Wanted - Reasons for authorised holidays

[chicaguapa]

Hi, I was wondering what you parents put down for reasons for requesting authorised holiday in term times. I'm not looking to start a discussion on the morality of taking children out of school during term. DD has just started reception and school policy is to allow 10 days' authorised holiday providing the reason is acceptable. Cheap holidays is not deemed to be an acceptable reason so I need alternative reasons. We have 2 long weekends booked (1 at Spanish friends in Spain and 1 at a family get together at Center Parcs with DD's cousins) and a week in Spain with other friends. Other than cost there is no reason why we couldn't do this in the holidays. We just figured it would be better to have 3 breaks for the price of one.

I'm not sure you'll get them to see that Center Parcs is an extension activity. But you can try...

chic DS is G+T made no difference tbh

Honestly, what a load of nonsense! She's 4 years old. In some countries she wouldn't even be in school yet. Mind you, I'm pleased she is. But would just like a bit of common sense (from DfES) in weighing up what's important to her in the whole grand scheme of things.

I've just put ina form for ds who's in reception - reason for absence I put down 'family trip to Disneyland paris' - head signed it and said hope you have a good time! No problems, questions or anything.

It all depends on the head. Some are sticklers, other less so.

Will have a word with reception teacher then. Have already built up a good rapport with her so feel she'll be able to say what I can and can't get away with. Will let you know how I get on.

No one ever needs a holiday in terms of going away so it's never justified. I'd never take out of school, Shows you flout school discipline and think rules are there to be broken and want to disprupt learning and the classroom.

I have only taken my children out for exceptional things-took my dd to the Horse of the Year Show last year for example. But, chicaguapa, if your dd is only 4 then she isn't yet statutorily obliged to be in school (or old enought to be designated G and T,btw although I'm sure she is!)so there shoulden't be a problem. Think very carefully, however, about whether it's a good idea to take her out too often while the "school habit" is being established. And whether it's a good thing for her to learn that rules are things that don't apply to her. {leaves thread swiftly, donning tin helmet as I go}

At my dds school the rule only applies once they are 5, when they are 4 you can do what you want with them.

Do agree with curlew about whether its a good idea though to have so many breaks but then i suppose it is only 10 days out of a whole year, depends on the individual child i would imagine, only you can judge that.

My dds school are very strict I know several people who have been turned down holiday although as far as im aware they went anyway! I'm planning to take my dd out of school in july for a week for the simple reason that we cannot afford it in school hols and to a 6yr old I think a wks hol is as good an education as a week in school anyway, well possibly not if you went to butlins but a week in a cottage visiting local attractions and keeping a holiday diary of it is much better than a wk in school approaching the hols when noone does much anyway!!

we've done it and never had to give a reason at all and used the ten days in seperate chunks as well rather than in one go. no problem whatsoever.

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Our school is fairly relaxed about a few days here and there - they won't count it as unauthorised if you write and tell them. I try not to take holidays in term time, but last February, and again next February, they missed/will miss the last day of term before the February half-term so we can go to Malaysia. They never do much on the day before half-term anyway.

Ours publishes a points scheme telling us how they make a decision:

Year group: foundation=0pts, Y1/2/3=2pts, Y4/5/6=3pts
Level of attendance: 16 weeks=1pt, 2-8 weeks=3pts,

First time I told them I had to go overseas to work and was bringing dd with me ( NB I was )
She missed around 4 days of school
Second time I told them that my partner and I were both working shifts and had terrible trouble getting our bosses to co-ordinate! Both times they were fine about it

"I want a good relationship with the school and don't want to rock the boat. But I also want them to recognise that being in school is not the be all and end all. "

I think I'd be a bit worried if a school didn't think that TBH! Otherwise they might as well not bother. I take your point but not sure that most holidays are all that educational.

Spoke with the Reception teacher and she said she has no problem with taking DD out of school. The Head is fair about it but needs to see reasonable requests worded correctly so he can authorise them and just to say the one of the parents can't get leave during the school holidays.

That's good. If children are back and gone and back and there are 30 in a class it's very hard to keep you with the programme of school work to get done. Do you want there to be that disruption in a class a parent has to think if everyone else was doing the same etc. And no one needs a holiday. It's not like food. We didn't go away ever once until I was over 10 but we had plenty of holidays at home, day trips etc in school holidays.