[Closed] Taking little guy out of school for hols - advice needed please

come clean, we did, the head said that we could do it as there were no exams, etc, but also said that we could only do it it once every three years. Went to Barbados !!!

Could never afford that in school time. IMO the kids learned more life skills in those two weeks than they would have at school.

My daughters school now treat it as unauthorised absence and call the child catcher.

Depends on the school and the circumstances - suggest you have a chat with the head and see how the land lies.

As an aside, my wife is a teacher and has decided the kids don't learn much in the last 2 weeks of term so we're going on holiday early too 😉

Make something up. Just remember to tell junior what lies to stick to. It'll do him the world of good to know that daddy tells lies and it'll get him an early start in doing so too.

+1 for come clean. We took both kids out of school for 2 weeks to visit family in NZ. School were fine. I also see other side of it now as a school Governor and in primary school as long as you are prepared to be a little flexible ( i.e. not the week of the national tests ) there should be no problem.

why not tell them you had a highly localised snowfall

Tell the truth, as it's been said kids tend to learn more about the world when they are out there in it, lots of new experiences for them.

He is only 6 not sitting any crucial exmas, seems sensible to me.

TBH we've only ever gone in the school hols - how much do you actually save doing it - seeing as how the Scotish kids (plus private school) are already on holiday anyway?

Have you looked at the last couple of weeks in the summer hols, it often gets cheaper then.

Start a trend hopefully the teachers will take a week off every so often. Just for a holiday mind.

Go on holiday for one week during the actual holiday period?

You should have no probs, we take ours out every year to go skiing and the form says that a 2 week hol is permitted each year and I always stress the educational benefits of sport that the school doesn't offer and the language they learn. Never been an issue in primary school.

The unauthorised absence is just so the school can pass it on to the LEA { local education authority] and not get blamed. Nothing will happen ever even if you do this every year - you think education welfare officers are so underworked that they are going to go round to the house of people whose children miss school to go on holiday?
Tell them anything you want.

[i] we are happy to take work away for the summer so we can home coach to catch up.[/i]

Absolute bollox!
Like you are going to!! I've given numerous parents work to do on holiday, which is never done.

What are you scared of?
Just take your kid out of school and say it is family holiday.
I would SO love to do this as we can't afford an overseas family holiday in school holiday times...BUT, blow me, I'm the teacher...no choice. 😉

Actually Angela, i am perfectly prepared to invest the time in my little guy to make sure his education is not impaired by the fact that we cannot afford a holiday in term time this year.
If i balance the benefits of spending some close time with him (which i struggle to do during the normal week due to work commitments)against the slowing down of serious work he is doing running up to the holidays its a no brainer.
😀

lie, also try claiming benefits you aren't entitled to and other such things to to set a bad influence!

Guess the simple solution is to come clean and be honest, most schools wont mind at that age but later on they will and it will become more obvious that as you now have kids you will have to change your lifestyle. Perhaps take holidays and stay at home better for the environment aswell as your bank balance.

As an aside how does this differ from not sending your kid to school as a bad parent? Can you just fill a form in for that too?

I have changed my lifestyle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Downgraded bike to an Intense, have dropped the fortnightly skiing holidays and traded the Veyron in for a Range Rover.
Environment - pah, don't get me started. When the Chines start giving a stuff then mavbe..............
Re the bad parent bit, i cant drink or smoke enough to go down that route i'm afraid and my Sky is broken.

mudpup -
Have to take jnr out of school for last 2 weeks of summer term

getting a bit mixed up with your haves and wants there!

Crack on - I'm sure junior will thank you for picking the expensive foreign holiday (rather than a cheaper option) over his education in the long run. Yes - that'll be the best for him and no doubt.

You are doing it for him,I mean you, no him. I don't know what I mean

mudpup junior after all those summer holidays during term time - they stood him in good stead for adult life

[img] [/img]

I'm quite proud of the fact that both my kids have a 100% attendance record for the last two years (8 & 6), even take them to the dentist during half-term.

That said, I reckon, for a once in a lifetime experience, I might consider it, would have to be something incredible though and right now I'm not sure what that means.

we cannot afford a holiday in term time this year.

You don't say where you are going, your sure you don't mean you can't afford the holday you want?

[i]Have to take jnr (aged 6 year 1 at primary school) out of school for last 2 weeks of summer term so we can afford to go on holiday.[/i]

Cheaper holidays are available...

Your son will be marked as unauthorized absent which WILL directly effect the Ofsted grade of the school when it gets inspected (so don't complain when it's not good enough for you). It's not unreasonable for schools to expect children to be there in term time, after all, there's lots of holidays.

What right does a school have to tell us whether or not we can take our child out for two weeks? I mean, at the age of 6, it is probably that a trip to Barbados is going to be FAR MORE blo**dy educational than sitting around watching Disney-Pixar films for the last two weeks of school!

Unauthorized absence and Ofsted be d*mned. Of course we must teach our children within a system, but neither they, nor we, need to be slaves to it. 👿

I know shocking isn't it? That schools expect kids to turn up to school during a term, I mean all those easter/Xmas/summer holidays all those half term weeks off, it's just not enough is it? I mean why shouldn't teachers spend their time reteaching your kid what every-one else has already learned a couple of weeks ago?

Do you have a right to cheaper holidays at the expense of your child's education? It's one to think about, no?

nickc, if I thought for a minute that two weeks at the tend of a term would make a difference, I might be convinced by the need to keep my child in school. You will be hard-pressed to convince me, however, that a six year old is going to miss much at the end of a year - even if the curriculum [i]wasn't[/i] inherently vacuous.

