Taking my son on holiday in the middle of September

[Meme1980]

I have booked to take my son on holiday beginning of September as I can't afford to do it in the summer holidays. I have never taken him out school before, my ex sister-in-law has informed me that they start doing they assessments 2wards there GCSEs. O u think he will miss much in those 2 weeks. I'm worried I may be easing up his education :/

[ummmm]

Arti - holidays can be extremely educational.

[ganesh]

I should imagine you do have to repeat stuff over and over,most of them haven't even been there before!

[Arti]

Ummmm: yes they can. So should proposed term-time holidays be 'means-tested' by teachers to see if they are suitably educational? Or would it be simpler if parents just abided by the rules and didn't take their children out of school for holidays?

[ganesh]

Yes you can learn so much more in a swimming pool and on the beach,ummm.
No,they are educational in some ways,just take them during the very long holidays they are given for this purpose!

[boxtops]

To get back to the OP - meme, have you asked the school for permission? You can't just take him without telling them.

[sherrardk]

Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to take time off in the long school holidays. Our primary school says that children who's parents are in the armed forces can have time off in term time but not other children. I think it is important that families spend time together and missing two weeks of school is not the end of the world. Personally, when I was working I was quite glad when some students went on holidays (just wished it had been for longer).

[ummmm]

Errr ganesh, the OP has expressed that they can't afford to do that.

[ummmm]

And the long holidays are not there for going on holiday. They are so long so the children could work harvesting. They just haven't changed.

[Arti]

Ummmm, the OP doesn't mention what holiday they couldn't afford. If they can afford a holiday in term time, then they can afford a lesser holiday in the summer holidays.

[sherrardk]

Arti, are you aware of the huge difference between prices. This year, we went for two weeks in term time for less than we paid for one week in the summer holidays last year (at similar places).

[boxtops]

Am I the only one who's got an advert for home schooling on this page ?!

[ummmm]

Often it's tripled.

[cazzz1975]

Im getting an advert for "E-Lites"

[cazzz1975]

what year is he in? If he is in years 10 or 11 Its worth bearing in mind that when he returns to school he will have to catch up on what he misses and keep up with the current work. years 10 and 11 are quite intense.

[ganesh]

errrr...Ummm..If she can't afford a holiday in the school holidays then oh dear,take a cheaper holiday or god forbid..not have one.When I was young a holiday was a luxury,now it appears to be compulsory.If all the kids stay off in September then the travel companies will put their prices up for September too.Supply and demand unfortunately.The majority of people have to cough up a bit more,I had to when mine were kids.Is it the kids that are demanding these holidays or just parents who don't give a toss about their kids education and would rather have fun in the sun saving money while the rest of kids are at school.?
As far as Meme is concerned she is asking for opinions AFTER she has already decided.

[sherrardk]

We go on holidays that are geared towards children and are for our children. I really don't see what skin it is off your nose when people go on holiday. Our children are doing well in school, are well behaved and well mannered. If this is the only time Meme can go on holiday and it already paid for it would be stupid not to go.

[factor-fiction]

One problem with saying "2 weeks won't make any difference" is that you can keep on saying it and thereby justify yourself further time off in school time. What about an extra week at Christmas as well and days off to go shopping, and occasional days off because you can't really afford bus fare.

Teachers plan lessons in order to complete a scheme of work over a school year of around 195 days. If someone missed 10 days through a holiday and then misses another 10 days over the year through sickness (maybe unavoidable I know) that's 10% of the work that has been missed. That could be important in the final year.

[ganesh]

Totally agree factor.They get about 13 weeks holiday a year and you say they can't take an annual holiday during that time? Of course you have the right to do it but I still think it is selfish.The only reason the system doesn't collapse is because not everybody does it.We all want to save loads of money and I would have preferred to go on holiday in May or September,especially abroad when it is a little cooler for the kids,but I didn't.Even if your kids can cope with catching up alright,the others must be affected as the teachers have to take absences into account.Ok,in primary years it isn't so important but secondary years it is.You know this is true and however educational your holiday and however you try and justify this your kids can miss a lot in a fortnight and it would cause huge disruption if everyone did it.

[gness]

Met with daughter #3 at the weekend and asked if she had ever regretted being taken out of school to travel to Canada/Europe for things not available in holiday time. Daft question I know! Were there problems catching up etc.?
Her answer? When she stopped laughing.... I think the things you and dad did with us were as important as my formal education.
Maybe we just have different ideas about educating children but thankfully ours worked well.

[ganesh]

Things not available? Such as? Of course they liked it,I would have loved being taken out of school as well as I hated it.I'm sure that that the majority of intelligent children will have no problem.I just can't see that 13 weeks and every week-end is not enough time to 'do things' with your parents!
Maybe all these absences are partly responsible for the falling standards in our educational system.