Do primary schools seriously object to you taking your dc's out during termtime?

[strandedatsea]

Dd1 is due to start in reception this Sept (although we are overseas at the moment and probably for another year, so this will only really become an issue in 2011). Dd2 will start school in 2012.

How much do schools in the UK really object to you taking them out during term-time - and does this get worse the higher up the school they get? I presume it's different from school to school so would be grateful to hear your experiences.

Just wondering whether we need to get all our "cheap" holidays in within the next year!

Thanks.

I can only assume it's seen as disruptive to take children out of school for a week or two because of the way teaching is carried out these days - eg more rigid, less flexible around the child's needs.

When I was eight, my parents took me and my three brothers overland from Nepal to London on a rickety rackety bus, for three months. We must have missed some school weeks during this time, but what I learnt about different cultures and ways of life negated any missed maths or spelling.

Funnily enough, I did fine in life. Degree, good job (until I had children but that's another story...) and a life-long empathy for those less fortunate than me.

I realise this is an extreme example and most people are not taking their children to anywhere wildly exotic. But it does show that missing a bit of school when we are young doesn't necessarily impact that much on our lives.

Of course it doesn't have a long-term impact on children's education.

I am a primary school teacher and I know that there are very few days/weeks which are 'vital' to a child's education. If there are children ill/on holiday in my class, I make sure that they can catch up on the essentials they have missed, which, what with assemblies, milk and fruit time, play times, PE lessons, art, etc, is probably not a vast amount. I often give the parents a quick run-down of what we have done.

And as for 'other children won't want to play with the child who is often taken out on holiday because they won't know whether she is going to be there the next week or not' - I have never observed this. A good teacher would also make sure that didn't happen.

As a parent, I very strongly object to the idea that anyone can lay down the law about what experiences my child can have. What will she remember when she is grown-up - a week of school, general rather similar to the other 40-odd weeks, or a week with her family in France/Nepal/wherever, meeting new people and seeing new things?

I would agree that I wouldnt want to keep DS out of school on a regular basis, but I cant believe one missed week is going to cripple his education

If it is then the swine flu followed by the scarlet fever that he has had since September is going to cause us huge problems!!!!