Best time for term-time holiday to NZ - dd new y7 at secondary

[SarfE4sticated]

Hi there, I have no experience of secondary school timetable structure so hoping you can advise.
My ILs live in NZ and we need to visit soon due to MIL health problems. We can either go Easter or Xmas to coincide with their school holidays - both holidays for dds secondary are 16 days. We’d like to take a couple of days off each end but not sure which holiday would be best. Are there end of term exams at secondary? Also is Christmas such a big thing? Any advice would be gratefully received

Xmas is the dearest time to go, and have just realised DD will be 12 and therefore an adult fare

I think I'd be inclined to see if I could fit it in this summer then, even if the cousins are at school.

Xmas in NZ is awesome. The weather is beautiful and everyone just kicks back and chills. Lots of events, barbecues and playing on the beach in the sun. Come then.

I'd agree with Easter, and take as long (probably before) as you need. It's so expensive you need to make the most of the trip (even before considering it takes a good week to get over the travelling and jetlag when you get there). Yr 7 is a good year to do it as things missed should be easier to make up than later on. Plan to keep educational activities going, discuss with the school and ask permission / try to work with them, but don't be steamrollered into reducing your time. If this is likely to be one visit, I'd suggest 6 weeks minimum if the adults can afford the time, or even longer.

Those suggesting it should be done this summer anyway, don't appreciate that fares will still be high, and it means missing out on most of the summer weather / outdoors time, because you are going out for midwinter there, which is how come the cousins will be in school. We've done a couple of "summer holidays" in Sydney (family reasons also), and although the weather isn't like at UK winter, winter colds and the shorter days are quite restrictive. Parts of NZ will be much more wintry!

Just remembered that DS's best friend is from New Zealand! His family always go back over Christmas taking a few extra days both at the end of previous term and beginning of next term.

No one has said this, and I don't know if it's true of all secondaries, but DC's school largely just teaches continuously, so they would, for example, teach right up to a holiday and just pick up where they'd left off when returning after the holiday. Then they have end of topic assessments when they finish topics, but the topics are all random lengths, so these could be anytime. So actually, in terms of what they'd miss it would make absolutely no difference whether you missed the beginning, end or middle of term. The only time it would be slightly awkward would be exam week (end of May here) but even then, they are not particularly a big deal in year 7 and they could be done later. (Basically I think I'm saying you really need local input!).

Christmas is great in NZ, and rocks on into New Years. And of course, the weather is better!

What the weather will be like in April depends very much on where you are going.

Thanks everyone, I would love to go over Christmas, but I doubt we would get more than 2.5/3 weeks off of work anyway, also don't want to push our luck with the new school. Don't want DD's school career blighted so early on!
We'll be going to (windy) Wellington and it usually lives up to its name when we are there!