Should parents take their children on holiday in term time?

Then parents can make their own decisions and pay for their education N&G. They will still find it difficult to take them out during term time but they will have got control of how they bring up their children back - sort of.

Or, yes, you could work fewer or even no working hours and home school and that is sure to put you in a position to spend a couple of weeks abroad each year.

Nothing is for nothing and never has been. School became mandatory when it became free I believe. If we started having to pay parents might well have children at home more during term times - on the days you couldn't afford it, never mind expensive holidays.

Nanalot it sounds as if your DD has discussed and agree with a sensible head in good time. This is why I did say that Heads should have the final decision.

A cottage in a not terribly touristy area near here but with fresh air and green fields is £900 for a family of 5 for a few days at Easter. Add to that visiting a few places of interest it's no wonder people take their children out of school in termtime!!

But isn't the point GGM2 that it isn't about the expense or where - so Disneyland or abroad are moot points- it's about having the right to make decisions for your children that you believe are right. Not being part of the creeping Nanny state that can tell you how to raise your child.

Ann has confirmed home schooled children are not covered, so why are state school children penalised?

I think it is more important at secondary level not to take holidays in termtime.
A reception age child missing a week at the end of the summer term will not miss very much at all - as DD's teacher said when we did this nearly 40 years ago 'she'll learn more going to France than she will in school in the last week of term' which was a pragmatic and sensible approach.
DH could not have taken any other fortnight than that one.

Feel a bit the odd one out here as my DD is taking her two children out from year1 for a week in July. The school have classed it as unauthorised but are fine with it as it was not one of the three periods they had told all the parents were an absolute no-no because of assessments. The purpose of the week is a family break in London to celebrate DH's 70th birthday. The rest of the family, DS, DDIL , 3 DGC and one boyfriend are coming over from Spain. They have their holidays much earlier and so can take advantage of much cheaper flights. The cousins have not seen each other for two years so I feel it will be justified. We could not afford it at peak time. I feel the London holiday will be educational for all. I agree that this would not be appropriate for secondary age children or higher up the primary range.

Even pit ponies had a "holiday " GGMK2! A holiday is restorative for mind and body for everyone and, without it, we'd be nothing more than machines, surely.

Pit ponies do not feel they have to go abroad or to Disney Land Chewbacca. They need a break and fresh air and that does not have to be so expensive - in the case of children - that it HAS to be in term-time. You can take this in as silly a way as you and others choose but running around, having fun and visiting places of interest does not have to be so expensive it is outside your budget unless you abdicate the responsibilities YOU have in return for education for your children that is free at the point of access. Perhaps we should start charging for the education - something I am sure the Conservatives would like any excuse to do - so that people remember the value of what they are getting.

Sorry missed a page out. Relevant all the same.

There is always that scramble in industry, the public services etc - in fact every job except teaching - to get your application in for leave (4 or 5 weeks a year if you're lucky) during part of the school holidays so that at least one of you is at home to care for your children and trying to co-ordinate one or two weeks off together is often difficult. Not to mention the problems that single parents have.

Add to that different schools having different holidays, no available grandparents or reasonable childcare and it becomes a real problem for the majority of parents.

No N&G this does not apply to homeschooled children.
Two of my GC are home schooled (not my choice) but it was pointed out to my D that she could holiday anytime.
Their father lives in foreign climes and my GS has just spent 8 weeks with him, doing and submitting work online while he was away.
Double standards or what?

It isn't just the cost of the holidays. If you work in retail, where the majority of workers are women, you find that there are far more mothers wanting summer holidays with their children than there are holiday slots available. If you then factor in the fact that their husbands are probably being offered different dates the whole thing becomes a logistical nightmare.

I have mixed feelings. It's really annoying when some children take holidays in the middle of term and then demand to have copies of work missed. I got round that by putting all resources on a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and telling people to get on with it. It's still difficult to arrange assessments if alternative arrangements for some pupils have to be made.

Having said that, I only ever took my children out of school for one day - at the beginning of the Autumn Term, when I made a mistake about my son's holiday dates.