We've taken our lad out of school a number of times to go on holiday in term time. We've always been open with the school and they've always said yes.

Loving the self-rightious indignant rants coming out though. Are you all that uptight with your kids? Relaxing a bit will do them far more good than making sure they attend every single day at school you know.

I doubt it is going to have any impact on his education, however tell the school your taking him out, your adults ffs, if they get arsie about it then just take it on the chin and have a nice holiday.

SaxonRider, sorry school terms are crammed start to finish these days. Pressure from LEAs, pressure from Parents for results, pressure from DoE, there just isn't the slack anymore in the system for 2 weeks sitting around watching Pixar films and the end of the year. Every week is important.

Yet if a natural phenomenon like snow stops your kids teachers getting to school, you are there with a pitchfork and 20 feet of rope.

Your kids would have as much fun in a caravan near Skegness as they would on your expensive trip out of the designated holidays.

We got it from the horses mouth a few weeks ago that a short while off school won't cause any harm to your kids education
That was snow time off though, so it may be different 😉

We decided not to send ours to school at all- that way our holidays won't be compromised.

Tootall all our teachers made it in over the snowy period and our school was open ( one day it was the only school open in south nothants) some children who lived across the road didn't come in... However what really bites is the fact that by being open will harm our attendance figures because that's how ofsted will judge it, they disregard the snow and just look at the figures they'll see that x children weren't there. Had we shut our attendance would have been 100%.

I've only once taken one of ours out in school term
It was the last day of the summer term & we asked for the day off

We were refused permission on the grounds that his education could be severely affected - at the same time we also received a letter informing us that as no formal lessons would take place on the last day of term, the kids could bring in games etc 😀

This is a very middle class problem - have you thought about writing to the Guardian Dilemnas Column ??

last comment. From the parent perspective I can understand. Holidays ARE expensive, it's just a week or two weeks surely it can't be that bad? If it was just one child once in a term it wouldn't make a difference, but it's not just you and your child, the closer you get to Easter or Summer holidays, the more children disappear from the classroom, as many as 5-6 at a time sometimes, which means that planning whole class topics becomes a nightmare for the school, and the teachers.

It'll always be a source of conflict

Mudpup, your child will be in the last 2 weeks of their time at Primary school and their education will not be affected by missing them so don't worry about that. Be honest with the school, you won't be alone in wanting to do this but they may have a wierd policy about only authorising so many kids out of school. At this late stage I wouldn't worry about attendance either, it will be included on the OFSTED report for the following inspection/year but who gives a damn what they think? It shouldn't be classed as an unauthorised absence anyway unless they say no and you go anyway...by saying yes, the absence is authorised (are we now saying that pre-arranged dental/doctors appointments are unauthorised?.
However, it is their last 2 weeks at that school...ever. Are they going to miss some important stuff that all their friends will do, celebration/awards stuff, residential or day trips, etc? These may be the things they remember about their time at the school.
Otherwise, go...have fun, teach your child about the world and let them teach you about theirs, spend time with them and enjoy their company and recognise that a major chapter in their life is ending - big school here we come.
PS. As a teacher it's always great to hear holiday stories from kids (no really I'm not being sarcastic), we chose our jobs and the limits it puts on when we take ours hols, they didn't chose to have to go to school.

aahhhhh....... The sweet sound of STW sanctimony!

Surfer...your mama!! 😀

PS. Just re-read your post Mudpup, "Have to take jnr (aged 6 year 1 at primary school)"

Not year 6, so not last 2 weeks at school... ever. The rest applies still though.

Think binmen get paid pretty well these days, especially if you drive the cart.

hels - Member
This is a very middle class problem - have you thought about writing to the Guardian Dilemnas Column ??

I would SO love to do this as we can't afford an overseas family holiday in school holiday times...BUT, blow me, I'm the teacher...no choice.

Wait until it snows again then....

Apparently shutting because a bit of cold rain falls is acceptable and doesn't affect education, so why would going away for a similar amount of time?

My wife is a teacher so not something we normally have to consider - although she is going to try to get a day off in May so that we can get to the Isle of Jura in time for me to do the Fell Race there 🙂

However, we are thinking of taking the kids (currently 5 and 6) out of school for a year to travel and I have to say I'm not much concerned about that having a -ve impact on their educations as we probably give them as much mental and physical exercise at home as they get at school anyway. I've read somewhere that kids learn about 85% of what they know outside of school.

If you're a good parent who reads and plays a lot with your kids and takes time to explain things to them, then 2 weeks off school is not going to make much difference, they will still be learning plenty.

If you're a crap parent who leaves the kids in front of the electric baby sitter all day and doesn't talk to them, then it's still not going to make much difference because you've already ruined their chances.

I would SO love to do this as we can't afford an overseas family holiday in school holiday times...BUT, blow me, I'm the teacher...no choice.

I'll trade my 2 weeks somewhere nice for your 6 weeks somewhere less nice....

My parents took me out of school like this for the first few years but that stopped when I went to a fee paying school.... I don't think it sends a great message to the kids but no idea if that really matters - parentally supported truancy? Also, we moved house to a different area a month before the end of term when I was 14 which meant I missed exams; obviously didn't mind at the time but these days I really think there's no reason good enough for what they did.

Realistically just weigh up the difference between the holidays you could do in term time and out and then workout if the difference is worth missing a couple of weeks of school...

I wouldn't hesitate taking them out of school to show them some of the world compared to a week in butlins in the school holidays.

Ask the school to let you know what they will miss out on during the absence and fill in the gaps in the holidays, at 6 years of age I can;t see it being an awful lot though