What would you do?

[alibeau]

Hi guys,

We would like to return to Disney in Feb/March 2009. Our eldest daughter starts school this September and so we are wondering where we stand with having to stick to school holidays or attempting to take her out of school.

I personally don't believe taking her our of school during term time will be detrimental at her age but wondered where we stand??

We could go late Feb where she would have one week off school anyway, or pick another time completely or if we were not allowed to take her out we would have to go at easter......
Is Disney a lot busier during UK springtime school holidays? We will be booking flights, villa, car and not a package so will these things be more expensive during the school hols?

Would you contact the school now in advance of her starting?? Would you book it regardless??
Would you leave it until September and ask the school at that point?!? The last thing I want to do is get off on the wrong foot with her school

Blinkin eck, so many question

I'm not sure that we are ready to book the flights just yet but think we would like to get something sorted before September?!

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ali

 

[SammieG]

whilst many here will disagree.. AND i can see the benefits of taking her out of school (this is a very hot subject on the disboards, so im just wearing my flame proof suit incase!) and how i long for the days we went out of season to Disney.... it is a legal requirement that your daughter be in school.

Yes, your school may give you permission to take her out but please remember that two weeks (or more as it will be with travelling and getting over the jet lag) is a long time to be out of school whilst others are forging friendships and learning basics like reading and writing.

Yes, one could argue that she could be off for illness, but that is a different subject.. this is a choice and you could in theory (albeit unlikely) be prosecuted for not having her in school.

That to me says that you should follow the rules and take her during the exceptionally long christmas, easter or summer holidays. They do get about 14 weeks a year off... and you should be able to find some time in that time frame to go.

I know i will be lynched for my opinion as many here disagree with me.. but its a subject i feel strongly about.

We would ALL love to go out of season believe me! WAY cheaper and less crowded but personally I have a very strong commitment to my sons education and that to me will always come before saving money and waiting less time in line.

 

[alibeau]

Evening Sammie,

I had no idea it was such a 'HOT' topic........

Obviously I am interested to hear everyone's point of view/advice, hence my post but of course it will be our decision at the end of the day....

At the moment I don't have strong views one way or the other tbh and will take on board any replies but certainly don't want to cause any bother on here.

Ali

 

[SammieG]

hi Ali...

Thanks No, you ask away sweetie.. and I hope you get some other opinions. As i said.. im usually in the minority.... and you certainly wont be causing bother

Sammie x

 

[Dizzy_Disney_Girl]

Hi there,

There is the possibilty it would be unauthorised by the school and effect attendance. Some authorities also fine for holidays in term time now. You usually have to fill in a holiday form for the headteacher to give permission or not, in the latter case it is unauthorised.

 

[DADAD]

In The End Its Your Choice But At What Age Do You Decide That Taking A Child Out Of School Is Not Going To Harm There Education

 

[higgy66]

At my DD's school they allow 2 weeks holiday during term time but request that this is not during May as this is Sats/assessment time.

During infants they provide an idea of the work that will be missed so if possible some work could be done during the holiday e/g flights, airports. If you can find 10 minutes a day for reading etc it is better than none.

We're taking both our DD's out of school the end of Sept 09 when they will be in Year 2 & Year 1. However, when we booked this holiday we made a decision that this would be the one and only time we would do this.

I'm planning to pack some new Disney books appropiate for their reading skills when we go. Also to pack some scrap books so they can write a little bit about each day etc so it won't seem like work. They can then present the scrap book to school when they get back - show and tell etc.


Good luck with your decision - I know if its a toughie!

 

[wifey]

Our DS's school allows some time off (approximately 2 weeks)for pupils with great attendance records and good grades during term time as long as it's not SATs weeks in May.

They understand that some parents working for large companies cannot always get the school holidays off to take a family vacation.

Our DS is advanced for his age he's 8 and joint top of his year scoring well (around age 10 equivalent)in most of his subject his reading at almost 11 year old level. He doesn't have much time off sick maybe a couple of days a year. So last year they were very happy to let him have a couple of weeks out of school in fact they asked him to tell them all about it when he came back, which he did. He took in his EPCOT passport and badges he learned how to read the comments the CMs left in the different country sections and talked to his class about respecting the environment (he learned about it at AK) and photo's he took while on holiday..there's lots of educational stuff that's fun in WDW.

All you can do is politely ask the school after half-term and see what they say

 

[irenep]

How old will she be?
I know a lot of children start at 4 these days but I don't think they have to be at school 'legally' until the term after their 5th birthday (although you might want to check that with school).
I have taken my children out in when younger with no harm done.

 

[wayneg]

Its one of the hot subjects where threads sometimes get closed

For us we took DS out every Oct for 2 weeks in Junior school, Fully backed by the headmistress.
It is a family decision and every child needs looking at individually. Our DS has never had a day off illness (even now at almost 14 years old) Always been top of class, always had full backing of school.
Now still one of top students at high school, in NAGTY(gifted and talented youths), and has passed 2 Keyboard exams, even has strange talent of typing about 80 words per minute blindfolded, very accurately.
I believe travel to be part of education. We have taken DS abroad 47 times in past 13 years and believe his understanding of the world, geography, history plus lots more had been enhanced considerably thru travel.
I don't agree with being sat on a beach for 2 weeks and many will say no way should they miss school.
You need to do what you feel is right for your child, its their future, your decisions you have to live with. I am 100% sure we did it right for our DS but not saying its right for another child.

