Holidays out of Term Time

[BENIDORM]

There was a news story this morning about UK parents taking their children on holiday out of normal school holiday periods...The main reason given is that many of the families just couldn't afford to go in the main season, so consider it worth keeping the children off school for a week.We did the same thing with our children, but because we have always lived and worked in the tourist areas, so couldn't take time off......Although we got some sarcastic remarks from some of the teachers, we never had any other problems....However now they are considering fining the parents large amounts of money for non attendance.
We always considered taking our children on holiday to be good parenting, and being able to spend quality time with them, was beneficial.We also always made sure that we spent some time visiting historical sites, museums , art galleries etc.., when abroad...

If the education authorities succeed in stopping parents taking their children on holiday in term times, I believe it will affect tourism on the Costas even more , another coffin nail for anyone in the tourism business....

[alaninspain]

This has been running for a little while now, and seems to vary from school to school where head teachers are allowed a little discretion. I can appreciate a problem if it is happening at final year exam time, but otherwise it seems the usual socialist control/revenue gambit.
For those parents who can not afford to pay either UK government fines or high prices to the airlines I would suggest they either :
a) find an ill relative abroad that it is imperitive they visit and can not leave their children behind.
b) arrange a long weekend i.e. Friday to Tuesday which is short but may be acceptable to the school.
c) convince the school it is primarily an educational trip, as far as Andalucia is concerned history is everywhere, museums, cathedrals, cultural centres, dispalys relating to exploration of the New World etc.
Learning some Spanish is instructive and useful, not just because of Latin roots but because most of South America and all of Central America, plus most of the residents of California and Florida speak Spanish as their first language.
If anyone in the UK reads this, I am willing to be the distant relative,
or a guide to the historical background of Andalucia, larticularly the Malaga province.

[jennyshaw]

My grandaughter has had a couple of weeks off school over the last couple of years, I think if it is only a week at a time the school will agree to it, all my daughter had to do was fill in a form and get it agreed with the headteacher.
We do get my grandaughter to write a story to take back to school to show that she is doing some educational work whilst she is in Spain.

The best time we like to take her to Spain is over the New Year when she can see the 3 Kings which fall over 5th - 6th January, she takes photos and writes a story explaining that this is the Spanish kids Christmas.

[Cassandra]

Unless they have actually changed the law it has always been possible to take up to two weeks authorised absence for family holidays.

What they are trying to clamp down on is unauthorised absences where the parents just disappear off with the kids without notifying the school. Same goes for odd days off when a dentist appointment turns into a day out shopping, etc.

If they want to stop parents taking holidays in term time completely then they have to stop the holiday companies holding parents to ransom by increasing prices directly in line with school holidays. Don't believe this happens? Look at brochure prices surrounding a half term holiday, particularly the May one, where prices rise dramatically in that week then fall again the following week, against the normal pattern of steadily rising to the peak summer season.

[swerve]

We are allowed 11 days.But at all times you need the schools permission. .Also i think it depends on how well your child is doing at school.

[Nicks]

Most schools in the UK it is 10 working days a year, but you have to get permission from the head teacher which involves filling in a form. Our local schools are generally OK, as long as it is not exam week, which is one week in May.
But they have every right to refuse a holiday, seems a shame when either a family can't afford to go in school holidays because of price hikes, or if one parent can only get certain times of the year off, so it would mean no holiday for the family at all.
I know they can't have all the kids off all of the time - but I think schools that refuse the 10 days when it is not exam time are unfair - after all, what is 10 days in a school year and in a child's life, but it means a whole lot to family life to spend that time together....

[annie_d]

Children are not required to attend school. They are required to receive an education. My 2 eldest had 100% and 96% attendence. My youngest never went and all I had to do was show I was teaching her at home. The school was very helpful and the actual teaching time was only a couple of hours a day, once you take out registration, breaks, lunch time, time taken for distractions.
Ultimately parents are not answerable to schools but to the welfare of their children.

[mhic]

If I remember rightly my son was fined £50.00 for taking his boy out of school for a weeks holiday with us here. He has 4 kids so the cost of flights outside of term time would be unaffordable. I told him he should tell the headl to go sod himself. It came very near the bottom of the league table for Essex and the head claims to be concerned that my grandsons education would suffer!

