Taking Children Out of School?

[Groovee]

Been reading threads about taking children out of school. I have considered it in the past possibly the february holiday when they get 10 days or the October holiday but recently our school have been told by the LEA that unless the child is a child who has a parent in the forces/emergency services where they have to have a letter from the line manager to confirm this, then they will not authorise term time holidays. I do feel this is unfair as I know some parents struggle to get school holidays off and sometimes its the luck of the draw as to when they get time off. It really doesn't matter to me anymore as I have a termtime only job so I am confined to school holidays for our holidays. But it irritates me that other people get put down as a truancy for it and wondered what others feel about it and what they would do. (I do want to do a February holiday and would take unpaid leave one year to disney)

Louise xx

 

[crabbie1]

Louise
I think people have there own views on taking children out of school and it is totally up to you what you do if the school allows it.Personally I think Disney is a magical experience and also very educational and I have no problem taking my DD4 out of school and her school are absolutley fine about it.She had to do a little talk when she got back and we let her take some photos in which all the children loved.I cannot say I will feel the same as she gets towards the 11+ age as I think the schools are a little stricter at that age but I will cross that bridge later.I suppose the forces have assigned leave and family have to fit in with them so it is more difficult for them.It is your decision at the end of the day but if they are strict at your school maybe put in a request in writing or blag it and say you have a cousin getting married on the 24th febuary in florida and you are MOH.

 

[AlanUK]

This is always a topic that polarises opinions and in the past threads such as this have caused many heated discussions that on occassion have had to be closed as things have got too personal. I hope that this one will not go the same way

Personally I think requests to take children out of school during term time should be judged on the individual merit of each child and each application. The school needs to take into account any potential benefits of the trip, the ability and endeavour of the child in question and their ability to make up the parts of their education that they are going to miss. This also needs to be weighed against the ability the school has to provide the necessary support that the child requires to make up the gap, should this be providing the material in advance or the extra support required upon their return.

I do not agree that there should be a blanket policy of saying either yes or no.

 

[Cyrano]

This I do not agree that there should be a blanket policy of saying either yes or no.

Hear hear

 

[Groovee]

See with dd a few extra days off school wouldn't be a concern for me as she's able to keep up and I can take any work with us sort of thing but for some parents there isn't the choice of when they get their holidays sometimes, and I just feel our LEA is being rather harsh on the schools, although to be honest I have listened to dd telling me that so and so is away on holiday and there are a few in ds's nursery class who have older children in the school who are currently in WDW and I am hoping in a round about way to find out if the school is marking it as a truancy or being lenient about it. If it was close to any important exams of course I wouldn't consider it, but the last week of term, how many schools actually do the curriculum? The only reason we didn't go a week earlier is that ds is leaving nursery to go to school and I didn't want him to miss the last week.(cos really although I am in termtime employment I've not worked since before easter lol)

 

[wayneg]

I agree, no 2 children are alike. Every case should be looked at individually.
Our son is now 12, Every year thru junior school we took him out for 2 weeks in Oct attached to half term making a 3 week hol. We did this with the blessing of the headmistress, she could see hr never had a day off illness and top in every subject. He never stopped talking about his trips, in his work was all about his trips, his art was Disney themed etc. We always did a diary while away for the teacher to read.
Perfect example of the benefits of travelling with children: we did a trip to Amsterdam when DS was 8, he saw drug users on the streets and in the parks, one day saw a druggy shouting and screaming at a tree. few week later they did work in school about drug abuse, how many of the 30 children could really understand at 8/9 years old what the effects of drugs have on you. I guess it went in 1 ear and out the other, DS understood perfectly.
Now he is 12 years old, member of NAGTY (National Acadamy for Gifted and Talented Youths) run by Warwick uni.
Thats enough about my experience. Only the parent of a child knows what their childs abilties are. Its on the the parents concience if things don't work out well. If our son was an ill child or found it difficult to catch up with work, or struggled to take in class work then no way would we have done it.
Life experiences cannot be taught in a classroom. There is more to education than a classroom but all children have different needs.

