Taking kids on holiday during school term. Refusals, fines?

Wanting to go on holiday in October but refuse to pay the extortionate prices during kids half term break so want to go a week before.
Has anyone on here been refused this by the school or had to pay a fine?
He’s only in his first year at primary school so can’t see it making a huge difference to his academic progress.

Here we go………..

3 pages?

FWIW, in his first year, if he’s still under 5 then we got told that they couldn’t fine you as they didn’t legally have to be in school.

Argue you can offset against any teaching days lost through inset days or NUT strikes.

I hear Hitler was taken out of school for his holidays….

/Godwin

ads678 – Member

Here we go………..

Oh dear, have I committed the terrible crime of asking a previously asked question? If so, please accept my most sincere of apologies.

Here’s my thread from last time, just to save everyone repeating the same “You are a terrible parent and an awful human being” flaming 😀

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/taking-the-kids-out-of-school-to-going-skiing-opinions

OP: personally Year 1 primary I’d do it, even if the school does fine you, you’ll still save hundreds of pounds.

You had the kid, they come with responsibilities and costs.
If you weren’t ready to bear them why’d you do it?
It isn’t as if this is a surprise.
We had a great holiday in 2011 after GCSEs, finally out of the peak demand.

Thanks GrahamS for your mature answer, will read all that instead. 🙂

depends on the age and what importance you place on education I guess.

I wouldn’t, but that’s just me.

Oh dear, have I committed the terrible crime of asking a previously asked question? If so, please accept my most sincere of apologies.

Apology accepted, although that wasn’t what I meant!!

Rather than ‘here we go again……’ It was more of a ‘Here we go, this is gonna kick off’!!

Argue you can offset against any teaching days lost through inset days…

Which are when teachers are doing admin or training, and not going on holiday.

… or NUT strikes.

Which is industrial action taken in response to employee grievances, and again are not holiday.

facts aren’t welcome here.

Thanks GrahamS for your mature answer, will read all that instead.

I don’t think you’ve got time if you’re going in October.

Bizarrely the school had no problem letting us take youngest seadog out for a week at the end of term (he’s 13). It was to be in the gap between his big sister finishing her A level exams and the start of summer hols.

However, HE has flatly refused to do this and has reluctantly agreed to a long weekend. ???

FWIW, I’m away at work lot, and have managed to be abroad every single school holiday this year, so the school are being sympathetic. Also, he has reached or got beyond all his attainment targets this year.

a fine? payable for what exactly? 😕

Apparently you have to send your kids to school, or register them SORN, or su mmat. It’s the law.

However, HE has flatly refused to do this and has reluctantly agreed to a long weekend

Take it personally

It’ll be ok , I think its unlikely you will get fined unless you do it repeatedly.

You know whether removing them from school for a week will be detrimental for them or not . If it was me , with child at that age , I dont think it would be detrimental.

I think we’ll do something similar next winter for our ski hols, will save about £2k I think, Julian jnr will be in the reception class by then, I think it’ll be fine.

You know whether removing them from school for a week will be detrimental for them or not

See, I don’t get that – not being an education professional, how do you know?

(Edit – unless of course you ARE an education professional. 🙂 )

a fine? payable for what exactly?

Being a bad parent. Duh!

I have no real issue as long as you dont moan about yeachers fining you. Its not us its that lovely Mr Gove.

See, I don’t get that – not being an education professional, how do you know?

I dont need to be an education professional to know, I use my own life experiences, judgement (or lack of – depending on your Pov) and knowledge of the person in question and the school in question to make a decision. Same as the many thousands of decisions I make.

anyway – I know how these discussions go from here on, and I’m not trying to convince anyone that they are wrong and I’m right – so thats me out.

That’s fair enough. 🙂 I’m not either, but Mrs Pondo is, and some of the stories I hear of parental interpretation of how the school should treat their children are nuts.

(I have a particular bee in my bonnet about taking kids out of school for holidays, mostly because my second cousin wanted to take hers out to go to her mum and dad’s renewal of their wedding vows (because of course you can only do that in term time, right? And it’s far more important they miss a week for a half-hour ceremony that has no practical meaning than they, say, go to school) – she asked the school if she could take them out for a week, the school said no, she took them anyway and got fined, then had a mighty old rant about the unfairness of it all. Does my head in.)

