Term Time Holidays

[karlilay]

What's everyone's opinions?

We are taking Madi out for a week, Mon-Fri in July. Reasons being, we have a low income and are doing the Sun holidays. It's probably the only way we can get a break.
Even with a £120 fine, it is still over £300 cheaper to take her in term time.
She is I'm Reception, I really don't see how 4 days out of education is going to affect her whole life.

What are your opinions on this? Anyone else taking their children out of school for a holiday?

 

[tallybee]

I took them out last February for a trip to Hong Kong and the school did not argue. To be fair there were particular circumstances about it but I just told them I would be taking them and it was non negotiable. The kids learned plenty on the trip anyway.

 

[emyandpotato]

Honestly I think that family time and travelling and experiencing new languages and culture can be extremely beneficial and missing a few days of school is hardly detrimental. But then I think that there is way too much emphasis placed on academic learning as opposed to general knowledge and open mindedness. I think the fine is a little silly.

 

[RachA]

My personal opinion is that you shouldn't do it. For us this means we'll have to forgo holidays in order to save up.
Yes I agree that seeing different places is educational but it's no less educational if you take them during school holidays so to me that isn't really a valid point.
Also you don't actually know how much of an impact it will have on your child's progress because some children are definitely affected.
We've actually made a mistake in our booking for our holiday that we've booked for this year as DS will miss his first day back in Sept-I can't believe it as it's not something I'd choose to do.

 

[special_kala]

Personally I dont agree with holidays during term time. My parents used to do it and I still remember how disruptive it was.

I think the new rules are fair and are there to protect childrens education. I agree that 4 days isnt going to have a massive effect on a childs education but I think they need to be strict on everyone to protect the few kids with irresponsible parents who would take their kids out of school excessive amounts.

Also its not just about our children, if every child took a week off then thats 30/39 weeks that a teacher needs to find time to catch a child up. They are hard pressed for time as it is and I dont see that its fair on the children whos parents follow the rules to miss out because others dont.

 

[// arcadia]

Ive never been in a position to have any spare money for a holiday so never thought about it lol.

They keep sending out Parentmail though saying they will authorise NO term time holidays due to government legislation.

 

[bumpy_j]

I think the fines are ludicrous - it gives holiday companies the opportunity to push their premiums up even higher. I would probably book it - she's only in reception after all.

 

[Jaysmummy]

I'd have no qualms taking my children out of school. I only have 1 in full time school at the minute, but even if I had to pay all 3 it would still be cheaper to pay the fine than to go on holiday out of term.

My children all have 100% attendance and I think that is also a major factor. If a child has only say 93% attendance and then you're taking them out for holidays then it's obviously going to affect them more than a child with 99%.

I don't see what harm a few days can do, as long as it isn't around SATS/Exam time.

 

[sam2eb]

I would probably only do it if it was the last week of term. It's usually spent watching films or having playdays etc so there would be no real learning time being lost.

 

[R_x]

I'm not sure what we will do, it depends when hubby (& I by then) can get the time off work aswell.
I have seen the price difference for the likes of center parcs so dread to think what it is to go abroad.
For four days you could phone the school and say she is poorly to avoid the fine? But there again she would probably mention it to her friends x

 

[Yo_Yo]

Unless the child is older, in exam period etc where it have a detrimental impact on the child's education, it should be up to the parents within reason.

My dd1s school have zero tolerance on term time holidays, so we have no choice sadly. Her attendance is 100%

During our last holiday, she picked up a lot of Spanish and cultural education-this is important too.

I think it's unfair if your hard up and its the only time you can afford-how's that fair?

I quite happily do catch up work with my child via extra homework if the concern was that.

 

[tina3747]

We've just had a holiday in term time. I'm not sure if policies differ from school to school or its a local government decision but ours is £60 per parent per week. Anything over 4 days will be charged for. We were away 4 school days, it's a holiday we've taken for the last 15 years, same week every year and never had a problem. We were charged £120 which we were fully aware of before we booked it and were willing to pay, rang the school after we had the bill and they said they were willing to waiver the fee as his attendance is 100% and school work is good. I think that's common sense really!!
We won't be going next year as ds1 will be in the middle of gcse's .

 

[Natsku]

Young kids aren't really going to miss out on too much learning by having a week or so off school, plus of course they get the benefit of learning from going to a different place and doing different things. When I was at school we were allowed two weeks off during term time for holidays and we never had a problem with missed schoolwork or catching up (and indeed one year I sent a postcard to my class and they did a project on the country I was in so my holiday ended up benefitting the education of the whole class)

 

[sequeena]

We're going at the end of March during term time - Thomas isn't in school yet and I can't believe how much cheaper it is. The prices for holidays during school breaks needs to come down!!

As for whether I'd take my son out of school, no I probably wouldn't.

 

[lau86]

I think it's something I'll have to look at when the boys get to school age. Definitely not for secondary school but primary school I'm not sure. I agree with a pp the last week of school it probably won't make a difference.

 

[Pearls18]

I don't think there should be black and white legislation, I think the school should be able to use their discretion. I think they should be allowed to consider the age of the child, the year of education, what is happening in the class, school attendance, child behaviour, if the parents are abusing the amount of time etc.

Some parents can't choose their annual leave, if my husband's pre deployment leave falls during term time I will be damned if i am told my children can't have time off (obviously I would evaluate the above too) but I'm pretty sure I've been told military get special dispensation for things like deployment, but I hope schools are open to other parents' situations which can be similarly trying.

I understand the difficulty for teachers and the importance of education and there needs to be some form of regulation to avoid abuse of the situation but I find it too much for it to be legislated this way, too controlling.

 

[QueenMummyToBe]

Amelias school constantly send out letters reminding parents they do not accept holidayd in school time.
For us it isn't a major deal as we will not take them abroad again for many years and any holiday we do have in this country we will book as 'off peak' as we can.
It sounds silly but I don't want Amelia to miss out on what her school friends are doing and even at her age she learns so much every day

Xxx

 

[Nibblenic]

Currently our school is making it clear that they will not fine anyone for taking time off in school time. However the board of governors are against this.
We are told to ring them in sick and they 'ignore' the fact that they come back talking of holidays.

Since my husband has ASD and simply can not go to holiday place/resorts in peak periods as it would be too busy/stressful for him I really appreciate not having to fight them on this.

However we dont intend to take her out for more than 5 days once a year.

 

[shelx]

Summer holidays here start at the start of july. I assume LOs last day of playgroup will be fri the 28th of june. We're going to spain 18th-29th. I wont do this when he is in actual school though.

 

[mummylove]

I dont see the problem going holiday in school term if its nto all the time. Not everyone can afford the stupid prices places charge in holidays. But then u will get people say well if u cant afford t then dont take them on holiday but then u will get from others oh why u not taking them oh ur a bad mum. Just cant win