Would you take child out of school?

[Gemnjam]

As others have said it's really a personal decision. I have always firmly believed that it wouldn't be a good idea for my son to miss any school time. I know what his learning style is like and fear that he would struggle to catch up and helping him to bridge that gap would take the teachers focus away from the rest of the class which wouldn't be fair. That said, he is taking his GCSEs this year and we are planning to holiday after then which will involve my daughter missing the last week of summer term in year 1 which we don't feel concerned about at all as we know that she already works well above the class average and would catch up on anything quickly. We are also aware that she won't stop reading signs/adding up change etc while we are away which is probably more work than they will do in school if DVD and end of term party days from last year are anything to go by!

[loves2plan]

Yes, I'd take a 4 year old out of school. I would still take them when they're older (and I did), if you needed to. But at 4, there would be no question at all. If you're worried about work just take her reading, any spellings she might be learning, get her to draw a picture with a bit of writing of what she did that day on holiday etc.

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by loves2plan

Yes, I'd take a 4 year old out of school. I would still take them when they're older (and I did), if you needed to. But at 4, there would be no question at all. If you're worried about work just take her reading, any spellings she might be learning, get her to draw a picture with a bit of writing of what she did that day on holiday etc.

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Definitely not worried about her school work. She is the youngest and yet she’s top for reading and writing. She’s good at maths too. Only thing she’s not good at in school is listening to questions properly as she tends to go off on a tangent when answering them (wonder where is gets that from)

[loves2plan]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

Definitely not worried about her school work. She is the youngest and yet she’s top for reading and writing. She’s good at maths too. Only thing she’s not good at in school is listening to questions properly as she tends to go off on a tangent when answering them (wonder where is gets that from)

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In that case, I wouldn't hesitate. Go for it and have a great time!

[kingphil]

We are going over Easter, but pinching two days (Thursday and Friday) before the schools break up. No ideal I know, but we would have struggled to do a standard Saturday - Saturday fortnight due to work commitments.

We previously took our daughter out of school over Whitsun (so had an extra week) - but she was only five then.

Now she is in secondary school, it's always a tough call to make.

[dietcokebreak]

Originally Posted by Helen J

But until year 6 they are not going to miss anything important at all.

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This is what i thought, until my daughter (a teacher) put me right she says that the building blocks are set in the early years at school and some children miss a whole aspect of learning due to holidays and there is not always time to recap. Shes not against taking children out of school, she says she would take them out when they are older and can study themselves to catch up.
But your right, until a child reaches 5, there is no statutory need for them to be in school.

[eaglesrest]

There is no right or wrong answer here, unless you apply the hard-line of the law, but my personal approach is to try and ignore the financials and think about what's best for the kids at that time in their life. Every child is different.

I know cost savings are a big factor for obvious reasons, but it can help to look at it more objectively if you remove it from the initial equation.

For example, primary years - yes for family weddings and where there are no alternatives (work, school trips, etc), but mitigating the impact where possible. Never where SATs may be impacted.

High School - principally never, except maybe weddings abroad if the need arose, but even then not in an exam year.

Again every child is different. Kids on the SEN register may well benefit from additional strategically timed additional holidays. Those struggling with the curriculum may need more schooling. That's why I try not to judge either way and just focus on what we think is right for ours.

These type of questions do often bring up some alternative points of view, that parents may not have considered, but ultimately its best to look internally for validation of this kind of decision.

[Posiesmum]

No, but I don’t think you really want opinions as you seem to have made up your mind.

[MK_club1987]

I was always taken out of school for holidays, and I will continue that with DS. Whilst there are plenty of school holidays to choose from, the difference in price is massive from the research I have done.

I know someone mentioned in an earlier post that they were able to find prices the same in school holidays as out of school holidays, I would love you to share your secrets as I have never been able to find anything even close, usually seems to come in at a good £1500+ cheaper for 2 adults, 1 child out of school holidays, which for us is a lot of money, and could be the difference between being able to go or not.