Teacher Andy Bellisario starts the debate rolling:
by Andy_Bellisario
last updated
3 days ago
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Everyone needs a holiday and sometimes the only practical and affordable time to go is during term time.
Although most schools and local authorities do acknowledge that it can be very expensive to go away during school holidays, especially if you have a large family, taking your children out of school during term time is generally frowned upon.
By law, parents do not have the right to expect the school to allow a child time off for family holidays. Having said this, schools can, at their discretion, grant a child up to 10 days holiday each academic year. Some schools may be reluctant to agree to this time if they feel the child's education will suffer as a result. They will take into consideration the following points:
- What is the child's attendance like – does he attend school regularly, has he had lots of absences through illness, other holidays or unauthorised absences?
- What year group is the child in – what will he be missing?
- What the child's performance is like in school – a child who struggles may find it even more difficult to catch up when he returns to school.
As a parent I am sure you will also have thought about these issues.
On the whole I feel that if the family takes a good, well deserved rest once a year, this can only help to create a happy home life and if a child is happy, learning will be easier. Remember, school is not the only place where children learn. The holiday, wherever you go, can be an education too.
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I have just been refused permission to take my children out of school next May for 9 days as she said that my mums 60th birthday was not good enough reason! my two sons both have excellent attendance and are both very clever and are doing extremely well academically. I am so annoyed as we don't take holdiays during term time usually but as this was a special occassion, i really thougth she would have approved it!!
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Hawk, that's awful. What annoys me about stories like yours is - you are his parents and you're not seen as having the final say on what is best for your child. You are obviously planning this trip for really good reasons and all around your son's needs. Is it worth going in to see the head and asking again?
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I have just been refused holiday in term time. I am asking for 13 days off for my children, but have a son with SEN who cannot cope with busy places so we never holiday in term time or shcool holidays.. We felt that taking him in October would be ideal, but school have refused as they belive that Year 6 is very important to his preperation for secondary school and yr6 sats. We believe that he should holiday now before he starts secondary school. I feel so upset that we have to continuosly fight for our son and now cannot even take him away for a holiday of a lifetime without being made to feel as though we are not doing what we feel is in his best interest. I would have liked to have gone away with the approval of the school and without the £100 fine we will recieve.
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Completely, utterly agree Loubelle! I get so angry when such a massive deal is made of taking the odd day off in term time. Our headteacher is pretty good, but the LA forms treat you like a feckless criminal.
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In my opinion parents should be allowed to take their children out of school during term time as long as it is not at a time that would have a detrimental affect on the child. My family simply can not afford to holiday during the school holidays but also I work for a small firm and quite a few of us have children in school, there simply in not the cover for everyone to take their holiday during the school holidays. It should also depend on the general attendance of the child, if the child has a good attendance then 1-2 weeks off schoold a year shouldn't be a problem. To be honest I am sick and tired of good and caring parents who only want to enrich their childrens lives being treated as if they are commiting some terrible crime, there are parents out there who are neglecting and mistreating their children, why don't the local authorities spend the time wasted on term time absences on these people.
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My husband farms and every year, since my grandson was little, we have gone on holiday before my husband gets busy at work and my grandson has gone with us. This year my grandsons school has refused the holiday request. I dont get this,its ok to shut a school for a week for snow, a day to use it as a polling station, never ending days for teacher training when they could do this in their 13 weeks holiday but ask for 5 days holiday around someone elses job and they treat you like your a criminal. If you think this is unfair but they wont budge on it you have nowhere else to go to appeal. They dont just think they are god.....they apparently are.
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You CAN take your child out of school without permission - but it goes down as an 'unauthorised' absence....... which then gets referred out of school to the LEA to follow up, and that's when you can get fined. If the school gives permission it's authorised, and the LEA don't get involved.
Some Head teachers have been instructed by their governing bodies that they are not allowed to authorise any absences at all now. It's something we debated last week. We decided that we wanted the head teacher still to have the authority to authorise absences (thank goodness, my daughter is having two days off next month for a horse training clinic!) - but lots of governing bodies have taken that power away from the head teacher to save them having to arbitrate and ALL absences are to be unauthorised and automaically referred to the LEA for decisionmaking.
