General Chat

Parents should be encouraged to take their children on holiday during school time to Disneyland and the Costas as they can learn more than in lessons. Primary school pupils in particular would learn more from two weeks in the sun than they would in school. Parents take their children on holiday during term time for a variety of reasons, particularly as it can save hundreds of pounds for a family of four. Holidays can benefit a child’s education. The above are the views of Geraint Davies, Secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers in Wales. This view is not shared with his union or the National Association of Head Teachers. Aileen

Hi, I agree that children do benefit from holidays (although I'm not sure about Disney - not exactly cultural) but parents have 12 weeks of the year in which to take them away. It isn't just that they miss school and have to catch up when they get back, it's the message given to them that school isn't important. It's OK to miss school if there is something you'd rather be doing is not a message I would pass on to my child. Good attendance at school leads to good attendance in the workplace. Gwynne

No I don't - what a load of b******s!! I go on holiday out of school hol time deliberately - when there are no children around! I don't see what a child is going to 'learn' from a beach holiday or Disneyland either, although I agree that holidays can broaden the mind.

We took two of our children out of school for 3 days to go to the paralympics in Athens in September because a friend of ours was competing for GB. They learned a lot from the trip and my daughter had to write a newspaper report for school on her return. I would never take them out of school for a beach or theme park holiday although I do understand why parents do this as the cost can be prohibitive during the school holidays. Daisy

If it were a trip touring the Canyons of America, or anything else that could be considered educational then I agree that they learn a lot from it. I fail to see what they actually learn in disneyland, although maybe someone will argue that Epcot is educational, i suppose in a way it is. We used to take ours out of school for the occasional holiday because husbands firm had fixed holiday dates (shut down). I do think that these days there is so much pressure on children with exams etc all the way through school that, if they are the sort of child who would not be able to catch up, they will lose out. There is also the argument that one child trying to catch up holds the whole class back. i suppose it is down to this continual assessment and how it reflects on the school. what I don't understand is how it is considered OK for them to go on exchange to another country and are not considered to have a problem with catching up. I think the Government should be tackling the fact that Air lines and holiday companies charge a lot more in school holidays. Incidentally it is not always possible for all employees in one company to have school holidays which I think maybe where the tradition of being allowed to take 2 weeks to coincide with Father's holiday came from. Ann Glos

I don't agree that its better for children to go on holiday during term time, however i do think sometimes it is unavoidable. My husband works for a small company where all the employees have children, and its a nightmare to try and make sure everyone gets a chance to have a holiday with their children without it eating into termtime. Not everyone can afford to go-or even wishes to go- abroad, and surely its important for families to spend time together, even if its a week at home when the weather is nice enough to go out and about on day trips or something. As for the cost of these holidays in the summer, its no wonder some parents opt for the alternative. It doesn't make it right, and should certainly be avoided when possible. Yvette

I don't agree that it should be the norm for children to miss school for the sake of a family holiday, but if there was a good reason why one or both parents couldn't take time off work for a family break during the school holidays, then I think schools should be sympathetic, unless it clashed with taking vital exams. If you work in a small company, it can be difficult to arrange cover for holiday absences if they all happen at the same time, or it could affect running the business if staff don't have 'handover' periods between absences. The last couple of weeks before schools' long summer break seem mostly to be taken up with more recreational pursuits and day trips to museums, etc, so I don't see that missing those (with the school head's agreement) is necessarily a bad thing. CB >|<

Hello everyone, I am having a problem at the moment booking our summer holiday this year. My eldest daughter is 5 and my sister and her boyfriend are paying for me, my husband and 2 daughters to go away for a week to Majorca, they are also coming with us. My sister rang me yesterday and said it was £300 pounds cheaper to book the week before the summer holidays. This would mean my daughter would miss the last 3 days of term in July. I have always been against my daughter having days off school unless she was ill so now I don't know what to do. Louisex

Take the holiday Louise. 3 days at the end of term is usually spent tidying up the classroom. NOW I'm going to have teachers all over the place shouting at me! I'M NOT LISTENING!!!!! Deanna :-O))))

Louise The last three days of term is a lot different to a week or two in the middle of it, so I would write to the head explaining the situation and go! Have fun! Daisy

Thanks, I think I probably will, this is the first chance we've had to go away since we had the kids and I can't see it happening again for a while! Louisex

What really annoys me is how much holidays go up during term time If the government REALLY want to stop this they must make holidays companys stop putting up the prices at the times we are only allowed to take ours kids away. Jan x PS No I dont take my kids out laying on a beach in Devon isnt educational just heaven!!!!!