Another of my grandkids had no problem getting a week of out of term providing she was back in time for an exam, she's very bright and the head wanted her back to keep the stats up.

Mhic.

[mhic]

I forgot to add that the grandson's favourite lesson was the video show, 2 hours watching a film!

Mhic.

[dido72]

My daughter has already had her 2 weeks for this year, her head says she can have more if needed as she is doing OK at school (top of her class in reading...so proud) and we always take whatever work she would be doing away with us as she enjoys it anyway, she is only 4 so I don't think her education will suffer and seeing her grandparents is just as beneficial.

[hillybilly]

Having children isn't compulsory and neither is taking holidays abroad! "Cut your coat according to your cloth" and all that. I rarely went on actual holidays when I was a kid as my single parent mother had to work full time. Didn't do me any harm!

[Laslomas]

It will be interesting to see how the flight companies and holiday companies deal with prices for Easter holidays next year. I do not know if it is just in certain areas- or widespread, but in West Sussex they are giving the schools only the bank holidays on Good Friday and Easter Monday (21st and 24th March) as holiday at Easter. Then they are giving 2 weeks (7th - 18th April inclusive) as holiday instead of when Easter actually falls. The reason is that they want to split the terms more evenly and they cannot do this as Easter is early. Personally I think it would be good to keep a static Easter holiday for schools - at least we would know when it was going to be!

[Beachcomber]

Before I moved to Spain I obviously lived and worked in the UK.

We have no children, intentionally, but some of our taxes paid for the education of other people's. Fine, that's the way a welfare state works but I always took my annual leave in term time so that I didn't get disturbed by hoards of screaming kids.

If I have to pay for the education of other people's children I would prefer them to be at school when they are supposed to be and not kicking the back of my seat on the aeroplane and constantly disturbing me when I get to my destination.

How many school holidays are there? Twelve to fourteen weeks or so? Surely there must be some period during this time scale when parents can take their little darlings on holiday.

No offence intended to anyone but I don't feel right unless I have a Victor Meldrew moment now and again).

[Cassandra]

No offence taken Beachcomber, your own kids are OK but other people's You can also choose your resort/accommodation carefully by looking for places that state 'unsuitable for families' Of course you might then end up in a swingers paradise

Hillybilly, bizarrely, it's often cheaper to go abroad than holiday in the UK I remember looking at Butlins as an option. It was way beyond our means but couldn't bring myself to buy The Sun so I could get one of their cheapies

[jwc]

Just think hillbilly and beachcomber if your parents thought the same way as you where would you be today Personally I love kids so long as they have been taught and know how to behave.

[Alpujarra]

Good point.

They are missing out on a lot of hassle but also missing out on..........

If you are a parent you will know.

I wouldn't want to be in their shoes when they reach old age.

Choosing a life without children, what is the point?

[mhic]

I thought the point of this thread was people taking their kids out of school in term time because they could not afford out of term holiday prices.

Mhic.

[annie_d]

Choosing a life without children what's the point????????????

How unbelievably rude and narrow minded!

[ValL]

Nothing to do with the topic really But I wanted to say it anyway there is NO guarantee that your kids will give a damn when you are older look how many folk are put into care homes cause their kids don't want them. I have worked in few and some only got visitors if they were ill and the home had notified the next of kin usually sons/daughter and nieces who turned up for 1st time in years in some cases.


I have both parents still alive but it appears they have forgotten I am so kids when you are in old age is not always for the good of either.

My parents took us to one set of grandparents for a week every year so they could get away then they took us camping for other week ( all the summer holiday) free or very cheap to do then funnily enough when my sister and I had kids the first thing our mother said was don't think we are having them for holidays !!

[Bandy]

Getting back to the subject ................... ..........................
Our half term holidays [one week] have not coincided with England or our sister Island for the past 2 years.
I am lead to believe that different U.K. regional education authorities are setting very slightly different holiday dates as well. These are not hugely different but are a week or so out of sync with the majority resulting in the ability to get cheaper trips. The downside is that activities arranged for kids inter county sports for example cannot happen as one lot are still at school whilst the other are on holiday.
Have others experienced this as well