Children holidaying during term time.

Just popped in to ask how some parents/grandparents would feel if little Charlie came home saying his teacher was off for 2 weeks taking his/her children away on holiday?

Yes, and as you said earlier Grammaretto, there is something to be said for simplicity as an antidote to modern living!
Perhaps a good remedy for the boy who didn't like his phone would have been to encourage him to go for a swim or to join in some of the activities?

That must have been wonderful Joseann for all of you.

Children are such funny little people because all they want is an adventure. It doesn't really matter where, and it doesn't necessarily have to be an expensive trip. My DGC were with me here in Cornwall this weekend. It was a cold 10 degrees, pouring with rain, all the attractions closed, empty beaches, but we did so much together that they didn't want to leave on Sunday evening!
If term time holidays are the only way for families to achieve the shared experiences they want at a reasonable price, then the occasional time-out from school isn't really that detrimental to their children's education.

MissAdventure

So this is based wholly on snobbery, in effect?
How know earth would anyone know which children are likely to be home schooled?

One of my exes home schooled his daughter; the one who crawled around on top of the table, helping herself to her doting middle class grandparents' dinners.

His point was that that sort of stuff was pointless, manmade rules, which she would sort out in her own mind as she grew up.

She did, too!

She didn't take anything off my plate, once I'd poked her little hand with my fork a couple of times.
Imagine if she had been in the cruise, broadening her horizons?!?

Well I was in a lift with one family, mother asked the son who had a number of piercings and his hair in a top knot where his phone was, he was about 9 or 10.
He responded that his phone was a bag of shite and was too embarrassed to carry it.

I'm glad to hear that Jax.
The camp was very popular and especially important for city kids to experience the great outdoors.
They went in the final year of primary school.

Grammaretto both of our grandchildren have been on school camp, I think they were age 10, the school still does the trips to the New Forest now. Building camps, nature projects, keeping a journal and orienteering with a map.
I’m wondering how many of the (cheaper) holidays in term time are for the parents benefit rather than their children’s. It’s also admirable no children of anyone on GN have suffered any detrimental effects and gone on to heightened academia.

Our daughter and SIL are very lucky, they have taken their children on holidays we could only dream of.
However she is desperate to return with our grandchildren to the very special place where we holidayed for 18 consecutive years in Scotland.
Spending a day building dens, collecting firewood for the evening beach bonfire, harvesting mussels for dinner,and wading out to conquer the little island at low tide was far more exciting than a “kids club” in Barbados!
It’s a very popular spot and booked for years in advance now.

So this is based wholly on snobbery, in effect?
How know earth would anyone know which children are likely to be home schooled?

One of my exes home schooled his daughter; the one who crawled around on top of the table, helping herself to her doting middle class grandparents' dinners.

His point was that that sort of stuff was pointless, manmade rules, which she would sort out in her own mind as she grew up.

She did, too!

She didn't take anything off my plate, once I'd poked her little hand with my fork a couple of times.
Imagine if she had been in the cruise, broadening her horizons?!?

Society has changed. Even in the years between when my eldest was at school in the 1980s and the youngest 1993 to 2005 attitudes and customs have changed.

The older ones all did exchange trips for 2 weeks and stayed with families in France and in Sweden.

There was also school camp in the Highlands during termtime, which they loved.

By the time the younger ones were at that stage, there was really no more staying with families. Disclosure and home checks, busy working parents etc so they stayed in their groups in hostels.
The school camps had stopped and "all" the children had family holidays.

We generally camped in Scotland because travelling abroad with so many DC and a dog was too expensive.

Now the DC and DGC all travel abroad. Did they feel that they had missed out and are making up for it? Or is it just that all their peers go abroad?

Macadia

More than 100,000 children are home-schooled. You will find them on holiday any time of year.

Believe me the children we encountered were highly unlikely to be home schooled.

My own children were never taken out of school to go on holiday, but last year we did take our son and six year old grandson to France during the last week of summer term. There were extenuating circumstances, which the school accepted, so our grandson was given permission to go. As a bonus he’s half French, so it genuinely was educational for him.

