Holidays for primary school children!

[autumngirl714]

For those in the UK school system with primary age children.
How often do you take them out of school a year (if at all) and for how long for holidays?

For example -

one week a year
A couple long weekends
Twice a year
One week every few years

Or do you think that holidays should be in school holidays only!

Only school holidays. They get 13 weeks off a year! We tend to holiday at Easter and in the summer and when we go away for weekend, we leave Friday straight after school and come back Sunday evening.

What's this survey for?

It's not a survey as such. It is to settle a debate between family members!

Thirteen weeks is plenty for holidays. We don’t take them out of school.

We only go on holiday during school holidays, have never taken them out of school for a holiday. I understand why people do though when I see the difference in price. Even with the fine it’s cheaper.

We keep to the school holidays. We don't have enough annual leave from work to cover that actual school holidays, let alone take extra days during the term time!

For what it's worth, I don't agree to take them out of school.
My only exception would be if it was a special event or if there was a day or two cross over, and I would never do this annually.

My ex dissagrees and has suggested 1-2 holidays during term time a year!!!

@LastTimeLosingIt no.... you're completely and utterly wrong. You don't have to answer if you don't want to!

Right well as you'll both have to pay the fine then no he can't take them out of school and if he wants to then put in writing that you disagree and get in writing from him that he'll cover your fee PLUS pay for tuition to make up the lost teaching

Nope, sorry. Maybe the odd day here or there for a family member’s mid week wedding or something but other than that, absolutely no days off for holiday in term time!

I am taking dd out of school in January for 1 week for my 40th birthday. She’s 7, I have never done it before and probably will never do it again.
I do think kids should all have a week or 2 grace a year minus Exam years in high school. I think this would maybe bring holiday prices down as the demand in the school holidays wouldn’t be as high.

We take one week every November, it actually coincides with St Andrews holidays (Scotland) so they miss 2.5 days. I flexi a Friday anyway so two days.

Tennent farmers
Easter lambing
Summer harvest
October ploughing
Christmas cattle and sheep inside.

My ex dissagrees and has suggested 1-2 holidays during term time a year!!!

Why though? Because they can't afford to go during school holidays?

If so, tell them to spend longer saving up and go either once a year or every other year.

Have never and probably will never take my kids out of school for holidays. There are exceptional circumstances where I think that’s a reasonable thing to do (thinking for example of a family I know where they went on a last holiday in term time shortly before their parent died of cancer) but we don’t have those circumstances.

I take mine out 1 day a year to attend a sport event they compete at. Up until now they have been "approved" absence but I don't think they will be under new rules. Still going to do it. Wouldn't do it for a holiday.

We stick to school holidays only.

One week each at Easter, May Half Term, October Half Term.

Three week long haul in summer.

Weekends away (Fri PM-Sunday) that don't conflict with school hours.

I want to be pious and say school is too important etc etc, but realistically if we were in a situation where we could only afford one cheap holiday a year, I would 100% go during term time and not feel bad about it at all. School is important but so is family time.

Normally 1-2 days a year for long weekends. Took them out for a week last year and will do the same next year but that’s the only time we will do that.

Once , for one day. It wasn't intentional. Older dc now in yr6.
(Either school added an extra day to the term after they first published the dayes or I got the dates wrong, I dunno, but I booked a holiday that started on the last day of term)

Generally we've only taken DS (7) out for a day or two when it's to visit family abroad for something important (DH is not British born). However, I must admit that we're taking him out for 2 days in December for a once in a lifetime trip that couldn't happen at another time - we did tell school though, and his attendance is otherwise excellent and he's academically miles ahead of the rest of his class.

I'd not take him out for longer though unless absolutely necessary (wedding/funeral of close family overseas) - a week is a long time, and kids already get 13 weeks a year off, which we need all our annual leave to cover!

We tend to just stick to school holidays but sometimes they'll miss the last day of term if that is when our tickets our for example. We try to avoid that mostly. Other than that, they don't miss school for holidays and we don't do long weekend holidays during the term really because it just leads to them being exhausted. We would definitely not take like a full week out for going on holiday.

Does your ex know the new law? They’ll end up incurring substantial fines for you both next year.

We would take them out for a long weekend only.

For example at the end of the month FIL has a special birthday and has booked for us all to go away Friday to Monday.

My DC’s will miss half a day on Friday and all of Monday.

We’ve done this a couple of times over the years.

Generally though - holidays are in school holidays only.

One of my DD’s suffers with recurring tonsillitis and missed lots of school last year (attendance was around 89% due to this) - in those circumstances I wouldn’t take her out at all because she had missed enough.

my DD was at a primary school where they were fine with holidays in term time. Covid hit and I moved her schools for various reasons. Our previously booked Florida trip was moved several times, by the time we got to it she was in a new school that were much more strict.
I still took her out for two weeks for that.
3 days in infants for Lapland (old school)
I celebrated a milestone birthday in Jan, so also took her out for 3 days for that as I wanted to go away for that.
That's been it and she's now at Secondary so wouldn't.

I wouldn't plan holidays specifically for it, but a couple of occasions I don't think is awful. I wouldn't expect a week or two per term or even school year.

Mine are 11 and 14 and in their entire time at school I’ve only taken them out for one three day trip to attend a wedding abroad. Both were in private schools for primary though so that made it easier. I have one DC in state now and I find the holidays a right pain. Can’t wait until he finishes - less than four years to go and I’m counting down the time to cheaper holidays!!!

My children get two days in November - we go away for a long weekend with the entire family including their great grandparents. We don’t know how much longer my children have to make memories with them so I don’t care what anyone’s opinion is. This usually falls around my youngest child’s birthday.
We also take them for a long weekend around my oldest child’s birthday. Because if we take them for one, we must treat the other the exact same way. Usually that’s a weekend away at a Haven park. Family bonding time is equally as important as school and there is nothing that cannot be caught up on. For a start I was a teacher for 10 years and have been a private tutor for the last 7 years.