[Closed] Taking the kids out of school to going skiing. Opinions?

A week of school of a week of skiing, i know which one would be of most benefit to my kids. Skiing it is.

Well I'm getting in early. I took Surfer junior out for 4 days from his studies this year.

*phones social services*

A self serving article if ever I read one. If you want to take the kids out of school for a week, so be it. Just don't try and sell a holiday as being, in some meaningful way, life enriching.

I'm guessing a lot of folk on here are back to work today after being away with the family on a stupidly expensive half-term ski holiday to crowded slopes.

I'm guessing it may be less than you think. I certainly couldn't afford to go on a skiing trip with the family.

reassuring themselves that The School Of Life is more valuable than all that fancy buke lurning"

Nope. Would only take them out of school for a good reason.

However I do agree that the way prices balloon during school hols is scandalous and I can understand (but not necessarily agree with) why people think about taking their children during term time.

Depends what you rate as a priority, and how much support you have for your children's school and teachers. If you don't give a toss about them, sure, why not take your kids out of school, you can still blame the school if your kids don't get the results they were predicted, and if they did - result! The extra work and stress the teachers had to do (with no financial recompense for themselves) to catch your kids up was all worth it.

Take the holiday you can afford.

God knows the right answer but that opinion piece read to me as some whiny muppet screaming BUT I WANT TO GO SKIING!!!! IT'S NOT FAIR!!!!

Just don't try and sell a holiday as being, in some meaningful way, life enriching.

You sad ****. 😀

Does this apply to all forms of holiday or just the particularly middle class ones?

*ducks*

However I do agree that the way prices balloon during school hols is scandalous

And yet, many of the companies causing those "scandals" aren't exactly raking in the profits. It's a bit like people complaining about the workshop rates at bike shops IMO.

I often wonder how people would react if their childs teachers took time off work during term time to go skiing with their families.

Oh y'know, skiing, touring vineyards in France, walking trails and swimming in lakes in Austria...all perfectly allowable instead of a week in school. A week's all inclusive in Majorca however has to be a no-no.

Depends what you rate as a priority, and how much support you have for your children's school and teachers. If you don't give a toss about them

Because of course if you take your kids out for a few days "you dont give a toss" do you 🙄

Just don't try and sell a holiday as being, in some meaningful way, life enriching.

I think it is the very essence of "life enriching".

Whether it has any educational value is a different thing, but personally I think there [i]is[/i] a fair bit of value in exposing kids to other cultures and languages (albeit terribly middle-class ones) as well as giving them interests in the outdoors and sports.

FWIW our school refused to grant permission for us to take our daughter out the week before half term. She is FOUR - she's not missing Advanced Calculus. We took her out anyway.

God knows the right answer but that opinion piece read to me as some whiny muppet screaming BUT I WANT TO GO SKIING!!!! IT'S NOT FAIR!!!!

Yes god awful article.

but personally I think there is a fair bit of value in exposing kids to other cultures and languages

Whilst I agree with that sentiment, I disagree that you'd find very much of that on a skiing holiday.

but personally I think there is a fair bit of value in exposing kids to other cultures and languages

Does braying loudly actually count as a different language?

All parents should be able to pick and choose when their kids go to school. I'm sure the teachers won't mind either as many of them are parents and they'll have the same rights to take holidays in what is, nominally, term time.

Is a holiday [i]more[/i] life-enriching when it is taken during term time?

Haha, even the Torygraph doesn't like Gove.

I expect I'd go in term time if I take the kids skiing - but only if I at least had agreement from their teachers and the head that it wouldn't be a big problem (even if officially they have to fine me). I'd take the fine though rather than whinge about it and try to justify it - I can understand the reasons for the policy - and would feel at least a little bit guilty.

It is a deeply valuable experience and one I fear could soon be the preserve of the rich

😆 - because taking the kids skiing during term time is something everybody can afford

Because of course if you take your kids out for a few days "you dont give a toss" do you

My daughter (Yr7) is going on a 3 day 'enrichment break' with school at the end of the school year in July...

...to EuroDisney.

So I'd say a weeks skiing is fine! 🙂

I as a general one would not take them out of school.
But, the last few days of term in the summer we are.
Three days wild camping and white water canoeing in southern France (dahlings 8) ) or a few daft quizzes and some 1990's video's back in school? hmmmm...

+1 on that, gonefishing 🙂

If I was going to take my kids skiing during term time, I'd reason it as follows:

- I want to go skiing and can't afford (or am not willing to spend) the price of a school holiday trip
- I reckon the kids would really enjoy it and it would help encourage them to appreciate sports as fun and a good thing to have an interest in
- My kids are doing fine at school and the impact to them directly is probably very little
- I would also accept that I'm being selfish in that if the above isn't right or everyone was doing it, it'd be a right pain for the teacher

I wouldn't try and kid myself that the trip would be 'educational' in any way or cultural because I really don't believe that to be the case beyond the flimsiest of justifications.

