holidays in shcool term time adn bringin in sweets on return

[michellemcmanus]

does anyone elses kids have to endure kids taking holidays in term time then returning wiht sweets for their class mates?

Have a fantastic time misdee.

Enid, what if you were not able to take time off during August, say if you work in a job where these are peak times and holiday isn't allowed or there are set industrial holidays?

I know several families who were in this situation after the schools abolished our traditional potter's holiday fortnight in June. All the factories closed down during this time and you had no choice bu to take your holiday then, rather than August. Or maybe you work with lots of other parents and are the one who draws the short straw becasue everyone else wants to take their holidays then.

Or maybe you teach in an LEa where they have just gone to the new 5 term system but your children are at schools with the traditional holiday set up.

At primary age it doesn't really matter. Yes there are irresponsible parents who don't care about their children's education but no-one on mumsnet seems to come in this category.

I care enought about my children's education to be spending a fortune on it, but see nothing wrong in taking them out of school during term time whilst they are young. Dd is only in nursery so far but I took her out the other week to take her to see the Gruffalo at the theatre and would have done the same had she been at school.

But can they? Everyone is entitled to 10 days holiday. Yes, it has to be agreed with by the headmaster...but the 10 days is Givernement policy. Not sure how the head could get away with it in the long run TBH. What will he do if the parents still just go? It then goes down as unauthorised absense, which makes his school look much worse on paper.

I really don't think a blanket ban will stop people taking holidays in term time. It will just result in a bad record for the school.

Also I forgot to add that in prior years I have been guilty of tagging a few days on over the May half term. However this year DS1 had sats exams so we decided to book for August. Managed to find one with 'bearable' prices and at least we know it will be hot!

A blanket ban will not be worth the paper it isn't written on.

School is not compulsory, only education.

Well said Hula - this year is the first we've been able to afford our holiday out of term time and only just at that because we are sharing a house with my brother and his family and it's not extraordinarily expensive. Our holiday budget has usually been around £200 too and this year we're pushing the boat out and it's £265 per family!! We'd not have been able to afford the cottage unless sharing.
I really think most of us are responsible enough parents to not take our kids out of school at the drop of a hat and every family deserves some quality time together away from it all be it in term time or not. It's not illegal, it's not wrong, and I disagree it sends out bad messages.
Lets not judge each other on this. We all want the best we can afford for our families.

You've got my meaning wrong batters. I'm saying that if I didn't care I wouldn't go to that effort as the implication of this thread is that people who take their children out in term time don't care.

Areo: "every family deserves some quality time together away from it"

Eaxctly, and that, I think, is just as importnat, if not more so, than anything else.

Thats what I thought

However it states that "the governors are considering not authorising Leave of Absence next year. The school's figures are well above government figures and also the government is intending to greatly reduce the amount of absence in all schools."

I think they are just trying to scaremonger as no way will they want to put it all down as un-authorised leave. It will make their figures look bad

They won't do it for that reason Saffy. Let's face it, they hardly want a 40% unauthorised absence rate do they?!

It's not just the school's responsibility to educate a child, it is also that of the parents. Taking a young child on holiday and spending quality time together as a family is very much part of that eduation (IMO) If you cant afford it during school hols then nobody has the right to tell you that your child should lose out!

of course, if you're a working mother and have to pay for holiday childcare, you might prefer to take your holidays in school holidays and save on 2 weeks childcare

or is that too contraversial?

Saffy there will probably be a riot if they enforce this. IME schools need to work with the parents, not alienate them. It's hardly the parents' fault that out of term time holidays are so expensive (unless any of them manage holiday companies and airlines of course)

Not contraversial at all Lima. Just another point of view, which for some people will work just as well. I think every family needs to work out what is best for them.

No Lima it's not controversial, it's just not the point. Whether or not you pay for holiday childcare isn't what we're talking about here, and isn't relevant.

Also, as a teacher, I know that within the next few years schools are going to go over to the new four term arrangement with a shorter summer break and a week off every six. (same amount of hols, just more evenly distributed!

Isn't it hugely disruptive to a school though if 40% of children are taking holiday out of term time? Interested to have teachers views on this.

Ah, is this really definitely going to happen? Just curious as there wasn't much support for it at my last school. I knew there were reasons why I got out of teaching!

I think that has its flaws too - school holidays to just 4 weeks, which will be a nightmare for those trying to arrange time of work for holidays when there are other parent's working there. And will still be expensive too.

hulababy is a teacher

I didn't teach primary puddle so not sure.

As a secondary teacher it only bothered me in GCSE and sixth form years. The rest I could deal with fine. I always built in a couple of weeks or so into my planning for catch up time (or extension time for those who hadn't ad time out). And although my lessons built on each other, I would ensure that there were fast track ways of catching up. Worked for those who were absent due to illness, etc. too.

Fio - WAS a teacher; not any more

Puddle - only if all 40% go at the same time. In reality its just one or two at a time.

My dp is a teacher too and spends a lot of time setting work for children who are going to be on holiday, then helping those children catch up when they return. This is secondary level rather than primary. And I'm sure it's nothing like 40% of children who do it at his school.

why does anyone think it is any of their business as to when another parent wishes to take their child on holiday?