School letter....

[alibeau]

Hi Guys,

You may remember that after some deliberation we decided that we would take our DD (aged 5) out of school for a week next February for our trip to WDW

I'm just wondering how to 'phrase' my letter to the school and at what point should I send the letter in

We had a chat with DD's new teacher before she started full time and she said that there would be no problem as far as she was concerned but that we may well receive a pretty negative response from the school as standard......

Any tips

Stupid question I know, I'm just not quite sure where to start

Ali

 

[Kath2003]

Just be polite, say you understand it is an inconvenience but that you feel that family time is a valuable part of a child's education...to be honest it won't really matter what you say as long as you sound like an educated, reasonable adult, as all they'll do is look at attendence figures and follow the school's procedure based on that.

School letters are notoriously snotty as they're trying to 'discourage' it, so you may get an 'unfriendly' reply. Take it with a grain of salt, they're pre-written letters and nothing personal

 

[Verity Chambers]

At our school you just need to ask for a holiday form, it's not a problem.

 

[natalielongstaff]

At our school you just need to ask for a holiday form, it's not a problem.

Same here

 

[joolz1910]

I took my daughter out of school at the same age and just asked for a holiday form from the school secretary. The letter I received was a standard reply stating the head's opinion that holidays during term time were to be discouraged/disrupted learning. It was standard so I didn't take it personally. I'm doing the same in January 09 and I don't have to ask to take my middle daughter out of reception because she's not 5 until February, but I will out of courtesy. I think most schools are tolerant so long as kids aren't taken out routinely

 

[crabbie1]

Yep us too.Standard reply.Just had to fill in a holiday form.This is the 2nd time we have taken our daughter out.I know some frown on it .We always take pictures back for the children to see and DD tells them about her holiday.Last year she had a certificate for her excellent holiday review. When she gets to 10 or 11 I will not be taking her out of school for holidays but it is upto each individuals opinions

 

[The Fetherstons]

At our school you just need to ask for a holiday form, it's not a problem.

Same here

 

[Cyrano]

Agree with the advice about being polite. Often it is the Education Authorities position rather than the school's.
When we did this on a previous occasion the letter stated it as a fact rather than asking if it was okay. Reason being, what would we do if the letter said no!

 

[disneyholic family]

you are all so much more polite than i...

she's 5 years old....what could she possibly learn at the age of 5 during a week or two that will mean anything in the long run?

we could all be dead tomorrow...

family time trumps everything else in my book...

schools take themselves far too seriously....

over the years, when i took the kids out of school (when we had to travel to the states for family events) i simply informed the teachers and administration that the kids would be gone during whatever time it was...

the one time that the school head told me that she couldn't give me permission (for a month beginning just before thanksgiving until new years), i told her i wasn't asking for permission, i was simply informing her of their impending absence.

life is short. in the long run we're all dead.
when we have one foot in the grave, none of us ever regret not having spent more time at work or in school.

rant over.....

 

[lin85prest]

Two years ago when I was taking children out for 3 days before the October break, the older child was given permission from the high school while the child at primary school was unauthorised. Seems a bit crazy
I think going on holiday is a very good education but I may be biased

 

[amystevekai&bump]

you are all so much more polite than i...

she's 5 years old....what could she possibly learn at the age of 5 during a week or two that will mean anything in the long run?

we could all be dead tomorrow...

family time trumps everything else in my book...

schools take themselves far too seriously....

over the years, when i took the kids out of school (when we had to travel to the states for family events) i simply informed the teachers and administration that the kids would be gone during whatever time it was...

the one time that the school head told me that she couldn't give me permission (for a month beginning just before thanksgiving until new years), i told her i wasn't asking for permission, i was simply informing her of their impending absence.

life is short. in the long run we're all dead.
when we have one foot in the grave, none of us ever regret not having spent more time at work or in school.

rant over.....

You are so Right!!

 

[madmumof2]

Even though my holiday isn't for another year, I asked for a holiday form and filled it out anyway lol.

I just wrote that Cameron has dealt with a hell of a lot in the last year (more than most adults deal with in 5 years) and he deserves a holiday more than anyone. He is a fast learner and anything he misses will be picked up quickly. He'll learn all about different countries (Epcot) and diversity etc

The reply I got was basically 'we agree (the head was involved in a lot that went on so knew our situation) Cameron deserves some happiness and are glad you can do this for him so you have permission, but please write again in a years time so we can record it'! lol

I knew it was early but at least I know the head is not only ok with it but thinks it's a good idea.

