Booked holiday, moved primary school, SATS problem

[kangaroopelicanartic]

I'll try to keep this short.

-booked a holiday this time last year. We are due to go on the 22nd
-was given notice that we had to move house
-moved and had to change the kids' primary school. Notified them of the holiday and was told as it was pre booked it wouldn't be a problem. It was booked for the first school's half term.
-just been notified by the school that my oldest kiddo (he's 7) has sats the same week we're booked to go in holiday
-holiday company will let me move the dates but it's so expensive I simply can't do it. It would double the cost and it's just not possible

I have no idea what else to do. Money is very tight and part of the reason i booked so early was to pay in installments so we can afford to go! Not to mention the house moving costs have totally wiped out my savings.

Any ideas please? It's been such a totally shit few years I was really looking forward to a break!

Unless the school have told you you need to cancel the holiday or they’ll put it down as unauthorized, there’s no need to stress at all.

If they have said they withdraw permission and it will now be unauthorized then put in a complaint. It’s far too late for them to be doing that - if you’d been told at the start it would probably have been much less expensive to make changes. I would also follow up with the local authority and find out what their policy is for fines on unauthorised absences - it may not be enough to worry about.

I wouldn’t be concerned about him missing the SATS for his sake. They aren’t designed to benefit him. If the teachers use it diagnostically or for some other reason internally they can have him sit them when you return.

Some schools have 1 week at half term, some have 2. Presumably she booked the second week off which is cheaper than the first - would you cancel a pre booked holiday if you changed jobs or would you expect them to honour your holiday?

Go on your holiday and enjoy yourselves . A seven year old does not need to sit a test which is ultimately for the government’s benefit.

Adjacent? That can't be true can it, otherwise the holidays would be national, who isn't adjacent to somebody else?
Go on the holiday OP.

I live on the border of 3 counties all of which have different school holidays. It's a bloody nightmare

This. It’s unfortunate for the school but for year 2 SATs the papers are only used to inform the teacher assessment so they aren’t essential. Regardless SATS are not like GCSEs, no one will know or care whether your son took them. Sympathise with the school but be firm that you will be going.

But then that would mean every authority would have the same holiday....??

I thought May half term always included the bank Holiday.

Load of rubbish that all schools in adjacent authorities have the same holidays.

OP, take your child on holiday. Don't give it a second thought, plenty wouldn't. Missing year 2 SATs is really not a big issue - my youngest never took hers because of Covid lockdown. Somehow the earth is still spinning and she survived.

Go on holidays...have a lovely time 🙂

Go on holiday!!!

There are primary schools who have different May half terms. Some primary schools have 2 weeks at May and 1 less at either Easter or summer.

Half term here is sometimes the week before and then the BH Monday, back in on Tuesday.

Just go on the holiday. SATs don't matter, particularly not at 7.

I’d be curious if anyone listed their school summer holidays here!

29-2nd

Oh go on holiday. I can also believe there are two different half terms as we have had this in our town and a really nearby town. I know because I work in a school in one town and live in the other so that fucked up my half term childcare and potential holidays one year!

Go on the holiday

You booked in good faith and were also told by the school it was fine.

SATs don’t affect the individual child - my two didn’t take KS1 and KS2 SATs due to the pandemic and nothing was affected by it.

I would go on your holiday. What would happen if your child was ill during the. SATS? He would miss them anyway. The scores are to let the school know how they are doing. Please don't cancel the holiday for that.

Just go on your holiday and bloody enjoy it.

Repeat, in writing, to the school that they've already told you it wasn't a problem. The holiday has been booked for x amount of time, during the school holidays for their previous school, and you cannot amend the booking so your DC will be absent.

Sat's don't matter at all just go on holiday there is no problem.

SATs don't matter - go on holiday!

Pay no attention to this , schools are used to new pupil's starting with pre arranged plans , year 7 sats are not the end of the world.
Have a great holiday .

Your kid is 7. SATS don't matter a blind bit at this age for anyone other than school.

Go on holiday. Ignore the funsuckers who think a week of exams that do nothing for the kid should come above a holiday.

Just say they won't be there.

"Dear NewSchoolHeadteacher

Thank you for your recent email. As you are aware from previous correspondence, I'd previously booked holiday when the children were at PreviousSchool and this was in that school's half term. The holidays at NewSchool are different by a week. I was assured that this wouldn't be a problem as it was booked prior to their joining.

I understand now that this is SATs week, and while I understand the importance of the exams to the school, we are not in a position to be able to change our holiday, so DCName will not be attending that week.

Kind regards

OP"

Go on the holiday it was booked pre moving so I'd still go on it

Go!

It's y2 SATs. It's not a big deal.

Loads of parents pull their DC out for them anyway.

I'm sure if DC were ill they'd cope somehow. It's not his GCSEs!