers were relaxed & happy, kids were relaxed & happy, there was plenty of time for art & music & drama & crafts & baking & sewing & sport, the kids all made great progress - it was another world.

I am horrified at what UK state education has become.

My DC is finishing primary this year. Having realised the school wastes endless weeks during term time doing pointless activities like making Christmas decorations, walking round and round the playground, using the more able students (including my DC) as a supervisor of less able students, going on regular trips to the cinema, spending entire days at the end of term watching films..
Honestly my opinion is go for it.
School is seriously over rated in the UK. Your family will benefit much more from the holiday and if they decide to waste life fining you, oh well, it's worth the cost.
Your child's real education will not be dented but enhanced. The schools attendance figures will be dented but that really has nothing at all to do with your family life or your child's life experiences.
Go for it.

I'm a teacher and I say go on the holiday.

I wouldn’t think twice. We’re doing it next year, not because of cost but because the slopes are ridiculously (dangerously, sometimes) busy in half term.

But I’d pay the fine. My kids are high achievers and have nigh on 100 per cent attendance (one has been off once for one day, in 5 years) so I don’t think one week skiing a year is going to affect them. If they were struggling or were off sick s lot I might not be so blasé. But I’d never judge anyone else’s decision. The person saying if you can’t afford a holiday in the holidays then tough, that’s just horrible.

I agree with funky

no, I wouldn't be happy with the teacher doing it but they choose that job

Such hypocrisy! Your husband chose a military career and you managed to use that to take your children out for some obscure reason, they're not the only ones who work away and have a tight holiday schedule!
If you do I hope you don't waste the staff's time asking for work to take, they'll have to waste enough time catching your children up when they return, hopefully at break so as not to disadvantage the rest of their class.

Move to Australia we don’t have fines here. I mean if your kids are missing heaps then school they will want to have a talk to you about it. But we take the kids out for a week every year for a holiday. I find it really odd that people have to get permission from the school and get fines! Both kids are still in primary and we get them to read each day while we are away and sometimes the school has given us some spelling or maths sheets to do.

they'll have to waste enough time catching your children up when they return, hopefully at break so as not to disadvantage the rest of their class.

Teachers on this thread have already said this doesn’t happen

“I'm really stunned at what brainwashed, obedient little citizens so many MNers are now. You do all know that this wasn't even a thing until very recently?”

But it IS a thing now. Lots of ‘things’ were not a ‘thing’ until they became a ‘thing’!

It’s not about being ‘brainwashed’ - it’s about following the rules, regardless of whether you agree with them or not.
There are lots of rules that people don’t agree with, but if we all just go around ignoring them and doing what we want regardless, then what?

I find it ridiculous that my DH’s workplace says he can’t have a single small glass of wine at lunchtime on a Friday when he takes his team out for a celebratory lunch. He doesn’t do a job that involves driving or operating machinery or that poses any risk to anyone. He is a responsible grown man and he should have autonomy over his food and drink intake! Yet, those are the rules. If he is seen drinking during the working day, even just a sip, then there are sanctions. He knew that when he signed up for the job. Just as parents knew the rules when they enrolled their child into state education.

I don’t think we can compare taking our kids on holiday whilst drinking alcohol at work. My kids aren’t missing out on a holiday with us just because of the jobs we do.

@Nicknacky why not? Genuine question.
My point is that rules are rules, regardless of whether we think they are unfair or not. If we choose to ignore those rules then we have to accept the consequences.

Not everyone is "blindly following the rules" though. I've weighed it up and I think 13 weeks of holidays (plus 5 INSET days which usually produce nice, out-of-termtime long weekends) is plenty of time to take DC on holiday. I've weighed it up and I think the rules are worth following because if everyone broke them it'd make the teacher's life more difficult.

It was definitely "a thing" 25 years ago when I started school - there weren't fines, but you did have to ask the head.

Holidays in the school holidays are significantly more expensive. It's basic supply and demand, and I stand by my original statement: if you can't afford it in school holidays then you can't afford that type of holiday. The £280 OP is planning on spending on flights is £30 more than we are paying for 4 nights in Norfolk in May half term.

The OP has clearly weighed it up and come to a different conclusion, which is fine, but they did ask for opinions!

We’re doing it, and sucking up the fine because the difference in price is about £2.5k! The flexibility for heads of up to 10 days a year for special circumstances which has been taken away from most state schools is an absolute disgrace. It doesn’t actually help the families with truancy issues and penalises the others, while the wealthy kids get tons more holiday and flexibility.

It's been interesting to see the posts from teachers overwhelmingly of the opinion that OP should just go for the holiday!

Being a reception mum, this year I've been wondering what the teachers make of term time holidays.

When we took DC1 out for a term time holiday recently, teacher was really positive about it, gave extra books for DC1 to read. No issues whatsoever (obvs wasn't authorised leave by the head)

There were no special circumstances or family event, we simply wanted to go on holiday as a family without being totally ripped off!

