Anyone taking the children out of school??

[jennie3675]

We have decided to go the last two weeks of September and this means taking DD9 and DS7 out of school for two weeks. Is anyone else doing the same?

Did it in 2012 and it wasn't an issue, however with all this new legislation, think it might be!! We booked back in June 2013 before this new legislation came in to play.

 

[marypoppins81]

Yes out for 8 days in may. people seem to sit on either side of this fence and never meet in the middle.
Personally I feel these new rules are ridiculous. Parents should be allowed 5 to 10 days per year if attendance is otherwise good. Teachers should be allowed too.

Counting down to 14th May!

 

[BudgieMama]

I would guess (though I couldn't guarantee) that if you explained it was booked before the legislation came into effect, your HT might sign off on it. Fingers crossed they do.

 

[wayneg]

I will get ready to close the thread soon

Parents should be allowed 5 to 10 days per year if attendance is otherwise good.

Leeds area won't fine if its 5 days or less per term. http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co....s-with-gove-on-school-holiday-rules-1-6115016

 

[jennie3675]

Yes out for 8 days in may. people seem to sit on either side of this fence and never meet in the middle. Personally I feel these new rules are ridiculous. Parents should be allowed 5 to 10 days per year if attendance is otherwise good. Teachers should be allowed too. Counting down to 14th May!

Have you got this authorised?? Our head teacher won't even consider authorising it even though they both have excellent attendance and it was booked before these new rules!!

I have pretty much accepted I am going to get a fine. I may even extend our holiday by a few days and visit the florida keys as the fine will remain the same!!

 

[marypoppins81]

Have you got this authorised?? Our head teacher won't even consider authorising it even though they both have excellent attendance and it was booked before these new rules!!

I have pretty much accepted I am going to get a fine. I may even extend our holiday by a few days and visit the florida keys as the fine will remain the same!!

No it's unauthorised. I booked in April 2013 before the rules came in and have a letter from work to say this is the only time of year I'm allowed 2 weeks off but still no! People will just factor the fines into holiday costs or phone in sick.

Counting down to 14th May!

 

[2Tiggies]

I'm taking mine out for the last 4 days of the school year. It seemed the lesser of several evil options as she's least likely to miss anything at this time compared with any other time of the year and it saved me over £300 on flights doing it this way vs going the day on or after the schools close.

I have not told the school yet. I will let them know about 10 days before we leave. I'm not asking permission. I'm courteously informing them that she will be away

 

[DLPDreams]

I am not keen on doing this and as a result will be paying a huge premium to take my children to WDW at one of the hottest and most expensive times of the year which isn't ideal .

My oldest child is still young (around the same age as your oldest), and I help in her school a lot and see how much they cover in a short space of time - they cover so much in a week and sometimes just don't have the time to recap on things that much! I know my daughter would worry about what she is missing and about catching up (she is a very bright girl, so doesn't struggle academically so it's not about 'that', it's just the way she is). As a result, I wouldn't put her through it - this does depend on the child though. It is very frowned upon to take your child out of our school (there is a new head who is very against it), and the teachers certainly give the vibe that it is an inconvenience! But I have heard other people say their Head at their school is quite pro family holidays, even if during term .

My oldest moves schools in September and the new school state that they do not condone holiday absence and all absence will be unauthorised. In addition, all work missed will be given to the parents to work through with the child, teachers will not be held responsible for ensuring the child catches up - so quite a strong stand which I think this is fair enough. Different ball game if child is ill and misses school, but for a holiday, I can see their point!

I think the odd day at the end of term isn't such an issue as typically they aren't doing much - people just have to use their judgement and what they are comfortable with I guess.

 

[wayneg]

I have not told the school yet. I will let them know about 10 days before we leave. I'm not asking permission. I'm courteously informing them that she will be away

Its going back 8+ years now but we always did the same, informed them of the dates but we did get on very well with the Head who agreed with what we were doing. She said to me on more than one occasion "On the record I have to say I don't agree, off the record I would do exactly the same"

Problem is with this subject there are no winners. As a parent its easy to see the financial benefits and we could see our Son gaining far more from travel than being sat in a classroom the last week of term taking in toys/games but fully appreciate the hassle it causes schools.

 

[2Tiggies]

Its going back 8+ years now but we always did the same, informed them of the dates but we did get on very well with the Head who agreed with what we were doing. She said to me on more than one occasion "On the record I have to say I don't agree, off the record I would do exactly the same"

Problem is with this subject there are no winners. As a parent its easy to see the financial benefits and we could see our Son gaining far more from travel than being sat in a classroom the last week of term taking in toys/games but fully appreciate the hassle it causes schools.

