Children holidaying during term time.

When I was at school in the 50s, a whole week's holiday to start with, we always took our holiday in term time because my parents didn't like crowds. In those days it wasn't a problem and I didn't seem to have any problem catching up. The month I was off with measles was more of a problem as I went from coming top in Latin to dropping it all together.

My grandchildren have sometimes had an extra couple of days added to official school holidays but it hasn't caused problems. I'm not sure about the educational value of some holidays. Is there much value in a trip to Disneyland? On the other hand the week DD spent in Kenya before she had children would have been hugely educational, baby elephants, local meals and a tribal wedding.

Well, I am obviously in the minority as I think that family holidays are important for both parents, children and sometimes grandparents.

Different countries, food, customs and even the travelling there whether it be plane, ferry or train.

All adds up to life experiences and enrichment.

Agree with Sago. School is not an option. Unauthorised absence for holidays can encourage a bunking off attitude to work when older.

Children don’t need to be taken abroad. They can do that themselves when they’re older. If the parents can’t get away everyone stays at home and the children attend various day camps.

These years soon pass.

Since when did a holiday, particularly abroad, become a necessity?
I know plenty of people who don’t have a ‘holiday’, but days out, often free or costing little, that’s people of all age groups, with or without children.

MissAdventure

Do you think it has adversely affected the rest of her life, though?

Oh no, not the missing tense 😱

But the price of everything reflects demand!
Perhaps the school holidays are a normal price and out of term is cheaper!
At the end of the day of the cruise you want is 5K in August but only affordable at 2K in April then you are looking at holidays out of your budget.
We never flew with our 3, the best we did was pile in the car and go self catering in France and Italy, in the early days it was a tent in Scotland.

I don't think any of the kids at my secondary modern school were taken out of school for holidays. None of them could afford to go away anyway and most of the dads (few mums had permanent paid jobs) worked in agriculture so the summer holidays were spent picking fruit and potatoes and harvesting.

We took our kids out of school at the end of summer term, once we could afford Eurocamp holidays in France. It gave us a head start on the traffic to cross the channel. They missed virtually no actual schooling and all have done well with their lives.

My DS paid the fine and took DGS out of school for the last week of summer term last year so he could afford to take him to the Normandy landings beaches and the memorials. He's also had a day off to visit HMS Belfast. The days he took off were at the end of terms and he missed nothing at school.

My other DC can afford to go in school holidays. However, DGD3 had quite a lot of time off due to breaking her arm and they've all lost time due to strikes. Their parents made sure they didn't miss out or get behind.

I think a couple of weeks off during term time would do no real harm, and would help bring prices down. It's just not fair that at present prices are hiked so much during holidays.

The only time we did it was in 1991 - they missed the final 2 days of term, when they were winding down anyway and were allowed to take videos (remember those) in to watch.
DD1 was 12 and DD2 8 - we went to Florida.
Friends with a business did it every year.

The IT chap who maintains our business equipment home- tutored his 4 primary age children.
He told us most of the schooling was done over the weekend’s, leaving time in the week when it was quieter or cheaper for educational trips, social trips, holidays etc.

They all went on to grammar schools.

Do you think it has adversely affected the rest of her life, though?

I well remember one Year 9 pupil being taken on holiday during term time. At the parents evening shortly before, her father assured me she would do school work every day and asked for work to be provided in advance. I politely reminded him that half of the curriculum involved speaking and listening in French and that I could not provide for this. Moreover the reading and writing work would be based on new material being taught in her absence, so she would struggle to complete it without having been taught the material first.
His response? Well you can give her extra private tuition when she gets back then.
My answer: That is something you might need to arrange privately as we are not permitted to give paid-for private tuition to our own pupils.( This was in an independent school. )

This pupil missed being taught a new tense. I could see the effect of her absence for several months afterwards, despite a bit of extra help. And this is in just one subject.

Education doesn’t only happen in the classroom.

I was good friends with the headmistress little girl, and they regularly went off to France.
It was considered fine, (as far as I, at eight knew) as the children were bilingual.

I wonder if it varies from school to school?

My friend used to be told to copy my work to bring herself up to date after a holiday.

MissAdventure

I can't remember there being anything like chaos when I was growing up.
People, including teachers, often took their children for extended holidays during term time.

I taught from the mid 70s until ten years ago and I was never allowed time off for holidays, so my children obviously never did either. I was given one day off when we married, we tried to arrange it in holiday time but the house purchase took much longer than expected so I was in fact given the day to move house, not because I was getting married. We had to wait until the next school holiday to have a honeymoon.

It’s up to the parents. If they want a cheap holiday, good for them. Better than no holiday in my book. My grandchildren went to Japan for 3 months when they were in primary school. The teachers agreed it gave them something the school couldn’t and they learnt some basic Japanese, too. They won’t miss much, looking at some of the schools today.

I imagine this sort if thing waxes and wanes in popularity over the years.

It certainly happened when i was at school, but would have been something that "posh" people did.

I didn’t take my son out of school for a holiday. One of his classmates at primary school was regularly taken out during term time. I don’t remember anyone taking holidays during term time when I was at school.

One year I was really grateful that one parent took her child out during term time, usually adding a week -10 days to the end of half term breaks.
It benefitted the rest of the class, both through reduced disruption and extra TA support for them.
His mum was convinced he’d “catch up”, and wanted frequent meetings about how he was doing. It was always my fault he was struggling.

I must confess to taking my children on holiday during term time when they were in primary school but once they went to secondary education it was strictly holidays in the school holidays and we just had to tighten our belts, although camping did make things significantly cheaper.

Now my AC have families of their own they have followed my example and my GC don't have holidays during term time.

Yes, I agree, actually.

But dare to suggest that bringing up children these days is far different from "the olden days" and you're met with disbelief and incredulity.

It can't be both ways, can it?

I'm replying quickly here to help bump threads up,
I don't regret the occasions we took our children on holiday during term time.

Theexwife

It would be chaos if everyone thought holidaying during term time is okay, how could a class be run if every week half the class were away. Impossible to teach and the children that have missed work requiring extra input form the teacher at the expense of others.

This.
I appreciate it might have been possible MissAdventure in the past but given what teachers have to cope with now - how reasonable is it to ask them to keep tabs on the curriculum, SATS, Offsteads, children with special needs or great distress waiting for help - then having to work out individual "missing school" plans for holidaying in term.

Each individual case might be perfectly reasonable but I think it affects the education of a whole class and sadly is not OK.

I can't remember there being anything like chaos when I was growing up.
People, including teachers, often took their children for extended holidays during term time.

It would be chaos if everyone thought holidaying during term time is okay, how could a class be run if every week half the class were away. Impossible to teach and the children that have missed work requiring extra input form the teacher at the expense of others.

I never took my daughter out of school for a holiday, because I always thought it was important to teach her to stick to "the rules".

However, I have let my grandson go with his brothers family during term time, because I think it's more important that he keeps a relationship with his sibling.
He could, if I allowed it, go away throughout the school year, but I draw the line at that.