When I was 8 my parents took us to Austria, where my mum is originally from, for 3 weeks in the middle of May. When we returned the other children were all working on producing projects on subjects of their own choice, so I just produced a project on my trip and don't recall any problems with falling behind. The trip did broaden my horizons in many ways, apart from the benefits of getting to know my Austrian family, we stayed in a wonderful farm house in a small village, there were sheep in the field opposite the house which we fed every morning, and a stream to paddle in everyday. Coming from a big city this was so different to my life at home.We made friends with the local children, despite the language barrier and learned about the different currency, food and traditions. In my experience there were many educational benefits to this trip, and gave me positive feelings towards a country which I later went on to live, work & study in as an adult. I would not have wanted to miss out on it.

speaking for the other side, someone who works in education- it is often thought that taking a child out of school in term time is okay, especially when they are in he first few years of their education, they are 'only young and they wont miss much' - that is the very time when they WILL miss just a little bit of what so much is based on, things from which other things develop. Try also being in a classroom of children returning after their first school summer holiday (their 2nd school year) So much backtracking has to be done because so much has been forgotten over just 6 weeks. I well remeber being poorly when i was at middle school (had Whooping cough) and when i went back the topic in science was genetics - Why the devil everyone was talking about 'jeans' totally mystified me! Jess x

i take my children out of school for the last week before they break up for summer.my hubby works away and this is the only time we can go.i don't like having to take them out of school but why should my kids miss out on a holiday?if i could do things differently i would.also last year we saved 450 quid which is more money to spend on the kids on holiday,if the kids are happy then us parents are too

I fail to see how a trip to disney could be educational. But as a mum to 4, i rarely pull my 4 out of school for holidays. On the odd occassin I have done it I make sure they aren't missing anything important befoe i do. Now my eldest is in high school, i will think very hard before I take her out, as she's worked hard to get herself into a good school and I won't undermine her by pulling her out. Our school 'allows' us to have two weeks off per yr. On the otherhand why do the prices go up SO much??? You can work out exactly when school holidays are just by reading the holiday brochures LOL We have never been abroad as we simply can't afford the prices during schol holidays. Louise, take her out for the 3 days, the end of term in our school is just really winding down time, gathering of the projects etc to take home and maybe a sports day if the weather isn't ok for the 1st attempt.

I am taking both my children out of school in June for a two week holiday in Majorca. If we went in the school holidays, it would cost us almost a thousand pounds more for the same holiday. Money we cant afford At present, we go on holiday each June, often taking the same two weeks. But this is the first time the kids have been out of the country for a holiday. While they are in primary school we will continue to do this, until my son goes to secondry school. Then we will have to have a holiday every two years in the summer holiday. Regarding Disneyland/world being educational...It IS ! I went Disneyworld Florida on my honeymoon in 1993, and almost everything had learning attatched to it. Epcot & Seaworld was really educational, with lots of talks, films ect in conjunction with most attractions. MGM & Universal studios told the history and making of films.How cartoons are made and live shows. And Roxanne I strongly object to you saying that taking termtime holidays will produce a nation of "Morons".And Parents should be fined for taking their kids out of school. My 9 year old son has an 100 per cent attendance record since september. My daughter (5) had only one day off at the end of term last year with tonsilitis. Both children are high achievers, Both are above average in their classes. Taking two weeks out of school does NOT make them morons. And I dont see why I should pay a fine, while the government cannot get its finger out to fine holiday companies fleecing families with children Elaine x

I don't understand why he comes out with that as we are now told if we take the kids out of school in term time for holidays parents will be fined £100 they should make up there minds

When I was nearly 14 my parents took me out of school for a fortnight to go to Spain. I actually missed my end of term exams and had to sit them on my return. Whilst this was highly inconvenient for the staff, I would explain that the holiday was a gift so my parents couldn't choose the time and it was a choice between that or not going. I was at a school where most of the girls were better off than me and had nearly all had foreign holidays, which i hadn't. The only holiday I'd had before was a wet week in a caravan near Portsmouth. I learnt a lot about Spanish culture, the way it was rooted in Catholicism, rather primitive (by English standards) agricultural methods. I learnt some Spanish and had an opportunity to talk French with a family we befriended. I saw my first lizard and first - and only - electrical storm. So yes, I did benefit. Working in school now lots of parents miss a few days here and there from termtime, but I would say that the worst possible time is the beginning of the September term, when children are settling in with new teachers, classrooms etc. It's also no coincidence that the children that regularly have extra days off at weekends and finish the term earlier than others also tend to be the ones who are struggling academically. I don't think this is necessarily related to the time off, but it is sympomatic of parents who don't value school that they take time off WITHOUT THE HEAD'S PERMISSION and they also don't value education in that they don't listen to their children read, help them with spelling practice etc. nell

My niece lives in Australia and last summer came to England for 7 weeks and to France (where her father lives) for 1 week. Her children are 8 and 5. She discussed this with the headmaster at her sons school and he was of the opinion that the children would learn a lot during this trip. He was all in favour of it. I must admit that both children did bring school work with them and my neice and her husband set aside time for them to do this. I agree with Elaine that 2 weeks off school on holiday will not produce a nation of morons. Jean x.