School holidays and fines

[chucklechops]

I can't believe what I am reading here!
I have over the last two years taken my children out of school with the schools blessing.
My children are bright and there attendence is 100%,
Like everything the £ has a lot to answer for and for my family to holiday together we have to do it out of school holidays.
If prices weren't so high we wouldn't have to do it.
Who is going to tell me that my children are not gaining some wonderfull experiences ? Ask them who was the first man on the moon, what does Nassa actually do, they didn't learn it from a textbook they had the most amazing fun and informative day at the Kennedy space centre.
Ask them about endagered animals and their habitat, seaworld gave then hands on experience with these animals that they would never get from sitting in a classroom.
Please don't get me wrong, but let's put this into proportion, School is Important but so are family trips In this hetic world we live in most parents have to work,and family time is precious, what better way to spend time together than on a family holiday believe it or not work as a T.a. in a school, I am lucky enough to have a very good head.
Also any of you will know that a t.a's wage is far, far lower than a teachers !! I choose to do the job I do not because of it's pay but because I love it, but I also love to holiday as a family If push comes to shove I know where my priority's are, and Yes I can still be a consiencious worker !!

My Advice is to do what you feel is right, children are children for such a little amount of time, before you know it they will be wanting to holiday without you! Enjoy it while it lasts.

Chucklechops

 

[DisBabesMan]

We usually go around spring bank holiday time (end of may beginning of June, so that we have 1 week of the school holiday and one out of school). Not had any problems yet - we choose this as the weather is more suitable to us than July / August and for the half term in October it is just a rip-off from the Tour Operators. I'll pay the fine if I have to - we always ensure school work is caught up on and copied out as required.

Come on Tour Operators - help us parents!!

 

[Kevin Stringer]

As with all things in life, I don't think there is a 'right' or 'wrong' answer to this thorny question. (Glad I managed to put the 't' on the front of 'thorny or it would have read very differently!)

Rules are being applied across the board where it is plainly evident that not every case is the same.

Some children are bright enough to take a few days off school and catch up relatively easily, others would struggle.

Another major factor that should be taken into account is the general attendance record of the child.

Luckily my children are never any trouble at school and are both at the very top of their respective classes. Boastful perhaps, but I never have been a modest man.
Parent evenings are a doddle for us, never more than a couple of minutes with each teacher as they have nothing but praise for the little monsters.
They hardly ever have any time off school due to a mixture of good health and an evil father who shoves 'em out the door snuffling and sniffing.

I guess what I an trying to say here is that the people who are in the best position to judge whether a child can be taken out of school or not are the parents.

I have to balance this up by saying that it is unlikely that we will take our eldest out of school as she approaches her GCSE's.

Just as well we feel differently about things, the world might become a tad mundane otherwise!

 

[patdavies]

I am a school governor at a secondary school and chairman of governors at an infant/nursery school.

There is absolutely no legal right to take children out of school for family holidays for up to 10 days in each academic year. However, and this is why schoools almost always invariably grant leave of absence, schools are individual measured (for league tables etc.) on overall absence and unauthorised absence. In the final analysis, I cannot believe that any school would mark a child as unauthorised absent for 20 sessions (attendance is measured in half days - that is why the register is taken both morning and afternoon) and so completely screw their unauthorised absence figures.

A great deal of pressure may be applied to parents not to remove children and on children to catch up. Even more pressure is applied in the run-up to exams - especially GCSEs. I have taken both of my children out of school during termtime for family holidays - it is not possibly for all of my office staff to fit even two weeks holiday each into the present school holidays - I have not done this during GCSE years (10 & 11).

The planned move to 6 terms is going to be a disaster for schools absences. The summer holiday will be shorter to allow for increasing the present half term holidays to 2 weeks. the holiday comapanies will simply include the new school holiday periods as peak times. In the years when Easter falls out side the school break, I forsee a massive increase in absence as employed parents can achieve 2 weeks away from work for a family holiday whilst only using up 8 days of holiday entitlement.