Stepdad was an engineer. When I was 11 and attending a grammar school in the Midlands, the head teacher kindly allowed us to study from home when dad’s work took us to Trinidad. When I returned to the school I was no. 3 in the top class, beaten by my two male peers. Robert and Nigel. I truly believe travel broadens the mind. My son hasn’t suffered by our move to Spain and he’s fluent. Now back in the UK he’s studying Italian and Japanese and knows how to fly a plane. I think plumbing and electrical engineering etc are really good jobs.

Germanshepherdsmum what do you mean by

If only we could all have afforded to go on expensive holidays

More than 100,000 children are home-schooled. You will find them on holiday any time of year.

Nor me, but indeed … either it’s term time or it isn’t. Does adding a few days not count?

Tenko

We took our DC away during term time when they were at primary school , but added a few days to either the summer or autum half term. We never took them out of school whilst at high school . And both got into grammar schools . So I can’t condone parents who take their kids away during term time . However it is annoying to have a hotel full of kids , which is why we either do adults only or a villa

How can you not condone people taking their children out of school when you have said you did it yourself?
You tagged a couple of days onto a half term holiday or whatever.

It's exactly the same, whenever the days are.

That is, if we are basing it on the premise of teachers being put out by it, and other pupils (perhaps ones who have never had a holiday at all) being held back by it.

I'm not being deliberately argumentative, but....

GrannyGravy13

Well our children have either been lucky or they are capable of catching up quickly as their cv’s are all pretty damn good like their exam results/degrees.

Isn’t it a good thing that we are not all the same?

Just imagine what holiday destinations (both here and abroad) would be like if all those with children holidayed at the same time…

Just imagine if we could all have afforded to go on expensive holidays …

Germanshepherdsmum

How amazing that my son is a partner in a big City law firm, and has had many wonderful holidays abroad since leaving school, without ever having missed a day’s education for a holiday. Family time doesn’t only happen on holiday, no matter how busy the parents.

How amazing 🙄

Unfortunately we rarely had weekends or bank holidays including Christmas together as due to shift patterns my dh was often working, or if at home was sleeping, or his day off was midweek when the children were at school, so our two weeks together were precious and a rare opportunity fir us to be together.
I really envied the families out together at weekends while I was mostly on my own with my children.
It’s not acceptable now though many people do take their children out but in those days you told the school when you were taking the children out and there wasn’t a problem and I was grateful we got some quality time together.

We took our DC away during term time when they were at primary school , but added a few days to either the summer or autum half term. We never took them out of school whilst at high school . And both got into grammar schools . So I can’t condone parents who take their kids away during term time . However it is annoying to have a hotel full of kids , which is why we either do adults only or a villa

A lot depends on what happens at home. My DS/family wouldn't dream of breaking the boundaries but weekends are full of lively activities.

Well our children have either been lucky or they are capable of catching up quickly as their cv’s are all pretty damn good like their exam results/degrees.

Isn’t it a good thing that we are not all the same?

Just imagine what holiday destinations (both here and abroad) would be like if all those with children holidayed at the same time…

I think the problem with that is that having missed a chunk of curriculum will impact on a good teacher who cares when the pupil struggles with the missing bit especially near exam and SATS situations.

It's also a simple question of fairness.

Imagine a situation where right through the year different children disappear then re-appear - if the numbers build up its chaos - it's not fair to the children in general in that class who will suffer. And that simply isn't fair to all.

Sometimes I wonder if the situation could be alleviated marginally by different holiday times in different LA's

Our children went to state school, the curriculum was stultifying and the parameters in how they were taught unbelievably narrow, broadened by sixth form and for one university, Mostly their desire to learn, one is a voracious consumer of books now in a way he wasn't at school, imbue themselves in how the world works and all the matters related to business when they went into the working world came from us, they tell us that often, not from school. Our children's comprehensive was rated well above average, but by Year 10 or 11 most of us were having to tutor our children privately in preparation for maths GCSE and no that wasn't because of holidays in term time. I really don't think taking them out of school very occasionally for experiences that have widened their knowledge detrimental in fact in hindsight it's been beneficial, but different days it was permissible then and I would emphasise that most holidays were during the school holiday period.