I think it is the very essence of "life enriching".

She is FOUR

Keep the gits in school in term time. Introduce heavier fines and send them to jail (and their parents 😛 ).

... which means the slopes are kid free and quieter for me (yes, I have no kids) 😀

Assuming I avoid the foreign school holidays also that is.

I disagree that you'd find very much of that on a skiing holiday.

Well she met French people, tried out her stock French, learnt some more French, and ate some French food. Plus she learnt a bit about the mountains, sports, the outdoors, travel, currency, and the physics of sliding about on solid water 😀

How much experience of a life-enriching essence do you recall from the age of four?

And how much school education do your recall from the age of four? You can't have that both ways.

Is a holiday more life-enriching when it is taken during term time?

Of course not, it just makes it available to people that don't have five grand burning a hole in their pocket!

A week off school is quite a bit certainly once they are in senior school. We know many who have done it though (including ex BIL and his wife was a teacher, she stayed behind with 12 and he took the other 2!). We used to try and squeeze in trips before Christmas if possible and/or in first few days of January.

FWIW a good friend took his kids out of school for a year for a round the world trip. they came back and went straight into the same classes. Hardly missed a beat.

We don't even get a full week's February half term. We have to take them out of school or we just couldn't go. Family and friend commitments at Christmas and we always have to sort our caravan out for the summer at Easter.

I as a general one would not take them out of school.
But, the last few days of term in the summer we are.

Well she met French people, tried out her stock French, learnt some more French, and ate some French food. Plus she learnt a bit about the mountains, sports, the outdoors, travel, currency, and the physics of sliding about on solid water

Well you'd get a lot more of that away from a ski resort. Oh and it's bit of physics fail if you are sliding on solid water.

Depends what you rate as a priority, and how much support you have for your children's school and teachers. If you don't give a toss about them, sure, why not take your kids out of school, you can still blame the school if your kids don't get the results they were predicted, and if they did - result! The extra work and stress the teachers had to do (with no financial recompense for themselves) to catch your kids up was all worth it

My priority is my kids and that is exactly why i take them out for a week every year cycling and trekking on the west coast of Scotland, the ultimate university of life.

In my experience it is the teachers that don't give a toss about them.

All three of mine have always been at the top of their class, middle one just got 7 straight A's in his prelims. Spending time with your kids and giving them support will take them further in life than a week in a year of school half of which is make believe anyways- curriculum for excellence, tutor time etc, take all the faf out they are only learning half the time anyway so only missing half a week in reality.

Well that's my rant...........probably get shot down if flames for it but there you are......yes take your kids out for a week!

Some of you people need to get a grip, a week's skiing is very supplementary to a kid's education and it helps with posture when riding (pony club)
It's not as if we're talking about council estate kids here, who's parents don't care about education.

Just pretend you're working class, leave the kids at home with some pop, crisps, pot noodles, and a few tins of beans, ask Sharon or Baz from down the road to pop their heads in every couple of days, and head off yourself to have it large in Chamonix 😀

Oh hang on a minute... do you own a Devil Dog? That could be a problem? Nah... actually.... you'll be fine. He's probably not bitten any of the kids for a while now

I was always under the impression that these laws were introduced to protect vulnerable and disadvantaged kids with very poor attendance. For example, when I cast my mind back to school, there were a number of kids who rarely attended at all. And in those cases I expect it works pretty well?

Taking your kids out of school for a week's holiday is a different matter entirely and I don't think for a second that it's going to **** up their education. So I'm with the school of life on this one.

Just pretend you're working class, leave the kids at home with some pop, crisps, pot noodles, and a few tins of beans, ask [s]Sharon or Baz[/s] [b]Derek[/b] from down the road to pop their heads in every couple of days, and head off yourself to have it large in Chamonix

FTFY

hmmmmm

a classroom filled with a hotchpotch of barely controlled tiny maniacs or quality time with the fam doing summink ace..

tricky one

Just pretend you're working class

...she said "oh you're so funny". I said "[url=

]" 😉

Taking your kids out of school against the rules shows them best how to treat authority.

And getting them to lie about the reason they didn't turn up one day is a useful lesson in honesty,

Do it. We got our fines last week, didn't realise each parent got fined, still doing it next year though.

Is Ecole Ski Francais not a school ???

[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31589762 ]maybe they have gone skiing[/url]

Your kids will leave dying alone in pool of your own fluids at the hands of cruel and sadistic care workers whils spending your lifes work on a crappy semi on a new build exec estate and an executuve saloon. They'll heft you your broken and withered carcass into a hole in the ground and then sell what little remains to fund their vile proclivities. Take them out of school and put them in a box in a cellar. Then go skiing.

