Surprised at how many school aged kids on holiday

[AleaEim]

We just returned with our toddler from Bella Italia eurocamp with our toddler and couldn’t believe how many school aged children were there this time of year. I’m talking hundreds of children well into mid- late primary school age. The majority of families were Irish at the camp( this surprised me also as i thought it would have people from all over) I’m Irish but have lived in the UK over 15 years, are Irish schools/ parents more relaxed than other cultures and are able to take children off during term time?

I’m not judging as I can see why parents do it and I may even do it myself in future if needed to get a cheaper holiday. I’m just curious really and wondered if these parents are honest with teachers about it. My parents did take me off once for a holiday in term time of secondary and when I told the teacher she called me out in front of a whole classroom about it as if it was my choice. I wouldn’t do that to my dd at that age.

Well that's like most English schools then. Too busy boosting up the bottom lot to acceptable.

We were looking to book for may half term next year. If we go on the Tuesday before half term as opposed to the Friday or Saturday on the same week, it's 2600 cheaper! For a 7 day holiday. It jumps from 2400 as well so it's more than double. Clear to see why people do it.

It’s not just cost it’s how busy it is too. We once flew that Saturday in May half term and it was hideous at airport etc.

I used to be a primary teacher and I taught in Ireland (where I'm from) and England. The Irish primary school system is so much more sensible than the English system - in fact, the English system is bafflingly ridiculous, so much so that I couldn't continue in it. It drove me nuts.

In the Irish system, a child missing a week or two of school was genuinely no big deal - as long as they were not seriously struggling they would easily catch up at a later stage. That was because we used a 'spiral curriculum' where the same topics are touched on again and again in different ways. It was also totally acceptable to stay on a topic for longer if the class needed it. It's very effective and ensures that over time certain core skills are very embedded and secure.

In the English system everything was planned to within an inch of its life, out of context and with no reference to the actual children. We flew through topics at the speed of light and had little to no opportunity to revisit anything, even if the children were clueless. It was bizarre and meant that many children, through no fault of their own, missed critical elements of core subjects. It was an incredibly unsatisfying way to teach - it felt robotic. But, as long as we triple-backed our wall displays (wft?) then OFSTED would consider us fantastic.

The English system focuses on all the wrong things. A child being out of school for two weeks is no problem, as long as their usual attendance is good. The children that cause a problem are the ones who miss Monday Tuesday one week, Wednesday the following week, then a full week, then are in for a full week, then are out again and so on. Those children usually have chaotic home lives and fines just add to their misery.

Interesting, I didn’t know there were huge differences. I wonder how the Irish system compares to mainland Europe or the US.

Both my children schools are very reasonable and they have extended the October half term to two weeks. They then added the missing week to the end of July. Maybe other schools have started doing something similar? Because this is a great way to improve attence and a win-win for both schools and parents who are cash strapped.

The English system is flawed when it prioritises attendance scores at the end of a year over a childs education full stop. A friend of mine in England went cap in hand to school once to apply for a day for the child to come to Ireland for a funeral and was told NO. Reason: Attendance percentages for the school. Fucking ridiculous.

I think it's a shame to think of the English kids who will miss out on holidays because their parents are intimidated by the fines. Holidays are important too, and I doubt most children would be disadvantaged by missing a week. There is a big difference between consistent absences throughout the year and a week off to make memories.

The fines are totally discriminatory, and that is so wrong.

A well off/comfortable family can afford to feck off term time and won't care about the fines. They could also afford to holiday during holidays, but choose not to do so because of crowds, heat etc.

A struggling family (so many are these days), wouldn't risk it. So they lose out twice, pay a fine they can't afford, or stay home in the holidays because the prices are just too steep then.

That is leaving aside the obsession with attendance statistics in English schools. There must be a lot of number crunching going on there to satisfy either the council or Ofsted or both! I am not sure how that works, just guessing.

Not my own experience at all. I’m from one of the roughest and most deprived places in the country and in my own extended family we have several with phds and these would be people who’s own parents barely went to secondary school . There is extra funding for very low income families to get to third level. My son’s primary school had a seminar on third level support and funding and explained how the system works to make parents of primary school children aware of how it operates.