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Old 17 Jan 20, 09:38 AM  
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#21
NewtoOrlando
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We did this in October 2019. They missed the week before half term and we came back the Sunday morning before going back to school. Mine were in year 7 & year 9, we didn't get fined by either school (they go to different secondary schools) We had personal reasons why we took them out of school, and one school authorised 3 out of the 5 days (the maximum they can authorise) due to the circumstances and 2 were unauthorised, no fine was issued. The other school basically said they wouldn't authorise and my son was to catch up on any missed work, again, no fine issued. We wont be doing it again, due to our eldest entering GCSE years, but we really needed that time away as a family and we would have done it had we gone to Tenerife or Florida, we just needed a break from reality.

It's a personal decision, and many will have strong opinions on taking kids out of school, but I am a firm believer of life is too short and we're so fortunate to be able to enjoy it with our loved ones, so many don't get that chance. As long as it wont be detrimental to the kids education, then I don't see the problem. Had we been fined, we would have paid it.

Edited at 10:23 AM.
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Old 17 Jan 20, 09:39 AM  
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may
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I spent 30 years teaching primary. I have also taken my child out of school in term time to holiday in Orlando.
I think traditionally teachers only worried about primary age children having term time holiday if it would cause or exacerbate academic or social difficulties for the child. Then the curriculum became very tight, testing points were introduced in Year 2 and Year 6 and inspectors arrived who were interested in attendance rates. This has led us to the point we're at today with the potential for fines etc and parents occasionally feeling frustrated at schools who are forced to police a system generally not of their making or desire.

As far as fairness to teachers goes, while test results honestly make little difference to most children they can have very negative consequences for teachers and for individual schools. Consequently a child removed from school in early Year 2, Late Year 5 or in early Year 6 can be a source of additional teacher workload as they may miss a test or require curriculum gaps filling prior to one.


In regard to children receiving work to do on holiday I think if the teacher offers then it may be the result of school policy, particular concern for that child etc in which case it should be accepted, completed to a reasonable standard and properly responded to by the teacher. If the teacher doesn't offer I personally wouldn't be inclined to ask. Being very aware that my child is less than a thirtieth of the teachers over all responsibility I would be embarrassed to add to his/her workload as part of reducing the cost of my leisure activity. Teachers are professionals who need to retain high quality relationships with parents for the good of pupils and for the school over all. Whether they smilingly 'don't seem to mind' is often not a good marker of how they actually feel. However you could also take the view point that removing a child from school for a holiday reduces the marking load while they are gone and therefore does the teacher a favour in that regard :-)

Edited at 09:40 AM.
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Old 17 Jan 20, 10:20 AM  
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I also think there is a big difference taking a child out for a week or a fortnight a week being 1/6 of a term a fortnight being 1/3 add in a bit of jet lag and you could be missing or at least nit up to scratch for close to half a term.
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Old 17 Jan 20, 02:51 PM  
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Originally Posted by Sew109 View Post
I also think there is a big difference taking a child out for a week or a fortnight a week being 1/6 of a term a fortnight being 1/3 add in a bit of jet lag and you could be missing or at least nit up to scratch for close to half a term.
I think there may be a muddle between a half term and a term here? Terms can have significant variance in length but as there are three of them in the school year they are much closer to 12 weeks in length than six.
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Old 17 Jan 20, 03:15 PM  
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I don't think missing a week or two of school will have an effect on a child's education. I've always taken mine out of school, with no qualms whatsoever.

However, I wouldn't take a Year 7 child out of secondary in the October half term. Starting secondary school is *exhausting* for children and they really need that rest time. A florida holiday is very tiring, not to mention the jetlag when they get back - unless you know your child is particularly resilient to tiredness, I think they would struggle. Also it's really important to let them settle in and get friendships etc. sorted. I'd say go in the May half-term instead when they should be more used to it.

And please, please, Please do not ask Teachers for work! Frankly, it's rude to expect already-overworked teachers to do extra work just so you can go on holiday. Sure, ask them what work they will be doing and catch them up yourself if you feel the need but Don’t ask the teacher to provide work. To the PP who said that teachers have said ok to this before - that doesn't mean they're happy about it!

Edited at 06:28 PM.
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Old 17 Jan 20, 04:45 PM  
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Sew109
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Originally Posted by Tinkjon View Post
I don't think missing a week or two of school will have an effect on a child's education. I've always taken mine out of school, with no qualms whatsoever.
I take mine out and have in Yr3 Yr4 and will in Yr5 but I dont agree that taking a child out will always not affect their education.

