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

Did you sing along to Karaoke? 😀

We wouldnt do Cornwall, less stress and easier to get to Bonnie Scotland 8)

Cornwall is circa 7hrs driving each way!

No but we did sit near a pub that had bingo! However I also hired us bikes and did 25 miles sightseeing. Kids dropped us a few times as we’d been up late getting pissed the night before 😉

No but we did sit near a pub that had bingo!

Well that’s the Maths lessons covered. Now you just need to find a pub with a quiz. 😉

So no teamwork or covering your work for each other at your company?

LOL, it takes time to get back up to speed.

<10yrs old what does a missed week mean?

So if in the week off they cover the first chapter in a book or a key concept in maths or something like that somebody then needs to take the time to explain that you. So the teachers time is spent getting the kid back up to speed on what they missed at the expense of the other kids.

Quite simple, if you miss a week of work then you need to find a way to catch up so that you can build on those concepts.

rather overstating a) the amount of new material a child is presented in a given week let alone b) the amount of new material a child is presented in the last week of the summer term.

Or indeed the presumption that there’s any reason a child/its’ parents haven’t got the ability to cover that material some other way than in the formal class environment. Teachers are not the sole source of education despite their high self-regard.

They should probably just tag another week onto the summer holidays…
The amount of new material presented may not be huge but it might be critical and then needs repeating.
In order for the parents to cover what is missed then they would need a nice little package of info to teach that to their kids outside of their formal class environment. Guess that teachers could just prep a weekly pack and leave the kids at home each week.

I dont really do package holidays. Over the last 20 years I’ve prob done 3 or 4.
My daughter is 14 and during first school she was taken out of school for a week of skiing every year with full permission from the head master. His words were “she’ll learn more there than a week at school”
She has also been to non ski destinations during school time, again with the headmasters blessing.
She is now in high school and has had the odd day off due to flight times or just deciding we didn’t want to come home as early as planned.
Strangely, she doesn’t seem to be suffering at school? Top set for every subject (just got top in her year for science out of 360 kids) and is regularly away on school trips (gifted and talented) that takes her away from her lessons.
She loses lesson time for school plays (she is very much into drama, in and out of school, going to NY next year and has performed at the Royal Albert hall, Disney land Paris and many more), but still strangely she does well at school.
I don’t thinks it’s as black and white as most make out. A bit of common sense needs to be added.

Edit: just to add before the hand wringing starts, she also passed her karate cadet black belt at 10 (I train at the same club and passed mine 6 months later so I know what it entailed!) has spent a few weeks away with the club training twice a day, she can ski, is getting to grips with snowboarding but hates biking?
There is different types of education IMO not just sending you child out at 8:30 in morning and hoping for the best.

I don’t thinks it’s as black and white as most make out. A bit of common sense needs to be added.

The law is however black and white now and common sense not an option.
Its not really a big issue for me in secondary school tbh.
Do any of those complaining about lack of proper work in the last week of time ever wonder why?

There’s no right answer to this.

the school’s first response should always be no. As a parent I’d be worried otherwise, it sets clear expectations on the parents. This is especially true of KS1. The curriculum is rammed, and it could and does take ‘some’ kids months to catch up.

Having said that, OP; have a conversion with the teacher about the child progress, and broach the subject, gauge what the reaction is.

The law is however black and white now and common sense not an option.

And that my friend, is probably the best quote I’ve heard that describes the way this once great country is heading.
Take away a persons ability to use their own common sense.
(And the law isn’t really black and white, there is a grey bit in the middle)

Take away a persons ability to use their own common sense.

The greatest issue is that common sense is really not that common.

The sooner a child grasps and realises things in life the sooner alot of things click.

Sat in a classroom might not always help that happen.

An interesting break can.

The greatest issue is that common sense is really not that common.

I agree, but most of the people I know that have common sense, aren’t the academically minded.
In fact some of the most intelligent people I know have the least going on in their head.

Quite agree Russ, never said it was linked to intelligence but people’s ability to think through the consequences of their actions from outside of their own micro bubble. As an observation of those with kids seem to get blinkered really quickly in life 😉

As another observation, it is very easy to confuse blinkered with focussed. 😉

And the law isn’t really black and white, there is a grey bit in the middle)

Exceptional cicumstances allow for time off. A holiday is not exceptional circumstances.

Exceptional cicumstances allow for time off. A holiday is not exceptional circumstances.

I recon a big dump in the alps is an exceptional circumstance 😀

Why is it so hard to abide by basic rules of a school term?

Apologies if someone has already made the same point (I haven’t read the whole thread) but getting a cheap holiday only works while there are only a few people pulling their kids out of school early. If everyone starts doing that to get a cheaper holiday, the tour operators and holiday home owners will soon get wise to it and prices will rise for the week before term ends. Then people will start missing two weeks before end of term…
Alternatively, if you have complete freedom, and families just go on holiday whenever they like during the school year, the school has the problem of managing the teaching of multiple random absences.

The government have had to come up with rules to take these decisions away from Head teachers, they realise teachers {in general} are not competent,trained or capable of making such huge far reaching complex decisions.

It seems blinkered and short sighted to me but observing the tripe spouted by teachers and their other halves on here.. perhaps it is best for now.

The point of education is that it leads to awakening. This might not be in the classroom but reinforced by early life experiences.

