Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

Aibu holiday GCSEs help!

122 replies

Sjgmumma · 02/02/2022 03:32

Okay. So next year ds will be doing his GCSEs. My mil has booked us all a holiday as a treat due to me being very unwell recently and will be for the foreseeable. The holiday is first week of may to turkey 2nd-9th
Ds will start exams around the 16th.
Am I crazy to even contemplate it?
Ds isn’t very academic at all.

OP posts:

Piggy42 · 02/02/2022 06:56

Of course you can’t!

tiredofthisshit21 · 02/02/2022 06:57

Having been through very stressful GCSE's with my daughter, this is quite possibly the most ridiculous idea ever.

UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme · 02/02/2022 06:58

That's not a treat, its completely thoughtless. He'll be pulled in two directions knowing he should be revising or in final lessons with crucial exam tips and not able to enjoy himself.

His grades will probably be impacted which is more important if he isn't academic as he could be boarderline between grades which will allow him to do whatever he wants to do next and grades necessitating retakes.

That's an incredibly selfish/ thoughtless time to book a holiday specifically aimed to compensate/ treat a teen about to take exams. The emotional blackmail component of expecting him to enjoy and be grateful for something that will cause him either stress or poorer grades is shameful.

Sceptre86 · 02/02/2022 07:00

If he isn't academic at all the surely he needs a lot of parental support and encouragement to get through the exam process? I would rebook the holiday. Mil whilst very kind should not have booked it without discussing dates with you all. Going a week before exams where he is very unlikely to do any revision at all is a recipe fir disaster. Your son might not be the most academic of kids but as a parent surely your job is to help him at least achieve his potential and I think he will be disadvantaged by going on the holiday. The last few weeks before exams I used to polish up on exam practice and highlight any gaps in my knowledge so I could focus on those areas before the exam . I can only speak for myself but it really helped me.

UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme · 02/02/2022 07:02

*sorry misread - you're ill not him. That doesn't change the rest of the post though - an ill parent is stressful for a teen which you can't help, but the added stress of being expected to go on and be seen to enjoy a holiday which could mess up his exams is huge.

HomeHomeInTheRange · 02/02/2022 07:04

No.

Book for after the last exam and after the Contingency Day. (The day they save for any exams which had to be cancelled or delayed / rearranged). It’s still off peak.

Your Ds needs all the help and support he can get, not distraction snd added pressure.

Did your MIL consult you?

I would have to say no to this.

xyzandabc · 02/02/2022 07:05

Why on earth would she have booked s holiday during term time for you without consulting you. Utter madness.
That could well be DC last week in school before study leave most of his classes will be revision classes and prepping them like mad for the exams. No way should he be taken out for a holiday, very very unfair on him.

monkeysox · 02/02/2022 07:05

Go the first week of July before the actual school hols as he'll be finished then?

Diditreallylookawful · 02/02/2022 07:05

Absolutely no way should you go. Get her to change the date.

DappledThings · 02/02/2022 07:09

@AuntieMarys

Surely she had to have your passports to book the holiday?

I have never once had to provide passport details at the time of booking. I have provided them via a link some time between booking and departure.

rookiemere · 02/02/2022 07:11

Absolutely not, why on earth did she book for those dates? Easter holidays might have been doable as a breather before final stretch of revision but not fair to take him then.

tickingthebox73 · 02/02/2022 07:14

@Sjgmumma

Okay. So next year ds will be doing his GCSEs. My mil has booked us all a holiday as a treat due to me being very unwell recently and will be for the foreseeable. The holiday is first week of may to turkey 2nd-9th Ds will start exams around the 16th. Am I crazy to even contemplate it? Ds isn’t very academic at all.

This year the first GCSE my DC is doing is 5th May - the last is 23rd June and the contingency date is 28th June.

So yes completely crazy.

Tiramysu · 02/02/2022 07:18

It doesn't matter how academic he is you can't take him out of school just before GCSES. That's ridiculous.

rookiemere · 02/02/2022 07:18

I'm still reeling at the choice of dates. How is a holiday a treat for anyone if you don't check that the dates suit ? Plus it's not like there aren't quite a few weeks of school,holidays. But let me guess - too expensive in the school holidays.
Had she spoken to you at all before booking?

functionoverform · 02/02/2022 07:19

The exam boards are releasing what topics are going to be in many of the exams on 7th Feb, so all schools will be focusing on that. Some subjects won't get this treatment (History) but many will. So teachers will be revising very specific areas of the course. To miss out on this will massively impact any student who isn't there. This is a first due to covid, and is to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on schooling.

So no. Don't go!

Tiramysu · 02/02/2022 07:20

Why on earth did she just randomly choose dates without checking

DanglingMod · 02/02/2022 07:20

Yes, it would be very crazy and incredibly selfish. Look at the first two weeks in July when he will have finished exams but prices are still low.

EmoIsntDead · 02/02/2022 07:20

Parents who take their children out of school during exam years for holidays are being utterly selfish. If your DS isn't that academic he needs your full support to achieve the very best he can, not a week off!

LuciaInTheGarden · 02/02/2022 07:23

Ds did his MFL oral the Friday before his GCSE exams started on the following Monday.

Completely crazy to book a holiday right before GCSEs, like ridiculously crazy. Usually GCSE exams finish around mid June with a contingency day shortly after. Your MIL should move the date to the beginning of July however check with the sixth form/college as they usually have a day where the prospective students attend for a day which is part of their conditions of offering a place; they have to attend.

And no to May half term, it is a revision week.

LucyFox · 02/02/2022 07:27

Ridiculous idea! If he’s doing any languages, BTECs, or courses with practicals like art or food then they could well have exam components that week …

CeeceeBloomingdale · 02/02/2022 07:33

Please don't do this, even if it doesn't clash with exams he will need to be revising. Ask her to change the date until afterwards when you will all really appreciate the break.

Houseplantmad · 02/02/2022 07:36

Rebook. He'll finish school early after the exams so go then. Don't jeopardise his chances.

millymolls · 02/02/2022 07:40

Crazy
No way should she have booked it!

Youngstreet · 02/02/2022 07:49

She’s mad!

reluctantbrit · 02/02/2022 07:54

DD is in Y10 and we already said no to any holiday bookings from October 2022 until June 2023 as the school has 3 mocks prior to the actual exams and all holidays are used for revision.

No way I would take her out during school time.

We plan to take her away for a week after the exams and then the usual Summer holiday before 6th form starts.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5