 

[schumigirl]

Hmmm. I understand why this is a delicate subject but have to agree that every case should be judged individually. My son will be going into year 9 when we go in september. He will be started a fortnight before we go, so we informed the school last week and received a letter saying he would not be given permission to go as it was against school policy. Now he is never off school, he is in the top group for every subject but our main reason is my husbands holidays run from June/June and the next long break he has is in May when the exams are on. So we have no choice as we wouldn`t dream of taking him out roundabout that time. We haven`t had a holiday abroad for 7 years so i think we are not being unreasonable in asking for this time. At the end of the day he is obviously going on holiday but he is worried about being in "trouble" with the school as he is very proud of his attendance and reputation with the school so far. I agree a blanket ban is wrong and i wonder should a bit of common sense judgement come into play with schools instead of targets which at the end of the day are what most schools are trying to acheive.

 

[Goofyish]

This is always a topic that polarises opinions and in the past threads such as this have caused many heated discussions that on occassion have had to be closed as things have got too personal. I hope that this one will not go the same way

Personally I think requests to take children out of school during term time should be judged on the individual merit of each child and each application. The school needs to take into account any potential benefits of the trip, the ability and endeavour of the child in question and their ability to make up the parts of their education that they are going to miss. This also needs to be weighed against the ability the school has to provide the necessary support that the child requires to make up the gap, should this be providing the material in advance or the extra support required upon their return.

I do not agree that there should be a blanket policy of saying either yes or no.

I agree Alan

 

[Claire L]

My Aunt is a deputy head of a juniour school and she is happy for almost any child to go on holiday during term time as she feels it is a valuable life skills that can be learnt. My Aunt often says that a child can complete a diary and upon their return and talk about what they did and saw. So no a balnket ban is not a good idea but if a child is struggling and has had excess time off then maybe a request to take term time leave should not be granted.

Claire

 

[wicket2005]

Generally I do not think it is a good idea for kids to miss school but do feel there is an awful lot of pressure on kids today to be the top, to get the best marks from such an early age. The SAT tests were introduced to keep an eye on teachers' performances but now the child is judged. I feel that whilst a child is in infant/primary school the odd holiday here and there should be perfectly acceptable. However, once the child reaches secondary level, it becomes a different ball game because the qualifications attained will actually count for something in the real world. It just feels there is so much pressure on the kids today, right from the early sats upwards. Targets, left right and centre to be met by staff and the pressure is passed down to the kids. Whatever happened to childhood?

Missing an occasional week or so, in the great scheme of things is not going to make a child fail their GCSEs. However missing school, is best avoided if at all possible.

I don't stand much for the argument about expense either. A good family holiday is all about being together as a family and doing things together. Not where you go. We have spent many a year happily going to Butlins Skegness, the kids loved it and there was so much to do together. The holiday was just a fraction of the cost of a holiday abroad but we still had just as much enjoyment as we do now going to Orlando. The key thing is being together.

 

[Lizzy Lemon]

Its not only the armed forces and emergency services who are given specific times for leave. Both of our employers are inundated with requests for school holiday annual leave, not everyone can take the same time off, sometimes compromises have to be made. Many a time towards the end of term both of my sons (one who is at senior school Yr 9) have come home from school having spent some of the day watching videos! I know where I'd rather be with them, at least they can learn something in our company.

 

[pigginpink]

If i could have had the choice this year i would have taken my kids first two weeks of July but my son is studying his A levels and his college will not give him leave after the exams or he will be expelled, she expelled pupils last year and made a point of telling all parents at parents evening. My husband who is self employed does most of his work in the School holidays as he does refits and refurbishments in the schools in our area so for us this year we have to juggle the work meaning more late nights and weekend work, which my kids hate as they dont see there dad much. Personally we should be able to go on holiday anytime of the year and schools in our area allow you ten days leave a year.

Holidays are not just fun the are a great learning tool for children experiencing things first hand rather than from a text book, and children learn more that way.

 

[wideeyes]

Interestingly the problem at the schools in this area seems to be the more affluent families who take several term holidays a year and long weekends away hence missing many fridays of school. When my mum requested leave for my sister she was told he had no problem with the family's who could only go on holiday during term time due to the cost.