We went to Greece, including a trip to Athens. I received a sniffy letter about it - and a message from the class teacher, asking me to take plenty of photos, because the class was studying Ancient Greece in the new school year.

When my children were at school their father couldn't take his holidays during school holiday time until the youngest was about 8. I think family holidays are a really important part of childhood and can help to keep families together. I took my children out of school for about 10 days 3 years running. They each made diaries about their holidays, when we were abroad they made dictionaries of new words they had learned. I also asked their teachers to keep a copy of any work sheets their classmates had completed during their absences and we did these together when we returned. Their education didn't seem to suffer. It really worries me that parents are having less and less influence over their children's lives now that many are in education from the age of 3!

Just a thought but does this apply to home schooled children ? Or are they exempt.

One other thing that seems to have slipped through the radar, if you are a couple you each get fined per child . But if you are a single parent you only pay once and if on benefits you don't pay at all .

Is this not some form of discrimination against married couples? Should it not be a price per child ? How does it work if there is a Mum and step dad and a dad and step mum?? Is it 4 times ?

Sounds like an excuse to get more money out of already stretched parents .

Oh Suzied that's a slippery slope!

Hmm, good comment suzied. I thought he sounded like Mr Angry during all his interviews. I've already said I sympathise with parents who struggle to get time off during the regular school holidays but this particular father seemed like one of those parents who feel the normal rules don't apply to them.

The father who didn't want the STATE dictating what he did with his children , was quite happy to send them to a STATE school. Just a thought...

Exactly Chewbacca

Of course there are those who probably think that the minions should work 52 weeks a year, 7 days a week.

A "holiday" doesn't have to be lying in a beach in Benidorm or visiting a theme park. It can just mean quality family time spent at home.

I need a holiday
the sooner the better

And if children live in big towns and cities it is good for them to get away to the seaside or the countryside (not necessarily Disney!).
It refreshes, restores and widens horizons.
Everyone needs a break sometimes from their normal routine.

My son and DiL get 4 weeks holiday per year. They tend to have to take them apart in order to share the childcare. My DiL's holiday are fixed and dictated by the industry she works in (which do not always fit in with school holidays). It's fine for those who have 13+ weeks holiday a year, but everyone can't work in a school.

"^I don't understand why children (or adults for that matter) NEED a holiday ^"

Even pit ponies had a "holiday " GGMK2! A holiday is restorative for mind and body for everyone and, without it, we'd be nothing more than machines, surely.

I suppose if holidays are staggered between North and South Germany that could work quite well, however here they seem to be staggered in a rather random fashion so a family could have children at two or three different schools all with different holidays at half-term and at Easter apart from the actual Bank Holiday weekend when everywhere is exceptionally busy.

An added complication is if a parent works in a different school again with different holiday periods to their children.

Every family deserves to have quality time together whether they go away on holiday or stay at home and enjoy the garden or the local play park. No government or court should have the right to deny this. Many parents do not have choice when they take their holidays.

Obviously it would be unreasonable (or plain stupid) to take a child out of school at a crucial time leading up to exams etc. but let's face it a week or two out of school for child with an other wise exemplary attendance record, makes no difference whatsoever.

I have never heard of a child missing school in Gernmany because of a holiday. Here is it the law that a child of school age should be in school and there is never 'home schooling like in the Uk.
Holidays are staggered between North and South and the holiday perieod lasts from June to September.
I personally I cant accept that a visit to Disney land is good for a child. Missing school and thinking you can get out of what is a duty just because it suits you.

Apparently this dad who took the court action (whose name escapes me) had two other children at a different school who were on holiday, they didn't want to leave one behind!

Luckily our kids went to school in Scotland, different holiday times, normally end June to mid Aug.

My husband was allowed 3 weeks continuously, [ I know, we were lucky and I worked for myself].

We took away the last week of term, when really nothing was going on and drove to the continent, camping. France, Spain , Portugal, with ferries from Plymouth.

These family times together have given to them more experiences of other countries than sogging on the fag ends of term could ever have given them.