holidays in term time parents win a victory over the lea

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.........\link{http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/23/nedu23.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/05/23/ixuknews.html\ story here}

"When they returned home to Park Farm, Peterborough, from the visit to Cape Town to see Mrs Donaldson's family last Christmas, the local education authority ordered them to pay a £50 fine for each child. The penalty doubled after the fine was not paid within 42 days.

When that was not paid, they were ordered to appear before Peterborough magistrates, charged with failure to ensure their children's regular attendance at school. However, the couple were given an unconditional discharge, with no fine and no costs."

at Enid's vehemently argued position becoming Camp Blu

actually, SaintGeorge was first and then me

Nesh means 'feels the cold' in Yorkshire.

well, generally I do, but sometimes it's not possible. for instance, the two months of summer hols in June/July coincide with the monsoons in my home town, during which nothing and nobody functions. Last year, there were several hundred people killed, not the best time to take kids there. So that leaves me three weeks in December, and three weeks in April, neither long enough to give the kids an opportunity to see both sets of grandparents. Takes them at least a week to get over jet lag.

Plus I can just about afford the higher priced tickets, but most people can't. An economy fare to India costs a minimum of 400 pounds, and this almost doubles in holiday season. You also need to book months ahead, and I literally mean months.

My daughter's class has about 15 expatriates in a class of 18, so they all miss school at some point. They do so little at this age that I actually think she learns more from her grandparents than she does at school. Certainly more reading, writing and arithmetic at any rate. And a lot about her culture which she doesn't get here.

Comes haring back again cos I saw me mentioned.

Thank you tissy . I though everyone had missed my first post way back at the beginning.

Sorrreee StG and Enid

Indeed - Enid used the word 'spoilt'!

I think that there is, possibly, an argument for visiting extended family in circumstances like yours, poppadum. Although I suspect I'd use the school holiday prices as an excuse to avoid family altogether, myself

We won;t be taking DS out of school to go on holiday. We will do what we can afford in the holidays themselves.

I want DS to grow up understanding that we can't always pick and choose what we want to do and when. I want him to understand that going to school is something which happens whether he likes it or not. I want him to grow up believing that his education is more important than going on holiday.

Kids don;t need to participate in expensive holidays to enjoy their time out of school. A caravan in Bognor would be just as much fun to an 8 year old than a beach holiday in Fuerteventura.

And once they get to secondary age then a fortnight out of school can actually cause them quite serious problems in terms of missed curriculum IME.

I had lots of holidays abroad before DS came along and I can wait for another 20 years or so to go on a few more.

I do think that having family abroad is a slightly different issue but I would still make the effort to travel in the holidays unless the cost was totally prohibitive.

I don;t really care what other parents do or don;t do, but that's my view.

Not everything happens in the school holidays!! - events can even happen at different times in other countries!! - sometimes it's not about paying less to sit on a beach but about keeping kids connected to their family who live in other countries.

Poppadum, just out of interest, how old is your dd? I'm slightly concerned about your comment "They do so little at this age".

Well, MI, when you have spent ten years away from your family like I have, I think absence does make the heart grow fonder, and skip over instances when said family drove me completely crazy!

Actually doesn't bother me that much what other people do, but people saying that they wouldn't take their kids out in an exam year or that primary doesn't matter does annoy me. Do people genuinely feel children only do any work/learn in exam years or secondary school?

I had measles in the first year of secondary school. Was away for a couple of weeks. I was (am?) bright and supposedly should have been able to catch up easily - I was away for a "genuine" reason after all. I was bloody hard work catching up though, and some classes I never fully regained my confidence in as I'd missed some important foundation stuff... just lost my equilibrium somehow.

I know being ill is unavoidable. But with that experience I'd be avoiding taking the dses out of school for anything other than the unavoidable. It's just not worth the grief.

DD is 6.5.

Oh come on, most people don't go on holiday for the educational value. We go for a break, with possibly a dose of culture thrown in (usually against loud protests from kids and/or anyone afflicted with a Y chromosome (or is that just in the Inferiority Complex?)) to make ourselves feel faintly self-righteous about it.

I am going for a quite really splurging holiday this year in a place where there is a fair bit of Culture and History but I bet I spend most of it dossing in the sun and slurping interesting booze. I damn well hope so anyway. I have very little expectation that the Inferiorettes will wring anything educational from the experience, but frankly that's not my priority. It's a holiday, ffs. That's why we take them.

I agree with the issue of family abroad and expatriate concerns being a different reason for taking children out of school but, sorry poppadum, I can't help feeling for your class teacher and the three children in your class who don't visit family abroad in any given school year.
You raise the valid issue of climate and seasonal factors affecting when you can travel to see family - how many of the other children are similarly affected I wonder, and does that mean that nearly half the class are absent at a particular point in the year?
And you say it doesn't matter now. Sure, that's your opinion, although I am sure any Foundation Years teacher will have a different view on that. My son was certainly learning new and important stuff every day in class from the day he started in Reception.
But presumably the family members abroad will still be around and expecting visits when your children are older...and preparing for really important qualifications.

Two children from my ds1's class of 15 are on holiday this week.

I have just spent the morning in school helping out and no-one commented adversely about them being absent, seemed to be taken as entirely normal.

LOL MI re using prices as an avoidance tactic!

I am a bit divided on the 'family abroad' issue. Living with dp's family is a million miles from going on hol in that country, or indeed, having the gps come and stay with us. He DOES get a deeper cultural understanding, his cousins observe a religion which is a minority religion here, speak French, everything about the life is different. DS gets immersed in a culture which is in his family background, and learns all sorts of things.

But we will still do everything we can to save for the holiday-time airfares. sigh, gnash.

MI, sorry for diverting thread, but is your holiday in Crete? I have just been. It was fab,and I managed to see Knossos and am feeling very smug and self-righteous.

It is indeed. And you're still here?

Yes, but moving in a month's time. should be sorting and packing now, but it's too scary so have decided to leave it to the gods.

And I agree, MI - what I wnat to do on hol is flop, relax, and flop some more. Quite different from 'family trips' I assure you. In fact last time we went to dps family, we had to escape on a 4-day hol to a tourist hotel, for a realxing break!

family is different to beach - think it should be left to families to decide. Plus not everyone can take time off in the hols set by the school. Seems a shame these parents should miss out though.

Marina,

Not sure whether my issues apply to the other children, but as to the attitude of the teachers, my daughter's teacher doesn't seem to mind. How shall I say this without inviting the wrath of the G and T brigade for being too far up my arse? My daughter does a ton of extra work at home because we are preparing for a move back home to India, where 6 year olds are expected do long division and write essays. So, the school work she does is fairly easy for her. This isn't my opinion, by the way, but the opinion of her teacher.

I'm in the anti camp too, for many of the reasons stated here.

I also don't understand how parents can cover childcare for the whole of the school hols and also manage to do two extra weeks holiday in term time too. Although I do notice the term time holiday types at my school are the first to moan about INSET days - presumably they set a high premium on family time together as long as it's on a beach somewhere hot (preferably with a highly educational kids club).