Time off school in Reception year for holiday - ok or not?

[madamy]

DD1 starts reception in January and after looking at the price of going away in the school holidays, we are considering taking her out of school for 2 weeks in June. She will be 5 in May.

This will be the only time we do it, I wouldn't consider taking her out once she is in Year 1+.

Is this a bad thing (school 'allows' 10 days absence) or not? I assume she's not going to miss anything vital as it's only reception.

Just interested to hear views!

id do it.its gonna be your last chance for 18yrs afterall!

write to the school to say youre doing it tho. or maybe sound out the head in person first and see how theyre going to be about it... and if theyre unlikely to be agreeable, make up some reason why you have to go, closer to the time.

do it

I'm taking my dd out of school for a week in January - she's in year one. The Head was fine about it and said she'd get lots out of a week away. She did say avoid times close to tests etc, but generally i think children get so much out of a holiday, as long as it's limited to ten days a year it's fine.

Good lord yes. Family holidays are such a good experience for children, especially if you're doing a bit of sight seeing too. I hardly hesitated when taking DS out of Year 1 for a fortnight. So yes, reception no problem.

i would'nt worry, take her on holiday.

Do it.

Thanks all! I thought it would be ok, but kind of needed reassurance! Am looking right now for hols.

Do it any time, not just this year. The idea that the occasional week of holidays matters during term time is laughable - when you consider that it implies that all children are within a day of each other in all subjects.

Firstly... definitely don't worry - take her out.

But... don't think 'It's only Reception'. In fact children are establishing relationships and will be learning important stuff like phonic blends, so in fact they may miss the time out more at that stage than when they're older.

I don't think the occasional day or two off is a bad thing. I might be a bit concerned about two weeks, though. Not because of the work they'll miss at this age - they'll catch up or you can take it with you and do it in quiet moments on holiday.

I have two big buts, though. The first "but" is that I'm at little uncomfortable at giving children the message that school is optional and is something you can miss if it's a bit inconvenient. I don't think this really applies to Reception children though.

My second "but" is a more complex one. Children's relationships with each other are very fluid - I would worry that a child away for two weeks might find it hard to fit back into the friendship group they have made. I think this applies more and more as they get older.
If I'm being unnecessarily po faced, please ignore me. It's just that I don't think this is a subject that should be taken lightly.

Speaking as someone who was taken out of school every year during term time for a family holiday - DON'T DO IT. I hated it and can clearly remember that horrible feeling on returning every year. Two weeks is such a long time in a childs life. It is very difficult to fit back into relationships with other children once you've been away for a couple of weeks. Although on the surface, things seemed fine at the time, it's a gradual effect that does it.

I would have no hesitation in doing it. We have done it two years running. Y1 & Yr4 and then Yr2 and Yr5. First time we took them out the last 10 days before they broke up in the summer hols and second time it was a week tagged on to the May/June half term.

Unfortunately DS1 is now in Yr 6 so it is not possible due to SATS, high school visits and a residential week away. We have booked our holiday to commence the 25th July and it is costing us another £1000 in flights compared to the last two hols to the same place.

So without a doubt do it now.

I would only do it for a week. DD1 had about 10 days off school in reception and y1 but they were spaced out throughout the year. 2 weeks is a long time for a child to be away from school.

I agree with Seeker.
DS will be out of school f a month this coming year for surgery, and he is more anxious about being away from his freinds than anything else.

I think it's odd the way we pick over every detail of what teachers and schools do and say, take issue with the slightest thing, fret over positopn in class, reading group, criticise content of homework etc etc...and then say 'what does it matter if my child doesn't attend for a week or so - it's only school!'.

But....if you feel it's right for you, go. Not anyone else's business, really.

Our head would send you a very ar$ey letter and would refuse permission...but I would still go!

It's odd, isn't it? Parents who take their chilkdren out of school for a week can - theoretically - be fined, but schools can waste children's time with complete impunity. For example, research clearly shows that it often takes six months after school restarts for children to reach the level they were at when they broke up for the summer. That nice long holiday is hugely damaging to children's education.

And what about the 20% of children who leave primary school unable to read and write. That's not a missed week - that's six wasted years, and nobody (except me...) suggests that their teachers should be prosecuted.

we are going to - ds started this Sep and we are taking the week before half term at May. And will probably continue to do the same for some years to come. I have applied for the holiday at school and the form has come back that it is unauthorised in line with school policy.

What does "often" mean, Ubergeekian -- 1/10 children? 1/2? 1/20? My DC must be geniuses then because they definitely lost almost nothing over the summer holidays (and no, they certainly don't do any academic work either in the summer, spend most of it on computer games and.... er, can't recall what... thumping on each other, maybe).

DS missed about 2.5 weeks in reception due to holidays (to see relatives overseas) and I don't think he suffered. I wouldn't do it in the first half-term, though.

How would you know which teacher(s) to prosecute, Ubergeekian, the basic 7 your DC had in primary plus any head(s), or the entire school including governors or maybe the teaching Unions? What if a child changed school a few times in primary, or had a year when a teacher had to leave for illness, several supply teachers came in before settling on a main teacher again... DD's class is on jobshare (2 regular teachers/week). How do you apportion blame?

No. I don't think it is OK to take 2 weeks out of school time for a holiday unless it is to visit family who live overseas and aren't seen very often.

2 reasons:

1. It only works for the few that take advantage of term-time holidays because there are plenty of people out there who will not do it. If everyone was doing it, the school year would be very fragmented for all the class and the schools would have to put a stop to it.

1. It sends out the wrong message to everyone. Why is it OK to take time out of school for a family holiday and not the odd day out to buy new shoes, because it is the child's birthday or because the soft play area is cheaper on a weekday and that would be a good day to have a birthday party

The 'it's only Reception' opinion pisses me off. I feel sorry for Reception teachers. They work bloody hard to give our children their first grounding in learning to read and write (amongst other things. If people consider Reception unimportant why not keep your children at home or at nursery for an extra year and let the other children benefit from a smaller class size.

Sorry - can you tell I feel strongly about this. I'm sure you're a very nice person but you did ask for opinions and so in the name of a balanced argument, I am sharing mine.

In October a girl in our yr1 class took two days holiday on the basis that 'she's in the top group and won't miss anything'.

On her return she had missed being picked for anything in the harvest festival so just had to stand at the back, the election of school counsellor that she had been talking about since the beginning of term and the fun practical part of a 2-week cooking project.

OK, not much in the larger scheme of things, but the impact of those two days was felt for a few weeks and, in the case of the election, will be all year, as it was a rival 'alpha female' who got the role

Just a thought as you flick through next year's brochures....

it is not just the money. I cannot get any time off over school hols as they were booked up by other ppl, so we have no choice but to take dd out of reception for a week in may.

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I have to be honest I don;t care if dd gets unauthorised leave I am still taking her. She has had a really rough year with family probs and needs a hol.

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