Taking your kids out of school against the rules shows them best how to treat authority.

Is it a better life lesson to teach your kids to bow and scrape before authority and never think to challenge it no matter how silly you think the rules may be?

That's why I make sure they cycle on the dual carriageway - not up the pavement like common criminals 😉

And getting them to lie about the reason they didn't turn up one day is a useful lesson in honesty,

Agreed. Better to be honest and accept the consequences. As we did.

(Try getting a four year old to convincingly lie about going skiing for a week. It's just not going to happen!)

I don't agree with taking kids out of school just so they can have a holiday but it really annoys me that schools make such a big deal out of it when the final few days of term are a waste of time.
"What did you get up to at school today?"
"Oh we watched a couple of films and played games"

Or when they waste weeks practicing for the school play and then send the kids home with 9 pieces of homework to do over the Christmas (for a 7 year old).

Or when they waste weeks practicing for the school play

You realise that this is a learning experience too, right?

Of course do it. How dare anyone make rules that get in the way of what you want to do. Teach the kids sense of entitlement at a young enough age and they'll never lose it.

[quote=imnotverygood ]Of course do it. How dare anyone make rules that get in the way of what you want to do. Teach the kids sense of entitlement at a young enough age and they'll never lose it.Especially if you can afford to pay the fines. Different for those poor folk like. They don't deserve any term time holidays if they've never been clever enough to end up in a decent job.

Well she met French people, tried out her stock French, learnt some more French, and ate some French food. Plus she learnt a bit about the mountains, sports, the outdoors, travel, currency, and the physics of sliding about on solid water

All of which is available during the school holidays.

Especially if you can afford to pay the fines

All of which is available during the school holidays.

not for a 3rd of the price though. 😉

not for a 3rd of the price though.

Get a better job, then.

And how much school education do your recall from the age of four? You can't have that both ways.

I'm not claiming to recall anything from it, but I'm hoping it was formative in the education that followed.

My priority is my kids and that is exactly why i take them out for a week every year cycling and trekking on the west coast of Scotland, the ultimate university of life.

Do you need to take them out of school for that?

In my experience it is the teachers that don't give a toss about them.

Funnily enough, I'm writing this now because it's the Monday after half term and Mrs Pondo has spent the last couple of evenings in tears after working all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday (we were away before then, had to chose the holiday we could afford because teachers can't take leave to take holidays when they're cheaper - hey, it's just how life is, right?), and faces another term of monster workloads trying to get kids grades they (and their parents) don't seem interested in working for, because if the kids don't get the grades, that affects her career. So, you know, I wouldn't say teachers don't give a toss - some don't, I've no doubt, there are lazy and ****less people in all walks of life. But not all, not by a long chalk.

Spending time with your kids and giving them support will take them further in life than a week in a year of school...

All of which is available during the school holidays.

And, except for the bit about solid water, all available on all inclusive holidays on the med.

[quote=griffiths1000 ]

All of which is available during the school holidays.

And except for the bit about solid water all available on all inclusive holidays on the med.

...which is easily solved with a trip to your local ice-skating rink.

Teach the kids sense of entitlement at a young enough age and they'll never lose it.

Is that better or worse than teaching them to be unquestioningly servile and conformist?

Different for those poor folk like. They don't deserve any term time holidays if they've never been clever enough to end up in a decent job.

The whole point of taking them out of school is to make the holiday more affordable. Arguing that only rich people can do that is a bit odd.

The rich can afford to holiday where and when they want, and will have their kids in private schools that don't care if you take them out for a week as long as you keep paying the fees.

The whole point of taking them out of school is to make the holiday more affordable.

Most kids seem to love going camping.

Most kids seem to love going camping.

Indeed, and we camp regularly during the summer. Not so much in February though.

And that is what it boils down to,money. I have 42 periods left with my Higher class,all of which are accounted for. I would suggest that going for a weeks holiday is going to impact on their education. I would suggest that,but what do I know? I am just a teacher. Your child can come up to me and ask for the 5 hours of lessons that they missed,several handouts should cover it according to some on this thread.

Have not read all the threads but as usual IMO bureaucrats should not be given controlled over private life.

The children are the parents' responsibility so they can decide what's good or bad for them especially if they fee paying.

If they are not paying fee i.e. free school whatever they called nowadays, then the parents should abide by the rules.

As for the teacher they cannot simply relinquish their responsibilities to teach just because they want to go for a holiday. They have to teach whether there is a full class or with few missing. Their contract is to teach and they must fulfill that part of their contract.

How hard can that be?

As for poor results the parents should not blame the school or teachers if they prefer to go for holidays more often then allowed. However, if the teachers are teaching hardheartedly by saying that the few absenteeism demotivate him/her to teach then that teacher should get another job.

