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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

When term time holiday is not authorised...

146 replies

Lukethe3 · 19/04/2013 16:29

....how do you politely tell the school you are going anyway? An email on the Monday morning or a letter? Or do I just tell the class teacher?

OP posts:

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FasterStronger · 19/04/2013 18:56

jinsei - Sorry, not sure what you mean. that sentence was all wrong:

the children DP works with are often very far away a life involving their best interest.

Jinsei · 19/04/2013 18:56

needs of the child yes, wants of the parent no.

I don't disagree with this. The wants of the parent absolutely shouldn't come into it. But there are times when it is genuinely in the best interests of the child to take time out of school.

handcream · 19/04/2013 18:57

What are exceptional circumstances, someone stated they didnt fancy paying more for a holiday so they were going to take their child out of school without permission

FasterStronger · 19/04/2013 18:57

hand I really dont understand these people who dont value education and think they can do what they like and state they 'dont give a shit'.

absolutely.

Jinsei · 19/04/2013 19:00

Yes, but an "important" birthday is hardly a big deal, is it handcream. I can't see that the child is going to benefit by attending a birthday party, and anyway, something like this can easily be rescheduled. But some people might have genuine reasons why they need to take their kids out of school.

handcream · 19/04/2013 19:00

I truly think that if you choose to lie to enable you to get what you want be that a cheaper holiday, attendance at some party or wedding etc you are giving your child the worst possible example to follow.

When they start to lie to you - well they learnt it from you!

Bookwolf32 · 19/04/2013 19:00

Why does it even matter if you take your child out of a school for a week or two, especially in Primary years? As long as you weren't doing it very term I can't see how it affects anything apart from the attendance record.
BTW I don't have a school aged child yet. Do parents get fined if they do take them out?

FasterStronger · 19/04/2013 19:01

jinsei - what sort of thing do you mean?

Jinsei · 19/04/2013 19:02

What are exceptional circumstances, someone stated they didnt fancy paying more for a holiday so they were going to take their child out of school without permission

Personally I would never take dd out of school to save money, but finances might contribute to exceptional circumstances for a family on a very low income. I think you have to assess each case on its own merits.

FasterStronger · 19/04/2013 19:06

jinsei - I have never seen a school absence thread where someone is saying they can only afford a week's camping in term time in the UK.

handcream · 19/04/2013 19:06

So what are these geninue reasons? I worked for a while for the traffic police (I wasnt a police officer!) and the excuses they heard regarding why people didnt have insurance were laughable.

I was just about to buy it but the call centre took so long to answer my call I had to ring off and now you have stopped me.

Someone at home is unwell and its an emergency

I forgot to buy some

I didnt realise I needed it as I have insurance in my own country

I cant afford it

I thought my Mum had some

And so on and so on.

There will be 100's of reasons why someone thinks their reason is genuine. I think the policies are good and if anything should be tightened up.

JedwardScissorhands · 19/04/2013 19:07

The children faster is referring to as being 'very far away a life involving their best interests are quite simply not the children whose parents take them out of school for a holiday but otherwise engage in and support their child's education.

I taught mine to read before starting school. We read all the ORT shite books, we ensure homework is done, we attend regularly and on time. However I would not hesitate to take a week's holiday and I couldn't give a shiny shit about performance targets. Faster, perhaps your DP should focus on the kids who just aren't sent to school regularly?

handcream · 19/04/2013 19:08

Why should you assess a case on its merits. Schools have enough to do as it is.

Jinsei · 19/04/2013 19:09

jinsei - what sort of thing do you mean?

I think it's impossible to generalise. We have taken dd out of school on three occasions. Twice to visit her father's home country, to visit her elderly grandmother and to attend a family wedding. The wedding was scheduled to fit in with our visit, but on both occasions there were very good reasons why we could not travel during school holidays (health related).

The other time, I had won a once in a lifetime trip to a country that we probably could not afford to visit otherwise. The trip could only be taken at a certain time. DD has strong cultural ties to that country and speaks the language. It was a wonderful one-off opportunity for her to visit the country, spend a day in a local school and learn about the culture and traditions of that country. We'd have been idiots to turn it down, and the school agreed.

FasterStronger · 19/04/2013 19:10

jedward - so do you think all DCs should be allowed out of school for holidays, or only the ones who are performing/attending?

handcream · 19/04/2013 19:12

its exactly what I am saying, everyone thinks their reason is enough to do what they want, elderly relatives, family wedding etc etc.

If schools said 'take two weeks during term time whenever you like' would that be better?

JedwardScissorhands · 19/04/2013 19:13

Our school has an attendance threshold, if your child meets it, holiday is authorised. Now, strictly speaking the policy is legally dubious as it is a fixed % including illness. That aside, yes, I think that is a good system.

FasterStronger · 19/04/2013 19:19

JedwardScissorhands I think that is a good system. of course you do, because it works for you.

and yes it is legally dubious and punishes children whose attendance is lower, maybe for no better reason than their parents. and these children are likely to have lots of disadvantages including fewer holidays.

so it works for you. well thank god some heads are not just thinking about what parents like you like. I am really glad my DP is looking out for all the hundreds and hundreds of children he has helped educate.

5madthings · 19/04/2013 19:24

Our school authorises holidays etc depending on true reason for the holiday and attendance etc.

We will be taking our four out in sept as dp cannot get time off I the school holidays and his employers will write a letter to say this to the two schools (high school and primary school). They will miss five days of school but will have a week with their dad who they don't always see much due to his shift work and this year my parents are coming away with us.

Learning doesn't just happen in school and parents are allowed to ask for up to ten days at the discretion of the head teacher. Some heads are stricter than others.

JedwardScissorhands · 19/04/2013 19:25

If your DP is focusing on the children who attend regularly but take the odd holiday, he is not helping to educate those children. It is the children with overall low attendance he needs to focus on. That is not discriminatory. The policy is legally dubious because it is a blanket policy and for DDA reasons as illness is taken into account.

handcream · 19/04/2013 19:28

How can Faster's partner focus on children with low attendance - they are not there! If parents really dont want to take advantage of our free education system that's fine. However dont start complaining when you cannot get a job and others are better qualified.

JedwardScissorhands · 19/04/2013 19:30

I presume they work in education welfare?

FasterStronger · 19/04/2013 19:34

Jrdward, You don't have a clue about being a head so lets not waste our time eh?

Jinsei · 19/04/2013 19:37

its exactly what I am saying, everyone thinks their reason is enough to do what they want, elderly relatives, family wedding etc etc.

If schools said 'take two weeks during term time whenever you like' would that be better?

No, that wouldn't be better. As I've said, I think the head should assess each case on its own merits and decide whether or not the child will benefit from the absence.

feeltheforce · 19/04/2013 19:39

I don't see the big deal with taking them out. We took ours out for nearly three weeks for a visit to the other side of the world (we don't do this regularly). I took along a bit of school work, they kept a diary and to be honest they didn't miss a thing. It hasn't impacted them at all. My eldest is still top of his class. I get very annoyed when I have to fill in a form for a day here or there.

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