Here we go……….

Ok then

You have a Baby On Board sticker, if not you should. If the school give you any crap, take the teacher or whoever outside, show then the sticker and explain that that means you can do WHATEVER YOU DAMN WELL LIKE. After all, you’re a man, and a virile one at that, you’ve got a kid, so the rules don’t apply to you and the only education your kid needs is that rules are for other people to follow.

a fine? payable for what exactly

slush fund for end of year knees up for the teaching fraternity 😉

I’m not going to argue the right or wrong bit since its irrelevant for me as my wife is a teacher at our kids school so we will never get the time off but make sure you calculate the possible fines correctly. A pal of mine got a fine of £300 last week from the council for taking their kids out. apparently the fine is calculated per child/per day/per parent.

He aint happy

I’m aware of a school that had to close a class for several days because several specialist staff chose to take the written warning for a term time holiday they could get cheap.

mrs_oab is a teacher.
I teach teachers for a living. I am deputy chair of parent council.

Our three will be missing the last two days of term in the summer, as we will be on the ferry to France for a fortnights riding, canoeing and fun.

Being north of the border these pesky fine thing’s don’t happen.

😀

I’m aware of a school that had to close a class for several days because several specialist staff chose to take the written warning for a term time holiday they could get cheap.

Surely a sacking?

I’m aware of a school that had to close a class for several days because several specialist staff chose to take the written warning for a term time holiday they could get cheap.

Really? Could you also define what you mean by “specialist staff” and “close class”.

Matt are you not taking the mrs on holiday?

Yes.
The beauty of a part time contract, which when adding additional days (and a desperate council) was negotiated that she finished term on her ‘normal’ Wednesday, not the Friday, due to a vital prior commitment. 8)

The last two days of summer term are a non event anyway.

However, when MrsMoreCash and I decided to have kids, we realised that they involved certain commitments and responsibilities, some of them legally enforceable.

We figured out that this may involve either paying more for our normal type holidays if we went in the school holiday times, or else having different, cheaper holidays. It was kind of part of the deal. Our cheap break in the sun was NOT more important than our kids education, however flawed we might think that is.

Obviously, until the middle class masses started taking the piss, head teachers had some discretion, and that system worked fine until people who should have been better educated themselves abused it.

Either they give head teachers the discretion again, or they properly ramp up the fines to make it uneconomic to break the rules. Kind of piss or get off the pot.

Happy to be flamed, I just don’t see how peoples lives are so awful that they absolutely must get their cheap holiday every year to escape from it. What kind of life are you living?

Just read the thread properly and chubbyblokeinlycra has just made me spit coffee on the keyboard.

Where’s the damn like button?

What kind of life are you living?

One in France for a fortnight? 😉

A_a – kids with complex medical needs being told the school couldn’t provide the staff to support them.

TPTcruiser – Member
You had the kid, they come with responsibilities and costs.
If you weren’t ready to bear them why’d you do it?
It isn’t as if this is a surprise.
We had a great holiday in 2011 after GCSEs, finally out of the peak demand.

Too many assumptions here.
1. I didn’t plan ‘the kid’, my ex did.
2. It was a surprise.
3. A holiday in a school break isn’t always more expensive due to peak demand. I once paid top dollar for a holiday in October and when I got to the destination, the hotel was dead and nearly everything was closed down.

Dont see the problem of getting better deal, even if you still pay fine …

Some families don’t earn as much as others, and if that makes financial sense then why not.

All respect to teachers etc, but world doesn’t revolve around them. Other hard working parents have a lot more to deal with, so teachers micky-mousing is equivalent to ordinary wife’s nagging.

Child benefits more with their parents on holiday, you know … quality time all together and stuff.

If you crafty, bribe head teacher to reduce your fine. Works for many.

We figured out that this may involve either paying more for our normal type holidays if we went in the school holiday times, or else having different, cheaper holidays. It was kind of part of the deal. Our cheap break in the sun was NOT more important than our kids education, however flawed we might think that is.

Has there ever been a more smug, self satisfied, patronising post on STW ever?