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The school are under no obligation to agree to holidays in term time, to be honest more pressure should be put on holiday companies to spread out the offers they advertise during term time into the holiday time to make it more affordable for more people to get a holiday. You can still take your children out but it will be classed as unauthorised and as such could result in a visit from the WElfare Officer and/or a fine. Personally if the reason is a good one and your saying that these sibs wont' get to meet up otherwise I'd make an appointment to talk to the head and see if they would reconsider - offer to take work with you and ensure they do it and catch up.
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Tracey 458 - Most schools will allow up to 10 days out of school in term time, so I would speak to the school and find out why they have refused your request. Personally if it was me I would just ignore them anyway but it depends how strongly you feel about it. I don't agree with this idea of having to seek permission from school before you book family hols and I wish more parents would stand up for their family rights,. Until we do they will keep on dictating to us how to bring up our children. Family time is important and they are children for such a short time. My advice is to seize your opportunities as they come along and to hell with the consequences !!!
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i have asked for my daughter to have 1 week off to go on holiday with her brother that she only see 1 or 2 times a year they said no what do i do now ?help plz
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As a parent who has been served a penalty notice for taking my children (who both had 100% attendance ) out of school for the last week before the Christmas holiday. The school was so keen to send out the notice and fine of £50 each for each child.They forgot that they let all the children home before the last session. I am disabled and have very little money to spare.I also feel a family holiday is very important for children and grown ups alike. The repercussions of this type of action is endless.People who work in the holiday industry can only take holidays in term time.Everyone trying for holidays at the same time will mean that everyone cannot be accommidated.People who work on the farms also won,t be able to holiday with their children. We know the 1996 act is aimed at the persistent truant and the threat of prison has not worked. So now they are attacking the soft option,the caring parent who want to take their children for a holiday at a price they can afford.
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I think its rather naive to believe that teachers get 13 weeks holiday a year = look at how much work is done outside of school hours, its impossible for good teachers to do that on a 9 to 4 day and teachers dont' have the option of cheap out of term time holidays. I've had to do it, due to messing up dates but wouldn't recommend it, our small really missed what her class was doing that week. I do agree though that holiday companies should look at the way they price their holidays and cut some slack. Most schools are good at allowing the time off but as parents we need to show that its unavoidable and not just that we want to be in charge as it were. Holidays ARE important but just time togeather as a family is as good and as said that time too can be educational.
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I agree wholeheartedly and have signed up to petition the PM to put a stop to this practice of schools dictating to parents inthis way. If youre interestedindoing the same then go to this website but type the address exactly as I have done here.
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Letusbtheparents
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Most parents taking their children on holiday in term time will do so at a time when their childrens education is least disrupted. What I cant understand is why is it ok for schools to take our children out of school in term time on supposedly "educational" trips but as parents we have to go cap in hand to the headteacher for permission. In addition is 13 weeks holiday not enough for teachers? - Why do we then have 5 extra teachers days here and there added to the end of the school holidays surely thisalsocounts astime when our children should be in school. Oh No its sanctioned by the government and the education authority so thats ok isnt it - I think not !! As Parents in todays society the need to spend quality time as a family is more important than ever and I for one will continue to fight for my right to be the parentand not be dictated to.
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I have never found a school obstructive over taking the kids out - but they do need to understand the reason. With a good reason I think they are very supportive - and life experience can be extremely valuable.
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Some friends of ours took a year's sabbatical from their jobs, took the children out of school and went to New Zealand for a year, travelling.
They had a fantastic time and made sure that the children contined their education as much as possible.
Not for everyone, but it made a real difference to them all.
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As a teacher I have lots of experience taking holidays when the prices are at their peak and for the first time last year took a summer holiday before the schools were out and it was great - cheaper and quieter (although there were more kids out of school than I expected).
My tip for parents would be to ask at school about any special events your child might be missing - I'd worry less about what they'll be missing in the classroom and try to make sure they don't miss their class assembly/end of year party, etc. Itcan be sad to see school leavers being taken out in the last week of term and missing out on things.
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The problem wouldn't arise so much, I think, if holiday companies didn't whack up their prices by such a ridiculous amount during school holidays. Maybe if school staggered their holidays this wouldn't be the case.
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