FFS! Bureaucrats should not be in controlled of private life. 🙄

I don't really care if it's educational (it's not obviously), it's bloody good fun and the kids loved it. That's all that counts in my book. It'd be different if they were 16 year-olds sitting GCSEs but they're 10 and 7 so not going to miss much, and even then I reckon taking a week out of GCSE study is not very difficult to catch up. I appreciate the argument that it's disruptive to the other kids/teachers but really is it? How is life going to change for either if my kids aren't in school? Not that I've taken the kids out though. Mrs Daz doesn't agree with me so we're stuck with spending 4k for a week's holiday. Bloody ridiculous.

rewski, is that all it is? i thought it was a tiered fine system that charged much more??

£120 vs paying 2x or 3x cost is a no brainer.

rewski, is that all it is? i thought it was a tiered fine system that charged much more??

£120 vs paying 2x or 3x cost is a no brainer.

Indeed, and we camp regularly during the summer. Not so much in February though.

So all this comes down to is you want two holidays per year but can't afford it, so you're inventing a spurious justification.

Most kids seem to love going camping.

There are also any other sporting activities cheaper than skiing.

Have not read all the threads but as usual IMO bureaucrats should not be given controlled over private life.

The children are the parents' responsibility so they can decide what's good or bad for them especially if they fee paying.

I assume your children are home-schooled?

Because of course if you take your kids out for a few days "you dont give a toss" do you

I think that's a reasonable conclusion, yes.

Is your response to me who took my son out for 4 days. Pretty unambiguous, yes?

However slightly more nuanced when it comes to

So, you know, I wouldn't say teachers don't give a toss - some don't, I've no doubt, there are lazy and ****less people in all walks of life. But not all, not by a long chalk.

Can you clarify

I have 42 periods left with my Higher class,all of which are accounted for. I would suggest that going for a weeks holiday is going to impact on their education. I would suggest that,but what do I know? I am just a teacher.

Indeed - and when my daughter is doing Highers/GCSEs/A-levels/whatever then I certainly won't be taking her out of school.

But as she is FOUR I kind of assumed that missing five days was a bit less critical, no?

So all this comes down to is you want two holidays per year but can't afford it, so you're inventing a spurious justification.

I don't understand why a justification is required. It's bloody good fun in a fantastic environment, that's it. Is having two holidays a year really too much to ask? If you can bring down the price of this for no real impact then why not?

This year a weeks skiing, what next year? It's a slippery slope.

I often wonder how people would react if their childs teachers took time off work during term time to go skiing with their families.

Think they call those days, cough, "teacher training days" 😛

This year a weeks skiing, what next year? It's a slippery slope.

Two weeks skiing? 🙂

But as she is FOUR I kind of assumed that missing five days was a bit less critical, no?

Surely, no legal requirement to have her attend school at 4?
so you're in the clear 🙂

Maybe not a legal requirement but some schools have rules where if you take your kids out without permission you risk losing their place in the school. At least the last school my kids were in did.

ransos - Member
I assume your children are home-schooled?

Nope. No children for me.

However, my niece & nephews are both fee paying and at one point home-schooled because they came from different education system in the far east. They had to home schooled because they did their AS-level only to be told they needed GCSE at certain grades for the degree they intend to study. So after scoring many As in AS-level they had to redo their GCSE again ...

Teachers are there to teach but it is up to the parents to decide if they want their children to be taught. Simple.

Should've stuck in at school, got better results and a better paid job

That's not exactly how it works though, is it? Better results don't automatically equate to a better job (and we're talking marginal differences in results here, if any). I know a fair few graduates who've almost made it to retirement age without holding down a proper job. Most skills are learnt on a general day to day basis, inside and outside of school, and if you hone them well they will far outshine any educational grades.

I don't like to see money equated to success either. Who is out enjoying themselves skiing while everyone else is in the daily grind? 😉

My eldest starts kindergarten - "reception" (5yr old) next September.
December through till the end of March, we will be pulling him out of school 1 day a week and putting him into a Monday ski school program.
Before you berate me, thats 15 sessions of being active outside, where as when you factor in bank holidays and inset days, he only misses 6 days of school.
Keeps his weekends free to go mountain biking too 😉

So all this comes down to is you want two holidays per year but can't afford it, so you're inventing a spurious justification.

Do I need to justify wanting to spend time with my kids in a fun environment?

FWIW our winter holiday is our big holiday. In the summer we generally go camping and do breaks within the UK.

Surely, no legal requirement to have her attend school at 4?
so you're in the clear

Not according to her school. Their advice was that they wouldn't report us for a "first offence", but it would "be held on record" and considered if there were further offences in future years. 🙄

(which there probably will be 😈 )

The school is wrong then.

Anyway given that I agree you don't need to justify wanting to spend time with your kids in a fun environment, why the spurious justifications? Just admit that's it and agree to disagree with those who don't.