Term time holidays

[noddyholder]

What is the position on this?Is it erally a definite no no.I am thinking of going on holiday inSeptember this year for various reasons not just money but a friend has said it is really frowned upon now.

it all depends on the age of the kids and what they are doing in school. i was told by my ds's school that as they are only in reception year and year 2 that i could do what ever i wanted , but come year 3, when the real work starts, they need to be in school unless i have a very good reason.

at my school (and i think nationally?) you are allowed to take your children out for 2 weeks approved absence but you must obtain permission first. the way it works here is that th parent sends a note in with the child saying 'i am planning to take bob away for 2 weeks from the x to the y of september for our annual holiday'. this is then logged annd the headteacher sends home a permission slip. i think, if you want to take them out for any longer, the school do not have to guarantee that they will keep your childs place in the school open.

so I can just send in a note with the dates?This sounds too easy to me!

we are going on holiday this weekend and had to get a written letter of permission from the schools and the education dept.we also had to send a letter from the charity that are paying for our holiday (dd has cf and its a cf charity that have booked and paid for it all).i dont know why they wanted the letter from them though.

the school was ok about it and we thought the ed dept would say no,but they didnt.

dpeak to teh teacher snd ask - we used to have holiday forms to fill in, but now just need to write a letter

Way too early in the day for popcorn GDG!

noddyholder, you can ask for permission, the school doesn't have to give it. If you go without permission there could be fines levied though only one or two LEAs seem to go down this route unless there are other issues (eg continued truancy/poor attendance thorughout the year).

We're taking DS1 (8) out of school this week for a trip to Haven (Mon-Fri) . We asked for permission in writing and were given the go ahead, I've never done it before and don't anticipate it being a regular occurance. They are more accepting of it here though as most of us are Hoteliers therefor we're busiest in the holidays.

As I understand it, they can refuse your request and it then gets counted as unauthorised absence, although not before the statutory school age.

September isn't considered the best time to take them out because it makes settling into the new school year hard.

Cool topic, anyone want to do a link to teh last argument I think that ran to over 600 posts

589 posts actually

Thanks for the link!Now how long will I need and how many cups of tea and jaffa cakes to get through that lot!

You beat me to it!! There was another good one that I really pissed everyone off one, I wish I could remember where.

We need to round up Enid and a few others

in a fair minded school, surely your application shouldn't be refused? as a reception teacher i've always seen a holiday as a benefit to children - being able to come back and share their experiences often develops confidence an, therefore, speech skils. not to mention the benefits of parents who take time out to help their child write a postcard/ take some pictures/ build a mega-sandcastle/ generally develop lasting good memories. oh, and those who help th lo buy a few sweets for the teacher are amazing!

[need a confused emoticon, i think because i'm naive - why should this result in an argument?]

sorry, x posted with link to old thread.

Noddyholder - write and give the reasons why you need to take a hol in term-time.
The school may give permission, or refuse permission - but as others say, can't do anythng legally unless the absence is longer than 10 school days.
Then, whether you decide to go ahead or not is up to you...simple, really - except for the thousands of responses from MN-ers!

It is the PRINCIPLE of ensuring your kids go to school when they are meant to If we as parents are seen to be breaking rules like this, what will we do next??? Buy non-organic food Put chocolate bars and nuts into packed lunches

Well that's one side of the arguement, another is how selfish parents like me are disrupting the entire class and making their poor kids jealous as we can then afford ski-ing holidays or horror of horrors Center Parcs and Disneyland, as they can only afford camping once in a blue moon

Or could it just be parents who stick by the rules are jealous of us who take their kids out of school, as they wouldn't have the guts

BTW I do approve of taking kids out of school for holidays, and will continue to do so

Last year was the first time I was 'allowed' a holiday as I had been ill for all the other years or on dialysis or in hospital and ds is 12.We went to the greek islands for 3 weeks and if I'm honest it was too much for me physically although I really enjoyed it.I feel I only have a few more years holidays with him but don't want to go when there will be lots of kids as I got sick at one hotel full of snotty kids(not their fault before you jump on me) and had to leave another because of chicken pox risk!So am hoping to go in a quietish period as all the less expensive holidays we looked at for august are in great big complexes which is not for us really

I would write and explain briefly your particular circumstances, unless you want to keep it private.

Noddy GO FOR IT! I know your DS is a little older and not in primary school like mine are, BUT there are some good and valid reasons why you want a holiday then, I take it he will not be going to a different school, just up a year. The only other thing is to delay it slightly until late Spet/Oct, simply to allow him to 'settle' into the new year, rather than going 1st week back IYKWIM.

Talk to the school, explain and if they don't say yes, kick up a fuss

If possible, try and avoid going in early September as Crunchie says, because that's when a lot of the settling in is done with new teachers/routines etc.

Noddyholder - just write and esxplain that it is due to your health issues - I am sure they will give permission.
It sounds a lovely idea to take your ds away.

And I'm in the 'I wouldn't take my child out unless pressganged by wildebeests' camp - so if I'm sympathetyic, I'm sure the school will be

not going to comment on whether or not you go in term time (and you seem to have a very valid reason) but I personally would avoid Sept if possible as it will make settling in more difficult. How about going in October, but somewhere hotter (Canaries maybe). Should be cheap as avoiding school holidays (but watch 1/2 term) but kids will be settled into their new school year.

does it depend on sats and things like that? as we dont do them in wales i think its a bit more relaxed, but as for your circunstances noddy, i wouldnt give it a second thought. if was your ds's head i would expect you to take holidays as and when...