Bursary - do you take a family holiday?

[dachel]

I am curious about those who receive a bursary for a private school; do you still take a family holiday? Do you still take time off school to do this?

Private schools have longer holidays than state schools so little reason to take time off in term time eg break up beginning July for summer so get cheaper rates on summer holidays.

If you were on a private school bursary and took holidays during term time, you’d probably find you wouldn’t be at the school for much longer 😂

I did think this! My sons been offered to go on holiday with a school friend- all paid for but he would need to take three days off- his friend obviously is doing the same.

Three days is hardly 2 weeks, our school would be fine with it especially if at the end of a term. Also, they don’t expect bursary parents to live like paupers, a holiday is considered within the realms of reasonable.

Our school would actively encourage him to go as long as it wasn't exam years. Our headteacher strongly believes in the educational value of trips away, as long as people don't take the piss.

Is it educational? Or a theme park? 3 days should be fine and a holiday is fine. Check the small print of the bursary agreement regarding attendance though. Also don’t pretend it’s educational if it isn’t.

The bursar likely wouldn’t know he had missed 3 days of school for a holiday. The teaching staff know very little about the financial state of children, they wouldn’t know who was in receipt of a bursary and who wasn’t, so I doubt they would make the connection.

Taking term time holidays is extremely common at the prep school I work in, apparently 8 weeks in summer and 4 weeks at Easter just isn’t long enough and 13th of December isn’t early enough to fly somewhere for Christmas. Old head used to approve everything and tell people to have a wonderful time. New head has started saying ‘I cannot approve this request but I can’t stop you going’ - will be interesting to see if it puts anyone off!

As above, I couldn’t tell you which kids in my class are on a bursary and I doubt the bursar could tell you which kids are on holiday at any given time. Especially if the holiday is not with parents and is being funded by another family, I can’t see how anyone could take issue with it on these grounds.

Bursaries are reviewed each year. Teachers might not know the details but schools look at progress, engagement by pupil and the income of families to continue the bursary. Parents support of the school is also part of the review. Taking Dc on holiday might not be seen as support for the school given the generous holidays. So all info about a child is looked at and attendance would be too. It’s good manners to discuss this with the school and not pretend he’s ill. In many schools, other parents are paying the bursary fees via their fees.