Taking children out of school

DD3 and family saved long & hard for a visit to DD2 in Oz last Christmas. The children, 6& 9, missed the last week of school when it was mostly Christmassy events- carols, nativity, present making etc and just a couple of days at the beginning of the Spring term. The school were happy for them to do this and the amazing experiences they had in Oz outweighed the few days absence from school. An opportunity like this doesn’t present itself very often

We took ours out of school one year.
Not to pay less but because with DH's shift rota it meant he could only take holiday during his 10 rest days which some years was only once a year or in mid winter.

Hetty58, most people do wear uniform or at least follow a dress code at work, only a minority have complete free choice in what to wear. Children these days are very aware of who is wearing branded clothing and who is wearing cheaper shoes or clothes. Fortunately most children are kind and don't notice/ don't care, but some might use it to bully or humiliate. School uniform helps to stop this happening and also instills a sense of belonging, togetherness and community.

Home schooled kids can cover everything (and more) in two hours per day. I always let mine wear what they wanted to school. Three chose the uniform and one didn't.

He was always confident and went to a primary where everyone else wore the uniform. He was comfortable in cotton track suits and trainers. There were 'conversations' I had with the staff but, legally, uniform is optional. He was a high achiever so they made allowances.

At high school (where it's compulsory) he had his own unique version of the uniform, again, cotton and comfortable for sensitive skin.

The idea of following rules I struggle with (even as a teacher). I wouldn't like being told what to wear. It's hard to find good reasons for uniform nowadays. You can't tell who's poor or wealthy by their clothes. Most people don't wear suits/uniforms to work either.

Some of them maybe home schooled . The chap who mends our PC home schooled his 4 children at primary stage and they did their school work at weekends and went out and about on educational trips , fun days and holidays during the week when everything was quieter .
They all went onto grammar schools .

Both DH and I worked in the world of education so term time holidays were never going to happen even if we had thought it right - which we didn’t.

Not keen on inculcating slavish obedience but never thought selfishly doing what suited oneself regardless of the effect on others was a good thing either.

Not all teachers oppose term time holidays for children with otherwise good attendance. Many give their unofficial blessings even though they cant be officially approved by the school

Tatty howking holiday were traditional break from school for 2 weeks to help wuth the harvest in Scotland. However the kids no longer need to help on the farms and the autumn break is about 10 days now.

If you were in a position to take your family to Greece next week, you wouldn't be missed at school.
I confess to taking my DC out very occasionally. We took DS out for a day once to meet up with some old friends .
Unfortunately for us he wrote all about it in his news at school next day.

I don’t suppose the OP approached the parents of the children she saw to ask why they were there? It’s so easy to complain from the perspective of ignorance, and to make judgements based on one’s own personal experience without considering that of the people being complained about.

FWIW, I think that in general annual holidays are intrinsically good for kids, whenever and wherever they are taken.

Taking school work on a holiday is a horrible idea.

I had a job once where we were expected to get work done during our annual leave (paperwork & emails) and it made me ill! And they didnt retain many staff!

Why do we appreciate adults needing "switch off" time from work but dont think that children need it?

It doesn't just mean extra time to catch that child up, it's extra time for the whole class to wait while that child catches up... And that child, also that one. Sometimes it's not possible so that could mean the difference between children being put in the right class for their ability later on. The responsibility for children to catch up is on me as a TA. So which children do I prioritise? Who do I let down today?

What would resolve this is a more staggered approach to term-times. Term time holidays is a nightmare for educators.

We took our children to America a few times around the October and May half terms adding a week either side, it wasn't that unusual then, we also took our younger one to Mexico in December when the school was winding down for Christmas. A teacher friend of ours was prone to say "quite honestly holidays with family could be more educational and beneficial than school at times" We did take pieces of work with us. Even back then the curriculum was quite narrow and there was little deviation from what had been set in stone for quite a few years. Life is an education and sometimes you need to go off piste when confined to such narrow parameters. Having said that, in retrospect, I think we were lucky that these trips were tolerated, I can see there are two sides to the argument in this respect.

I expect most people would prefer to take their children on holiday outside of term time. But the costs - even to stay in this country - are prohibitive for many people. And some are quite restricted as to when they may take their holidays.

I honestly don't know what all the fuss is about. We took our children out of school for 3 weeks, adding it on to Christmas holidays, so that we could visit my husband's family for the first time since he'd come to the UK. We asked the teacher for a little guidance as to what would be done in school and set some of the work for them while we were on holiday - though only about 30 mins a day. There was no problem when they came back - they hadn't been left behind. The experience was immensely valuable to them.

Time to relax, have fun and learn on a family holiday is very important, especially when people lead such busy lives these days.

Our 3 now AC had a weeks camping in SW Scotland every whit and a French gite for a fortnight in July.
We had great times,the French children and ours plus friends had a UK v France football game at the local stad, we partied and ate with the different French families and our children are still in touch. It was all so happy.
In Scotland and they learned how to collect wood and make fires, harvest mussels to cook and all mucked in with each other.
In hindsight I’m glad we couldn’t afford a luxury holiday for 3 children in or out of term time!?

What a brilliant idea paddyann much better than all the silly odd days they shove in here and there .

Our children are off now ,we're in the west of Scotland and they get 2 weeks from the middle of last week .I know this because my diary is full of wee girls who will be making christmas cakes .The schools in my area save up the single days and give them the 2 weeks instead .Just along the road in another local authority its different

I think the whole system needs a rethink. I saw in the papers that a school has changed to all year and holidays can be taken whenever, based on 4 weeks a year.
The current school system relies on mainly women taking part time or term time only jobs, or staying home, to avoid the huge expense of childcare. This inequality will continue and is part of the reason women get paid less, have worse pensions, and less chance of promotion.
I’ve not taken mine out of school for holidays.

I'm on the fence about it.

I would have said no holidays during school time up until a couple of years ago, but now I think life is too short to always follow rules, mostly.

My DD and I have just returned from a holiday meant for under 5’s and there were lots of school age children there?. We were saying how,when they were small we never took them out of school, we took our holiday in holiday time but took a holiday we could afford, walking and wild camping or a short break near the seaside. They grew up perfectly well not going abroad on holiday until we were better off when I had started to work when they went to senior school. We paid the inflated prices as we felt that was our only option. I do think that my children learnt more about the world when we went wild camping in Scotland in the pouring rain for 7 days than they ever did in a holiday complex in Cyprus.

My adult children are always referring back to those wonderful French holidays that we had in school time when they were young. They loved every little detail and hold the memories dear.

There is more to education than school; especially now, when it has become so rigid and proscribed.

All I can say is that we never took our children out of school for holidays. We often had to 'box and cox' to provide child cover over the long summer holidays and only had one week all together as a holiday. Never went abroad for holidays either.
For us education came first. Not much useful education or cultural integration in those big luxury resorts...

Hope they’re having the best of times . I love the thought of children having fun in the sun , splashing in the pool, putting their best summer clothes on for a special night and the flight ..... wow ..... such a special treat in itself . Who could begrudge that ?

Notanan, if any child is in need of a therapeutic holiday then that child should be alllowed time off school. In actual fact therapy and education meld into each other when the teaching and the school are good.

Maybe the children are from Scotland, where some are already on the 'tattie-picking' holidays. Maybe they're home educated. Who know whey they're there?

So it will look like there are lots of British kids on holiday and other countries keep their kids in school if you have booked through a British website and found yourself in a British resort.