When the schools went back in January, my kids weren't at their desks alongside their classmates.

Instead they were whizzing down waterslides and wandering woodland for our first family holiday of 2022.

We only ever take holidays during term time – I'd rather not send my boys to school at all than be told we can't go away when we want.

Luckily for us, we've found a school that doesn't make a fuss if we book a week away here and there to save ourselves thousands of pounds.

I wouldn't listen even if they told me not to.

Family time is a precious thing and it won't be long before I have teenagers who no longer want to have fun with Mum and Dad.

I don't believe that my children's education only takes place in a classroom.

There's a whole wide world out there to show them, and whatever work they miss at school can easily be done when we get home.

Most read in Family

Half of the curriculum seems unnecessary to me anyway. Fronted adverbials, anyone?

I only learnt what those were in my 30s to help my children with their homework and I have an English degree and make my living as a writer so I'm pretty sure my sons won't suffer too much if they miss a bit of SPaG here and there.

Experiencing languages, cultures, sports and heritage firsthand teaches children far more than doing worksheets and looking at the same four walls, any day of the week.

That said, I'd never expect the teachers to make time to recap lessons my kids have missed. Hardworking school staff have enough on their plate already.

If I choose to take my kids away, it's my responsibility to find out what they missed and get them up to speed if need be.

Our policy of only holidaying during term time means that pre-pandemic we took city breaks in Berlin, Lisbon, Paris, Copenhagen and Valencia, as well as travelling as far afield as Australia and Dubai.

We've done loads of activity breaks and tried sports we'd never have been able to at home. There's no way we could afford to go to all the places or do half the things on our wishlist if we stuck to school holiday dates.

Plus my key worker husband very rarely gets time off in the holidays, as all his colleagues with school-age children are also trying to take leave then.

Giving all families the same few weeks a year to get away is a recipe for stress, not success.

It would be better if the school holidays were staggered, like they are in Germany, and prices didn't rocket sky high as soon as August is around the corner.

The only time we booked a fortnight in France during the summer holidays, with friends who don't take breaks in term time, it left me feeling it was overpriced, overcrowded – and over my dead body that we'd do that again.

I couldn't believe it when recently a friend told me that she'd got a 'bargain' for October half term – she was paying almost £1,000 to take her family of five away for a week to a British holiday park!

Those kind of prices are ridiculous, ripping off hard-working parents who only want to do the best by their children. I took my boys away a couple of weeks later and paid a tenth of the price for essentially the same break.

I know loads of parents who have to play the system a bit to make sure they can take an affordable holiday during term time without getting slapped with a hefty fine.

From what I hear, if you choose a week that's got a bank holiday or an inset day in it, you'll probably be okay, as long as your child has good attendance the rest of the time. 

I'm sure the schools have got better things to do than acting as the fun police, just like parents shouldn't be worrying about whether they can get away with taking their kids away without being fined.

If the point of the education system is to teach people to think for themselves, it's a sad state of affairs when parents are treated as naughty children if they do just that and take a break as and when they need it.

As far as I'm concerned, we should trust parents to parent, give families a break and let schools focus on kids in the classroom, not attendance figures and fines.

Can I take my kids out of school for holidays?

Taking kids out of school during the school term can be at headteacher’s discretion and it can vary between institutions so you're best off getting in touch with their administration office to check.

Schools will follow governing regulations coupled with their own decisions to ultimately decide if it’s okay to take your child out of school.

If you do get your leave approved before you go, you could find that you receive a fine of up to £120 when you get back.

In some cases parents have disputed the fines and ended up in court.

But if you're found guilty you could end up with an even bigger fine of up to £2,500 or even a criminal record, or imprisonment of up to three months.

One mum previously revealed that she took her six-year-old out of primary school for two years to go on holiday and said he learnt more from their epic journey than he ever could in a classroom.

Meanwhile others mums have complained as one slammed a primary school for refusing to let her take her daughter on a "once in a lifetime" holiday during term time.

Plus another was told she couldn't take her son out of school for their last ever holiday together because it’s not "exceptional circumstances".

Source: Read Full Article