 

[alibeau]

Thanks so much for all your replies

For some strange reason, I'm feeling a bit emotional reading your replies I guess it's thinking about our next holiday has got me going and also realising how important it really is to have 'family time' - sorry for going

Anyhoo, just also realised that we have our first parents evening on Monday and I think this would probably be a good time to broach the subject again with her teacher and I guess I can ask if they have a form or do I need to write to them.......

Thanks again guys

Ali

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks so much for all your replies

For some strange reason, I'm feeling a bit emotional reading your replies I guess it's thinking about our next holiday has got me going and also realising how important it really is to have 'family time' - sorry for going

Anyhoo, just also realised that we have our first parents evening on Monday and I think this would probably be a good time to broach the subject again with her teacher and I guess I can ask if they have a form or do I need to write to them.......

Thanks again guys

Ali

the teacher might not necessarily know about formalities such as forms, but you could ask her..
or you could just call the school tomorrow and ask if they have one...

a form is definitely much easier than a letter...

but if it is a letter, a simple, polite, we will be out of the country from this date to that date. Any studies missed, will be completed upon DD's return.

Yours sincerely,
etc etc.

 

[joolz1910]

I'm a teacher (but a mum first) and I agree with previous comments about family time being the most important thing in the world. My eldest daughter could tell you in detail about our trip to DLRP 3 years ago but probably couldn't recall anything else in detail from that year. A few days off won't damage her prospects at all, but having a brilliant time with the people who love her might just enhance them.

 

[UKDEB]

I always sent a very short and to the point factual letter. I didn't ask for permission and neither did I feel the need to justify my actions. From memory, something along these lines:

Dear Mr Head Teacher,

I am writing to advise you that Georgina will be absent from school for the period 2nd - 16th November this year due to a family holiday.

Yours sincerely,




Debbie Churchill

In the early years, I always received a response acknowledging my letter and confirming the absence, invariably accompanied by a form to complete, which I never did. As far as I was concerned, my letter fulfilled my obligations. In latter years (when the whole thing became a political hot potato), I'd receive a condescending, circular-style, pre-printed letter pointing out the perils of removing my child from school and advising that the absence would be treated as unauthorised. Like I care. Only the school could possibly suffer from that course of action and, unsurprisingly, the absences were never, recorded as unauthorised. If I sound cynical, it's because I am.

 

[cmwade77]

life is short. in the long run we're all dead.
when we have one foot in the grave, none of us ever regret not having spent more time at work or in school.

I couldn't have said it better myself! Really, family time is the most important thing, here in the states if the school I was sending my kids tried anything I would just say fine, they will be home schooled from now on. Here in California the schools get paid per student that is present each day (or has an "excused" absence, which is the main reason that they try to avoid kids being taken out of school for any reason here, but if you home school a child, then they never see another penny of that money again, they tend to be a little more tolerant after that. Currently anyone can home school their own children (please note that this is supervised by weekly/bi-weekly visits with a qualified instructor in most areas), California is trying to pass legislation saying that only teachers with their credentials can home school children, but since DW is studying to be a teacher, that wouldn't matter anyway. O.K., sorry, probably more than you wanted to know about California, I just ran across this thread and it interested me, even though we do not yet have children, we hope to someday and I like to see what other's opinions are about taking kids out of school. We always took our trips during the school year and I don't remember any of my teachers having a problem with it, I do remember having to do homework in the car though, not that big of a deal when the only thing to look at for miles is a couple of tumbleweeds or something equally boring.

 

[thehails]

Would agree with all PP. If it's less than 10 days you should just request a holiday form. We are taking our 2 DS out for 3 weeks this coming Feb and we took them out for 3 weeks October 07 to go to New Zealand, hasn't done them any harm what so ever, infact they know much more about the world around them than they did before.

We have found that as long as you are polite, but firm i.e state you are taking them out of school on such and such a date rather than ask if you can, we have had no issues.

We were required to write to the governors as we were taking the children out for 3 weeks, so we just highlight all the educational things they would be doing whilst we were away and they also made a journal to take home with them.

A few weeks out of a whole school year is really not going to have a negative impact on your childs education IMHO

Have a great time

 

[tttessa]

I also see family time as important - but not necessarily foreign holidays in term time..... I'd loooooooooovvvveeeeeeee to see my manager's face if I effectively said "I'm taking 2 weeks off when I want to, don't care if it suits you or not, I'll catch up when I get back"

That said - the school will probably authorise the absence anyhow, not usually much fuss for less than 10 days.

Tessa

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

I think Schools are taking it too seriously with Children having a holiday term time,I understand older children who are ready for exams etc,hense next year for us will probably be our last for a couple of years whilst DD adjusts to high school,exams so on.
She will be taking time off in June and like this year I wrote a nice letter,also rang them up to inform the headteacher,and they allowed the time off.