 

[thehails]

I think a lot depends on your child’s age when starting school. I believe that children do not legally have to attend school until the term after their 5th birthday, in the case of my son this was not until he was in year 1.

As other postesr have said it depends a lot on the school and on your own view point. Last year we took our children out of school for 1 month to take them to New Zealand and whilst the school could not give official agreement to any more than 2 weeks, we went with their full support and were told that the children would learn far more on a trip like that than they would ever learn in the classroom. Whilst we were away we did a project with them that they could take back to school.

We are taking them out for 3 weeks in Jan / Feb next year and once again we expect to get the full agreement of the school as long as the children will be learning when they are away and bring back a project relating to all they saw whilst we were in Florida.

It is a lot easier whilst your child is in reception class as you can easily help them with learning their letter sounds whilst away, by relating it to what you see each day in the park.

My personal opinion and it is only my opinion is that a child benefits from holidays abroad and the new experience they have and if the only time you can do that is in school time then so be it. I also respect other do not share my opinion

 

[Girlsontour]

I am going to be in serious trouble with DD's high school next year!!!:

I phoned them twice and asked which week the Year 9 exams would be in May - they were unsure if it was similar weeks every year - so i went ahead and booked anyway!!

 

[wicket2005]

I don't think there is anything wrong taking the child out of school for a week and I don't think it will affect him/her one iota in the education stakes at this level. However, I would not take a child out at secondary level and definitely not in the last two years when the material studied is what is needed for the exams and qualifications.

If you are going to take her out I would tag a week on the early half term holiday. Easter is supposed to be very busy from what I understand.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

It's a personal choice really.

Our situation is that my wife is a teacher and the school holidays this year for us are a mess. We were planning a March holiday but had to cancel as my son's school were off 2 different weeks to Julie's meaning effectively if we had gone on holiday he would have been off for 5 weeks.

I appreciate the difficult choices people have to make especially regards the expense of the holiday, which in many ways is getting ridiculous now.

We made the choice to go in August instead, like we have done in the past - not ideal, hot weather and expensive prices but with 6 weeks off school it solves some problems, no boredom for six weeks, no school holiday complications.

Only you can decide I feel.

Easter is extremely busy by the way.

 

[UKDEB]

We always took our girls out of school for our Orlando trips. However, they're now 23 and 20 and the climate is much different these days with some Head Teachers adopting a zero tolerance approach and others having a far more laissez faire attitude. Either way, it's a subject which polarises opinions. Maybe you could try to establish how the Head at your daughter's prospective school feels about the subject by talking to some parents whose children already attend.

 

[karengr]

I have taken my son out for our Florida trips twice and the 3rd time a year Oct he is year4 and will year 5 next time my, daughter will be year1.
I would check with the school first though maybe phone them tomorrow (the day after some schools have been on strike!!).

karen

 

[mattnkatsmum]

I have this problem as my two kids are in different education authorities and there half terms never seem to coincide. My son takes his GCSEs in June and we are going on the 13th June (for one week), immediately after his last exam.

My five year old's school have a policy of never authorising time off in term time, save in exceptional circumstances, and I wrote a really grovelly letter to the school and they have authorised the trip - but I have to say that I felt really guilty.

Interestingly, they told met that if the trip had been any month other than June, that they wouldn't have authorised it as June attendance is disregarded for statistics (as a lot of children leave school before the end of the month).

If the school hadn't authorised it, I don't think I would have booked it.

Good luck with the decision. It's a tough one.

 

[pavlo]

we are taking our son out of school for 2wks 3days in sept when he will be going into yr 1. in fact he wont go staight back after summer hols. 10 days have been authorised by school but not last 3 days im not atall worried as i firmly think that at his age it wont be detrimental to him and he is our son and no one is going to tell me that i cant take him on holiday!!!!!!! i say go for dates you want. lenny

 

[comingtodisney]

we are going for 2 weeks on the 23 aug, we are taking our ds 14 and dd 12 out of school for 1 week at the begining of sept, the price difference was a 700 pound price drop, we decided that if we were going to take them out of school for this holiday, we don't normally take them out in term time, that it would be best to do it either at school year ending or year begining but only for 1 of the weeks, we wanted to do disney for a couple of years and decided it is now or never, as you can see our ds is 14 and will be going into his last 2 years, we would not take him out of school after this date, a very bright lad and would probably catch up easily, but do not want to put that burden on him at that particular time. as i am always telling him education is knowledge and knowledge is understanding, he got the citizen award at school, has great empathy with others and his surroundings, so proud of him and also my dd, , any teachers out there reading this i thank you for all the great effort and support you give to your pupils, really appreciated.


thanks andrea.

 

[Mrs Hobbes]

I am a primary school teacher and I believe that it is fine for Primary aged children to take time off in term time.

For some it is the only way their families can afford to take a holiday; family time is as important in a childs development as reading and writing.
As has been said on here children can learn so much from going on holiday. I can't tell you how many times I have had role play corner set up as travel agents or an airport when we've been covering a topic on travel. How much more beneficial for a child to actually have first hand experience of that. To actually comprehend by physically travelling it how far it is to America from England. I am currently teaching my year 3s about world weather and we have been creating travel brochures, working out how we would travel to different parts of the world, writing post cards etc. For some children that have never experienced this first hand it is all very abstract.

Anyway I could go on but I'm stepping off my soap box now!!

But just to add that as a part time teacher with a head that allows me to flex my hours occasionally I am taking my daughter out of school in February next year to go to Florida