Things click sooner.

The government have had to come up with rules to take these decisions away from Head teachers, they realise teachers {in general} are not competent,trained or capable of making such huge far reaching complex decisions.
It seems blinkered and short sighted to me but observing the tripe spouted by teachers and their other halves on here.. perhaps it is best for now.

+1

Reduce the length of the summer holidays to a more reasonable 2 weeks and allow for 2 floating weeks to be taken in term time when required.
The productivity of the country wouldn’t suffer as much as it currently does and holiday companies would be less able to make blanket periods of high prices. Floating mid term breaks which varied significantly between regions would also help.

they realise teachers {in general} are not competent,trained or capable of making such huge far reaching complex decisions.

3/10 please try harder.

The point of education is that it leads to awakening. This might not be in the classroom but reinforced by early life experiences.he point of education is that it leads to awakening. This might not be in the classroom but reinforced by early life experiences.

True enough.

Why do schools need so many long holidays?

It wouldnt happen as our children would be held to ransom if any reform was attempted. By who?

Yep.

The point of education is that it leads to awakening. This might not be in the classroom but reinforced by early life experiences.

You know that with about 12 weeks of allotted holiday time over the year it should be entirely possible to do both?

Reduce the length of the summer holidays to a more reasonable 2 weeks and allow for 2 floating weeks to be taken in term time when required.

Does that include the staff? Have you seen the retention figures for teaching staff?

Mikewsmith most of those you are trying to take time off in conjunction with other parents at your company, first come first served on holiday requests, paying for (expensive) holiday clubs to look after your child for the rest.

Do you have a child leaving at home who cant be left alone yet?! Or a partner that doesnt work

“Theres not enough holiday to take our kids on holiday during the holidays. Lets make the holidays shorter.” Good work guys.

Does that include the staff? Have you seen the retention figures for teaching staff?

So they’re only in it for the holidays? See comment above about competent management.

So do you expect them just to do it for the love when 40% of newly trained teachers leave within a year? I dont see how wanting to maintain terms and conditions correlates with competance but if you want to let me know great.

I’ll tell you another fact. In Finland a world leader in education they attract teachers from the top 20% of graduates. In the UK its the bottom 20%. I wonder why?

There are only 3 of us at out company, previously it just worked out.
It seems that millions of parents can sort out how to work within the system, others seem to think that the rules shouldn’t apply and that school is an optional extra. It’s probably stuff that should come with the how you make a baby manual and things you should consider.

My mother was finally grateful when she retired as a teacher, having a dad who was a farmer meant there was a really tiny amount of time that family holidays could be taken. We managed and made the most of it.

So do you expect them just to do it for the love when 40% of newly trained teachers leave within a year? I dont see how wanting to maintain terms and conditions correlates with competance but if you want to let me know great.

When businesses suffer with retention issues you look at the range of motivational and management levers. I’m talking about managerial competence, not teaching competence.

The 6 week summer holiday is a relic of times past, where it should be resigned to.

It seems that millions of parents can sort out how to work within the system, others seem to think that the rules shouldn’t apply and that school is an optional extra

Or maybe different people have different priorities and ideas about what they want their kids to learn and get out of life?

I like education. I’m all for it. I just don’t think it all comes from books and classrooms.

My mother was finally grateful when she retired as a teacher, having a dad who was a farmer meant there was a really tiny amount of time that family holidays could be taken. We managed and made the most of it.

That sounds awful. I can see why you would want others to suffer the same fate. 😀

I like education. I’m all for it. I just don’t think it all comes from books and classrooms.

And you have 12 weeks to do just that.

they realise teachers {in general} are not competent,trained or capable of making such huge far reaching complex decisions.

3/10 please try harder.

And then you start agreeing with me a page later 😀

In Finland a world leader in education they attract teachers from the top 20% of graduates. In the UK its the bottom 20%.

It would be very interesting to see how many teachers from the uk would qualify in Finland.
Until we start attracting the top tier of graduates I don’t think we can trust drop outs of the education system to make such BIG decisions..
A head teacher cannot be trusted to decide if a pupil can take a family holiday. I have heard Doctors will be next.. sick notes will have to be checked by government officials before being approved.

When businesses suffer with retention issues you look at the range of motivational and management levers.

Would cutting holiday entitlement be one of them?

It would be very interesting to see how many teachers from the uk would qualify in Finland.

It would. No idea what their training is like. This country has too few teachers in certain areas and a drastic shortage of good teachers across the board.
Doesnt mean I agree with you that deciding if taking Tarquin and Matilda skiing is a big decision though. Any person with an ounce of common sense can see that its just a holiday and is no more life enriching than taking Tyler and Chardonnay to Benidorm for a week.

Would cutting holiday entitlement be one of them?

You said that retention rates were low, I’m trying to make the point that better management may help to improve the situation. Reducing the length of the summer holiday would have many benefits to society as a whole, but is a separate although not wholly unrelated issue.

Yeah I reckon getting 5 year olds used to 4 weeks holiday a year would be a good start 😉
Could accelerate the curriculum to and get them out into the working world by 15…

Yeah I reckon getting 5 year olds used to 4 weeks holiday a year would be a good start

12-2 was 10 last time I looked.

You said that retention rates were low, I’m trying to make the point that better management may help to improve the situation.

I asked what these “management levers” you talked about might be?