Coming from a family that has several of educators in it they will argue that taking a child out in Yr1 is far worse than taking a child out in later primary years. Their argument is that as the children have shorter attention spans when younger they learn in smaller chunks but more of them therefore if they miss a few small chunks in lots of subjects it is unlikely that they will be able to catch up. Of course if you have a bright child who wants to learn there are likely to be less affected than a child who is struggling but it is not correct to say that it would not have an affect every child's education.

The thing that I would be most worried about is explaining to my child that going to Disney is more important than going to school. When we went to the West Coast I explained that seeing Bears and the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley etc was something that she would learn from as much as if she was in school, luckily for me the Disneyland and Vegas part of the trip fell into the actual half term

Oh and we did make her keep a journal which she took into school when she came back.

Edited at 04:56 PM.
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Old 17 Jan 20, 06:03 PM  
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I asked a teacher for the work my child was likely to miss and she told me and I made sure we covered that with him. She didn’t give me anything .. we just had a chat that lasted 5 mins. If the teacher can’t do it, then that’s fine, they just have to say no. It’s not rude to ask - they have a choice - and I am not embarrassed. 🙄

Edited at 06:27 PM.
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Old 17 Jan 20, 07:31 PM  
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Apologies if this posts twice! I am not brilliant with the techie stuff 😂
We took our children out of school in year 4 and 1. We got fined and paid it!
We are planning to go again this year in May/ June overlapping half term. Children are now year 3 & 6. The year 6 will have done SATs and the 11+ (done in sept 2019). We will be fined again but accept this.

We had a choice of August 2020 just us or May 2020 with extended family (due to work restraints). Our year 6 child will be missing a residential trip with his class but that was his choice (we offered August just us or May with cousins).

Like previous posters I would be reluctant to take a year 7 out of school in the first term due to settling in. Could you consider February or May half term plus a week instead? This is based on nieces and nephews/ friends children starting secondary school. It’s a big change and a week off at that time may be detrimental for them.

You know your children. Trust those parental instincts!

Edited at 07:33 PM. Reason: Addition
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Old 17 Jan 20, 07:32 PM  
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I have taken my primary age children out for 2 days tagged onto half term, so I don’t have a problem with missing school in general.
I have a year 7 child now and I completely agree with PP - he absolutely wouldn’t have coped with a holiday during October half term. He was exhausted by half term and needed a rest. He would have also been really worried about missing work and struggling to catch up when he got back. He is bright and works hard but there is a big step up in expectations between y6 and y7. He would also have to ask 10 different teachers what he had missed rather than one.
To be honest, I don’t think there will be much of a difference between taking a year 7 child in Oct half term or later in terms of ‘magic’. They are already much too old to believe the characters are real. They will have an amazing holiday in Florida whatever age they are.
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Old 17 Jan 20, 09:43 PM  
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Originally Posted by Tinkjon View Post
I don't think missing a week or two of school will have an effect on a child's education. I've always taken mine out of school, with no qualms whatsoever.

However, I wouldn't take a Year 7 child out of secondary in the October half term. Starting secondary school is *exhausting* for children and they really need that rest time. A florida holiday is very tiring, not to mention the jetlag when they get back - unless you know your child is particularly resilient to tiredness, I think they would struggle. Also it's really important to let them settle in and get friendships etc. sorted. I'd say go in the May half-term instead when they should be more used to it.

And please, please, Please do not ask Teachers for work! Frankly, it's rude to expect already-overworked teachers to do extra work just so you can go on holiday. Sure, ask them what work they will be doing and catch them up yourself if you feel the need but Don’t ask the teacher to provide work. To the PP who said that teachers have said ok to this before - that doesn't mean they're happy about it!
We took our son out in October half term when in year 7. Hasn’t affected him whatsoever, has a great friendship group, is secure across the board with all his subjects and has settled into high school life like a duck to water. No jetlag to worry about as he’s like a duracell bunny and keeps going no matter what lol. I knew he would be fine when we did it, he’s just that sort of kid, eldest however would have struggled massively had we taken her out that early on, not educationally, but socially, so we didn’t do it. Think it’s a case of you know your own child and what works & what doesn’t.

Edited at 10:41 PM.
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