 

[Pooh Bear Hugs]

It's unfair on parents and children to refuse them any time off during term time. Very few of us are lucky enough to be able to choose when we take our holidays.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Many of the problems that arise from this subject are due to the fact that generally the school holidays are not the ideal times to go to Florida.
Whilst having hot weather is an advantage to many of us, the stifling summer heat doesn't give the perfect conditions for touring the theme parks, neither does the Easter holidays when it's extremely busy.
If our son didn't suffer so much in the heat we would go July or August every year, thus not having any such problems with the school(s).

We are in a slightly different situation as with Joshua going to a 'special needs' school there are no problems taking extra time out, however my wife is teacher and her school is less forgiving (which we understand).

As parents we can only deal with our own circumstances.

 

[Goofey's Girl]

What really gets me is that in the last two weeks of the summer term at school both my children...yr 3 and yr 5 did absolutely no learning at all of any educational value...in fact 2 afternoons were taken up watching disney videos. That seems to be hypocracy to me.
We have always taken the children out of school however from September our eldest will be at Secondary school so we may decide to do everything in holiday time. Interestingly his high schools policy is that children can take up to 10 days off for holidays...they are a very good comprehensive and it obviously seems to work still for them.

 

[Stitch's Greatest Fa]

What really gets me is that in the last two weeks of the summer term at school both my children...yr 3 and yr 5 did absolutely no learning at all of any educational value...in fact 2 afternoons were taken up watching disney videos. That seems to be hypocracy to me.
We have always taken the children out of school however from September our eldest will be at Secondary school so we may decide to do everything in holiday time. Interestingly his high schools policy is that children can take up to 10 days off for holidays...they are a very good comprehensive and it obviously seems to work still for them.

Yes- this is very true (I am a year 3 teacher), however the reason behind this is that we are under pressure to produce 'good' attendance stats for the LEA and get into trouble if we don't. I understand your frustration, but please realise that the head is under pressure to get those stats and is blamed for poor attendance.

I personally don't have a prob. with children going away on holiday, especially if they are loud kids and I can get them out of my hair for a coupla weeks.

The only thing that gets my and my colleagues backs up is when parents ask for work to take on holiday. I DO NOT WANT TO GIVE MYSELF LOTS OF EXTRA WORK PREPARING AND MARKING SAID WORK. (not shouting at anyone in particular, just making a point.) If parents want to go on holiday then go, but please don't ask us for extra work.

Finally - I wish teachers could take 10 days authorised absence - I know we chose to do this job, but why should we be penalised with holidays prices?

All those taking kids out of school - go, have a magical time, don't feel guilty and don't make your kids do school work, them them just have fun.

 

[angel659]

The only thing that gets my and my colleagues backs up is when parents ask for work to take on holiday. I DO NOT WANT TO GIVE MYSELF LOTS OF EXTRA WORK PREPARING AND MARKING SAID WORK. (not shouting at anyone in particular, just making a point.) If parents want to go on holiday then go, but please don't ask us for extra work.

You have to look at this from the other side. Parents are made to feel awful for taking thier children out of school. You hear other teachers, schools, parents complain about the school work they are missing. I would imagine looking at this from a parents point of view they were only trying to help the situation, by asking for some work that the child would miss out on. I would imagine some of it or if not most would be done on the plane. Perhaps think again before getting your back up, when a concerned parent asks for home work.

OP, I would have a meeting with the headteacher and explain your concerns. Not only is it expensive, but at times people simply can not get the holidays off. You might be able to arrange something. I would imagine a letter or permission slip to be refused mainly because its procedure. Perhaps if you had a chat then you maybe to come to a solution.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Lancashire (where my sister works ) has a new problem. Most of the areas in Lancashire are changing to a 6 term year, apart from Blackburn and Darwen. This is leading to parents having children in both systems and partners who teach in both systems. What are these parents to do? Only have holidays with some of their children and say sorry to the others you can't have a holiday.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.u...86.0.the_problem_with_the_school_holidays.php

 

[UKDEB]

The only thing that gets my and my colleagues backs up is when parents ask for work to take on holiday. I DO NOT WANT TO GIVE MYSELF LOTS OF EXTRA WORK PREPARING AND MARKING SAID WORK.

I'm sure that most parents only ask because they feel that it softens the blow. As Michelle says, parents are made to feel guilty for the missed learning time (if not by the individual school, then by the official line and the media). The obvious answer, in your case, is to just tell them precisely what you've said in your last sentence.