AIBU? Taking child out of school

[MummaHud]

Am I being unreasonable for taking my child out of school in June, for a 10 night family holiday for our honeymoon.

she is in year 1 - the difference in a holiday which will be such a life experience for her is £3k for the sake of going 5 weeks later out side of school times.

my parents say ‘take the fine’
my partners parents are saying we are unreasonable and do a cheaper holiday somewhere cheaper in the school holidays.

has anyone else done this before that can give advice?

It's a holiday. Unless there's another post coming I really don't think it's a 'lifetime experience'.

If you decide to take her out, that's fine. It's your call. But don't expect the teachers to spend time preparing additional work to take away or to have to spend additional time helping her to catch up at the craziest part of the summer term with everything else that tends to be going on.

Also, you have no idea how much school she may miss for genuine reasons between now and June so assuming that she's still hit 90% attendance may not be the case.

Quite a lot of people here seem to be in the position of taking holidays for granted. As someone who never went on holiday as a child (except one short break to Butlins) until I was 21 years old, it absolutely can be a life experience.

I couldn’t bring myself to leave her behind so I’m would go for it, ask for learning/teaching to do with her

Sure and as I am in the UK as well you are right - but as the OP said she was taking her kids out of school it doesn't really help to suggest they were going to be in education elsewise as in homeschooled. So we agree they are required to have a full time education so it's then countered by your point about taking kids out of school. You are then talking about impact which is a separate argument. It's hard to keep all of your points aligned or straight since then often argue against each other....

Leave her with the parents/in-laws and go on honeymoon alone, like you should. Problem solved.

Just make a choice and stick to it. What I wouldn't do is try and dress up a cheaper holiday as a "life experience" or "educational" when all you want is to save money. Suck it up and don't lie about it.

Personally I wouldn't and never have.

I definitely don’t take them for granted. And my children have never been abroad.

I’m basing my opinion on the age of the child, and the fact that I don’t really have any significant memories of any family holidays I took at that age. I was taken to Australia at about 6, we visited Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, spent time in various cities across the country but it really wasn’t a life experience for me. It would have been if I’d been older.

Holidays can be a life experience. But I think that’s starts at an older age.

I think OP should just do it if she wants to. Just let’s not pretend it will be some massively enriching life experience that wouldn’t be possible at a cheaper location in summer holidays 🤷🏻‍♀️

I wouldn’t. I’d have a honeymoon just 2 of you for a few days.

If you really want todo it, I’d try to go as close to the end of the year as possible - that way she’ll miss the least. Could you do the last five days of school and the first five days of the holidays?

I think a week in year 1 is fine, but 10 days is too much. They learn a lot and that’s 1/3 of a half term.

I think it depends if this will genuinely be a one off and whether you understand the new system. In the past I would have considered taking a primary school age DC out for the last week of term. I've heard lots of parents at school still saying they will take the fine each year, I'm not sure all of them understand that this can now lead to huge fines and a court questioning their ability to parent.

Take her out, pay the fine. She’s very young and it’s your honeymoon.
But don’t try and claim it’s a “life experience” for her, that just makes you sound silly.

Really? You don't think the teacher has enough to do without coming up with extra work suggestions for an individual child who will probably not even look at them when away? I'm team in laws here.

I think it’s selfish. Bad for your kid and bad for the rest of their class. Makes the teachers job a nightmare too when they have to try and play catch up.

Personally I wouldn’t think twice and just crack on. The fine is negligible and not like it’s something you’ll do regularly or she’s about to sit any important exams. My mum was a a teacher and as a result we could only go in the holidays and it was so limiting with the costs. Very unfair on parents even ten years ago, never mind now with everything being so expensive. Do it while you can!

Not unreasonable, just take the fine. I've done it a few times and don't care for anyone's opinions on whether I should or shouldn't. My parents took me out of school twice a year for 2 weeks each time for foreign holidays and it had no negative effect on my education. I was accepted into one of the UKs most prestigious universities.

It’s not your honey moon as you are taking your kid!! All in the same room!!! It’s a regular holiday.
y1 they will do the phonics screening test. If you miss it then it will mean doing it in Y2.

pay the fine and get on with your life but the rolling absence period includes school holidays so you would have the absence but then couldn’t miss anymore school until after Xmas or you would trigger a second fine.

just make sure you are clear on the rules.

oh and don’t ask the teacher to provide work. It takes ages to prepare a work pack that you probably won’t do.

Your honeymoon is not a life experience for a young child.

Make sure you budget both parents paying the fine.

With all due respect, I don't think any holiday is enough of a "life experience" to be a legitimate reason to miss school.

However, I also think that missing 1-2 weeks of school, in June, in year 1, will do her ZERO harm so take advantage of the reduced cost, take her out, and simply pay the fime.

End of summer term they're doing very little real learning. Year 1 is still fairly basic anyway. WORST case, ask the teacher to let you know if there are any core maths concepts they're learning in those two weeks (unlikely) and pay for a tutor to cover those on your return.

If your child has otherwise excellent attendance (100%) and is reasonably on track with her learning, then just do it and pay the fine if one is issued. Factor it into the cost of the holiday.
She's in year 1!
The school probably won't like it though.

Take her out … it’s year 1.

It’s year 1 in June … teachers likely counting down to the school holidays 🤣

Agree. Kids were off for months during Covid anyway … all forgotten now, doubt 2 weeks will make any difference.

Do it.
Child is only in year 1, so not missing out on important GCSEs. Email the school explaining the nature of the break and they'll mark it as unauthorised absence.
It's only ten days.

It's totally up to you, I don't really think you can justify it or ask the school to authorise it, but you know the rules, you probably know lots of people who do it, so make a decision based on your understanding of all that info.
You likely will get fined, your child will miss some learning but will probably keep up/catch up. You'll definitely get a nasty letter. You'll also have a lovely time on holiday at a price that's more affordable. For a year one I'd take some books to keep reading and maybe do some small activities like postcard writing, but they will miss bits of maths etc that (unless you know the lesson plans) you won't be able to fill in.
We've done 4 days before and weren't fined, I'd do it again probably, I've never done a week or more though. Nobody here can make the decision for you - if you want to then go for it, it's your child, but there will be consequences (both the fine but also the missed learning), so it's up to you if it's worth it - only you really know that, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.