I was given a really hard time the first year I took DD out (and it was only for a couple of days tagged onto the Easter break and then only because the school had given me the wrong dates when I called to ask before booking!) I got a really snippy letter advising me of the harm I was doing (Oh is that right, huh? ) and blah blah blah

When I changed her to another primary school the Head was the opposite. Very family oriented and she actually authorized all the holidays. Now DD is in first year secondary school so understandably I can't have her missing tests or any class work. I have no idea how this is going to go down. They tend to skirt around it in the school handbook so we shall see. Aside from cost I am not opposed to going in the school holidays but like so many people, it becomes cost prohibitive so we will do the best we can and the rest will be subject to what I can manage financially. DD is old enough to be able to give sensible input into the decision and her feelings weigh very heavily into the final decision.

 

[Byron13]

Daughter is taking granddaughters (6 and 9) out of school last week of school in July. She is getting married in Florida. She has sent a letter in but it has not been authorised. She will probably get a fine.

Barbara

 

[Elise79]

We are in a different position as DD goes to an independent school so we are outside the local authority fines. We took DD a day early before the Christmas break as it saved us £300 per person on flights and it was authorised by our head. She hated it - she wanted to be at school and she is only 5.

We have promised that we won't take her out again as we can generally find times to go away that are more reasonable due to their longer holidays. However even before this I would not have taken out for more than one or two days as she would miss too much. The catch up work that was sent home when she had 3 days off sick was amazing.

I can see why people take children out however we all had children knowing full well that they had to attend school and holiday prices are high during the school holidays. The fines are just a method of them enforcing the law which states you have responsibility to ensure your child attends school.

I also think 2 or 3 days tagged on to a school holiday is completely different to 2 weeks in the middle of term.

Interestly, I watched a piece on TV on the school holiday fines the other day. They were speaking to one council who said the number of fines issue had increased (not surprising) but the level of attendance had also increased. So it would seem the fines are doing what was intended

 

[Hipster Meg]

We plan on taking DS out of school after the October half term next year and while it will be cheaper that's only one of the reasons that we're going to be doing it. Neither DS nor I get on with the heat so going in the summer would be impossible, Easter is out of the question with DS's autism as it's one of the busiest times of the year and he really wouldn't be able to cope with the crowds. Going in October gives us more time to save and means we'll be there for Food and Wine and Halloween.

As for the fine well we've factored that into our holiday expenses! If you compare the £120 we'd pay as a fine with the £1K+ more we'd pay for going at another time of year then it's a no-brainer; we take DS out of school and pay the fine. Of course we only have one child which makes a difference, at £60 per parent per child the amount soon adds up so that might not be an option for people with more children.

We plan on asking the school for work for DS to do while we're away (much to DS's disgust ) and we're thinking about taking a trip to KSC so at least it won't be a completely uneducational (I think I might have made up a new word there!) trip.

 

[flortlebap]

We have done in the past, but unfortunately now our DDs school has a policy to report even one days unauthorised absence to the LA.

The fines are annoying, but it wouldn't put me off if I was saving several thousand pounds by going in term time. Chances are holidays will be even cheaper now!!

 

[2Tiggies]

I can see why people take children out however we all had children knowing full well that they had to attend school and holiday prices are high during the school holidays.

Honestly, it was the last thing I would have thought about when I was pregnant

I also think 2 or 3 days tagged on to a school holiday is completely different to 2 weeks in the middle of term.

This is very true.

 

[Julia Ann]

yes, taking our DD out for 7 days either side of Oct half term. Our school is "talking" about fining but nothing in place yet, we put in the request immediately before the policy changes. If you have a booking form with the date on you could attach that to your letter so they can see it was booked before the policy change. Good luck and have a great time

btw - Everybody has an opinion (and watch out as this subject can be touchy with some - even though you are not asking if it's the right thing to do!) and it's your own opinion that counts in this situation.

 

[shawsy]

Taking my kids out for the last week before easter holidays. This will be the last time i can take my daughter from school as september she starts senior school. She starts sats in may so this was our last opportunity.

Yes if the prices werent ridiculousi wouldof just taken them in the holidays.

I cant afford to pay an extra 2 grand for the sake of four days where they will be paintin easter eggs at school!

 

[igk]

We don't do it any more - the school is very strict about it and I don't want to get into disputes. Fortunately we are able to be quite flexible within the holidays as to when to travel so we try to optimise where possible. For example this summer's WDW trip we are doing at the end of Aug, flying back the day before term starts, so at least flights are much less expensive than earlier in the holidays...

 

[lgp1]

We are taking our 6yr old granddaughter out for 21 days in September. She starts her school term on 1st September and we are going on holiday on the 9th September.

The Head is perfectly ok with this. She said that my granddaughter has a really good attendance record and is well in front of where she should be in her education, so go and enjoy it. The only thing she asked us to do was to put in a written request, which we did.

Lyndon

 

[tinkerpea]

I'm taking mine out for the last 4 days of the school year. It seemed the lesser of several evil options as she's least likely to miss anything at this time compared with any other time of the year and it saved me over £300 on flights doing it this way vs going the day on or after the schools close.

I have not told the school yet. I will let them know about 10 days before we leave. I'm not asking permission. I'm courteously informing them that she will be away

This made me giggle!