For the majority of primary children missing a week will make very little difference to their education.

Some people will try to tell you you're a bad parent and it'll cause massive disruption to your child, the teacher, the other pupils in the class, etc. However many children do miss time every year and it rarely does, ime.

You'll probably find it's other parents who will give you grief and not teaching staff or headteachers.

Our LEA fines on day 5.

Comparing it to a teacher having a term time holidays is also nonsense.

Teaching staff make a decision to become a teacher or TA, etc. They make that decision themselves to have a restriction placed on when they can take their holidays.

A teacher missing a week of school will make an obvious disruption to a class. A child missing a week will not.

A child in school is a very different situation to a teacher. Not comparable. Silly to try to make it so.

Just came across your thread and although I think a family holiday offers a rich and unique, often unforgettable experience for children, I have to offer a word of caution...
Schools now have no choice in the attendance process. From this year, All holidays in term time have to be unauthorised. (There are exceptional circumstances, but they now have to be reported to the local authority and can be refused).
An unauthorised absence is now added to any previous (in the same academic year) absences and any consequent absences that follow the holiday are also added on!

Fines for unauthorised absences have also recently changed...
Each parent is now fined individually for EACH CHILD, this can very quickly add up!
So if you are fined £90 per child, for example, and you take 3 children away, both parents are issued a fine of £270. The family holiday has then cost an extra £540.
As I said, schools do not have a choice in following the new absence process. So be sure your children's attendance is good before thinking about booking that holiday in term time. And ALWAYS report to school when your children are poorly - with evidence if possible (appointment card/prescription etc) to ensure that the school mark the absence as illness and not unauthorised!!
Those odd days off can be added to the sessions missed for holidays and can trigger a hefty fine!

If in doubt, you can request a copy of your child's attendance and check for any unauthorised absences. You can challenge any days that you know you have phoned in for!

Sorry it's a long one, but thought it might help

I'm sure that when they end up in a dead end job because they failed their exams as their parents thought holidays were more important than their education

Do you, or any one complaining about the OP, have any examples of this actually ever happening?

I had 1-2 weeks off school most years until being about 13 due to factory shut down which was then in term time. All three of us children passed our exams and went on to university.m gaining good degrees I went into teaching - I still teach and value education. My siblings are both in professional careers earning decent money.

I can honestly say that my missing the odd week each year made no difference to our education, just like it won't to the vast majority of children these days.

I would not take my kids out of school for an unauthorized holiday any more than I would take a holiday outside agreed periods at my work. For me this is part of teaching them certain values and a work ethic I would like them to learn. I am going on plenty of affordable holidays when school's out and we always have lots of fun together. Obviously a skiing holiday for four is as a general rule going to be on the more expensive side of types of family holidays you could take.

I would do it for a ski holiday. The slopes are too busy at half term and can ruin the experience.

I wouldn't take them out for a summer holiday though.

Go for it!! That's a crazy price difference!

Loads of parents choose to take their children on term time holidays at our school some are authorised some not depending on the parents job. However it is made clear that apart from spellings and reading the teachers are not expected to set work for the time the children are away as realistically all that can be is a pile of worksheets, something our school doesn't use.

Teachers would then have 1 or 2 weeks of marking to do when child returns and feedback given.

Children do go on the holidays but with the clear understanding that whatever learning has been missed has been missed and there is no expectation for the teachers to reteach it - not possible anyway as rest of the class will have moved on.

It’s not about being ‘brainwashed’ - it’s about following the rules, regardless of whether you agree with them or not
There are lots of rules that people don’t agree with, but if we all just go around ignoring them and doing what we want regardless, then what?

I think for me, having a child, well two with additional needs and seeing how dreadfully they were treated in the school system and how many “rules” and even laws were broken and bent, so as NOT to have to give them what they needed, has made me somewhat cynical with regard to blind rule following with regard to that area of life. I definitely tend to heed The Rules elsewhere in life apart from the occasional illegal u-turn, which gets me to my home in five minutes instead of fifteen. I do not see the harm in taking my children out for one week every year, sometimes a fortnight. I’ve mulled it over and over and I cannot see how my choice to do this impacts negatively on anyone. I cannot blindly follow this rule because it makes absolutely no sense to me and costs me a great deal to follow. I’m not prepared to sacrifice amazing experiences that my children will thrive on but could never otherwise have, for a system that has failed, one of them in particular, so dreadfully. This rule makes no sense whatsoever. It does not tackle the real culprits with poor attendance and the majority of teachers - those actually at the sharp end - see no harm in it. It seems a clumsy attempt to try to increase attendance and make a few bucks at the same time and I despise the lack of care and critical thinking behind it. Perhaps I would feel differently if the rule had always been in place and there was evidence to show how effective it was but to have it foisted upon me, especially after everything my children have gone through; I can’t any won’t follow it and will pay the £60 because the law says I have to.