£350 for 1 week in July term time- family of 7 - or £1100 in school holidays??

[devonvalley]

Yep that old term time holiday chestnut-
We are a family of 7 we can only afford to go on a Uk term time holiday, or have no holiday at all!(yes I know some do not holiday at all !)
Why is it seemed the, one holiday a year family, like us, have to be penalised , and berated?
It appears to my friends and I, that in our experiences, the people who can afford there £3000-£4000 a year on their peak season holiday, have little regard for families such as ourselves and our friends predicament, because money appears to not be an issue for them.
Travel, new experiences, and valuable family time are great educators , are they not? so when those of you who resent , parents who take our children out for 5 days once a year, spare us a thought, its most probably the only time we can afford to go.(and avoid fines by ......!)
Also when school residential trips seem to cost £270 upwards- £350 for 7 of us to go away, not just one of us seems to be preferable!

I would happily support a ban on music lessons, sports events etc taking place during lesson time. Those things should be done after school. Rehearsals for the school play should take place during the allotted drama lessons or after school.

Sorry I'm kind of confused.

Every second counts,any time away from the classroom has limited value in comparison to lesson time.That's what we're being told.

You can't have it both ways.

Yy to the big school play that only 20 on average do anything in.

Singing hours of songs on top of hours of hymns during assembly and walking on/off in an instant for the rest has sweet fa educational benefit.Lets be honest and as for Christmas parties let's ban them to.

Or is there educational value to be had in activities which don't have a plenary and a conclusion?

Is it really that you are being "penalised" because the holidays are too expensive in term time or is it because you have twice the number of children as most people? Happy for you to have your lovely big family but there is a reason most people don't have 5 kids! You must have expected to make sacrifices?

Do schools still have plenaries?

Whatever,you get my drift.

I think that people are a little naive if they think that if a family of 5 children are off at the same time they won't check up at home and find you all away!

I thought your point was that unless activities have plenaries they aren't educational ... as someone who has never done the plenary thing should I worry for my pupils

I think you know what I was getting at.

I don't want Gove to tighten up elsewhere - would rather he slacked off a bit. In fact, if he slacked off a lot and just let someone else take over his job, someone who doesn't wind everyone up and toss babies out with bathwater, that would be great.

Not really Retropear unless you mean that only activities you believe to be educational are

Whatever Mrz.

Rabbit I agree however the hypocrisy rankles- a lot!

Sorry didn't realise I was having this discussion with Vicky Pollard

I think it makes a difference what year the child is in

I would have no problem with taking a child out of primary school for a week

I definitely wouldn't take a year 10 or 11 child out for even a day

Everyone is different obviously

HolidayCriminal
""Why can't people camp in a field and enjoy family time together cheaply like that."

Said by someone who lacks teenagers & their primal need for WiFi, I suspect. Mind, I'm pretty sure it's not possible for me to enjoy family time with teens in any environment."

Pre paid wifi dongle?
PAYG wifi Dongle
Smart phone with internet connection?

or they could go cold turkey and talk to real people instead of interacting with phones or tablets

I would actually see that as a positive for camping speaking as someone who hates tents and caravans

has teens
loves camping
hates expensive holidays - got out of debt 16 years ago ... will never go back

an hour each evening of wifi (in the restaurant while DH and I have a beer) seems to work.

Hmm having spent over £1k on camping equipment(decent warm,water and wind proof gear is crucial) I can safely say camping in Aug is not a cheap option.Campsites seem to put their prices up every year and if wet you have the added expense of rainy day activities.

You also need a big car or trailer.

council run sites in France seem to do the trick - and everything fits in the back of our rather normal estate car .... its about expectations

the type who think its ok to pull kids out of school do not teach their kids to be resilient and adaptable

TalkinPeace - the type who categorise people into "types" do not teach their kids to judge and treat people as individuals...

I am a number not a name

Sorry but tolls,petrol and crossings make travelling to France expensive.

My parents took us out every year.As forces kids I can assure you we're adaptable and resilient as are my dc.