Taking term time holidays.

[hattiehippo]

I think that's a little different than being told what you can and can't do with your children lol.

Not really, after all the school dictates curriculum and food options and uniform and all sort of other stuff. And if it weren't for cost, no-one would give a damn.

Agree completely. Tbh once your child is at school you will find an awful lot of things are dictated by the school including what they can take in their lunch box, what books they should be reading etc. Not taking your children out in term time is just another small thing to get used to. Just like anything you can still choose to do it but it will just cost you more money if the head teacher and LA are hot on fining for it.

Personally I do think people should be able to take their kids out for up to 2 weeks without consequences but I get why they're doing it. 2 weeks out at the end of a term may not be too disruptive but 2 weeks out in the middle of a topic or just before summer exams can have a big impact on the children.

 

[Foogirl]

My husband works away for long periods of time. He doesn't get much say when he is home. We have to grab the opportunity to get away as family whenever that might be. When my little one hasn't seen her dad for weeks, possibly months abd he gets a week at home before heading off again and we decide to go away. I will. I'll pay the fine. Whatever. I reckon a child getting time with an otherwise often not around father is more important than a week of work which I'll happily take away with us and work through when away....

Whether you go away or not, having some time off school when he is home is something you should talk to the school about. I know the fines hit the headlines but most schools do allow some flexibility in these sorts of circumstances.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I asked for a week and it got granted no fight

 

[shanny]

As someone else said - before the meddling this was not so much of an issue -schools and parents could have an adult conversation about this and children could have appropriate time off

I do think that you can't just take a child out whenever..........like at the start of a new school year or around sats and you need to have good attendance too.....just because they are your children does not give you a blanket right to remove them when it suits. Schools are trying to work with you to educate your child.

I think there are more issues to deal with for the children who have persistant days off here and there - ill?

 

[Foogirl]

I think the problem has arisen because so many people do it. I remember a nursery teacher commenting that on the last two days of term there was only 1 child in the class. Primary classes towards the end of terms can be quite empty so this is why they had to clamp down on it. That said, I still do believe with most schools you still can have an adult conversation with school heads and arrange time off when it is genuinely required.

 

[Quartz]

The actual wording is this “(1A) Subject to paragraph (2), leave of absence shall not be granted unless—
(a) an application has been made in advance to the proprietor by a parent with whom
the pupil normally resides; and
(b) the proprietor, or a person authorised by the proprietor in accordance with
paragraph (1), considers that leave of absence should be granted due to the
exceptional circumstances relating to that application.”;

which means that the school head does have some leeway and in my opinion things such as military holidays are - going just to get a cheaper holiday would not.

For the cheaper holiday aspect I am torn a little, I think the impact having time off school can be vast depending on the child - socially I think more than academically in the infant school. A week can be a long time and friendships can easily change.

Also (at least in our local authority) its only for 4 days or more. For our holiday we are going the friday before half term its cheaper and we dont get fined. You can save a lot of money going weds-weds in half term without getting the fine.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I think the problem has arisen because so many people do it. I remember a nursery teacher commenting that on the last two days of term there was only 1 child in the class. Primary classes towards the end of terms can be quite empty so this is why they had to clamp down on it. That said, I still do believe with most schools you still can have an adult conversation with school heads and arrange time off when it is genuinely required.

Yep, I think schools are more than willing to help and understand x I asked them for dates that would mean my son didnt miss any tests etc