MOST parents planning a term time holiday need to decide what excuse they’ll give the school – but not me.
That’s because I’ve been lucky enough to find a school for my boys aged 10, eight and three that works with me when I want to take them away, instead of treating me like a naughty child for deigning to make my own decisions about my family.
Catherine LofthouseCatherine Lofthouse said her school teachers encourage her to take the kids out of school[/caption]
SuppliedTaking the kids during term time can reduce costs massively[/caption]
When I emailed the head to tell her about our plans to travel around the Netherlands and Germany by train, she wrote straight back to give me her blessing.
She wrote: “Oh wow – this is amazing. I wish I could come. I’ll have a think as to how we can incorporate this a bit next term too.
“We have focused on other continents more than Europe so my mind was thinking of trying to do something in this direction anyway. I love Berlin! In fact, travelling in general. Just brilliant for them.”
If only more schools and headteachers could have the same response.
For me, the education of my children is all about working in
partnership with the school to provide the boys with the very best start in life.
Sometimes that’s being in a classroom, practicing handwriting or learning maths. But often it’s getting out into the real world and experiencing new languages, cultures and people.
I’m glad I’ve found a school that understands that and has the boys’ best interests at heart, rather than jumping through hoops to meet government attendance targets.
It can’t be nice having to lie about why your kids aren’t at school and it’s not really setting a great example to your children either, so I appreciate the fact that I’m not being put in that position.
There are loads of reasons why parents might not be able to take their children away in the school holidays, particularly with the cost of living crisis in full flow.
This year in particular, there will be a lot of mums and dads who simply can’t afford a holiday unless they take a week or two in term time.
I don’t envy people who have the choice of either coming clean about taking a term time break and risking hundreds of pounds worth of fines or lying and hoping they won’t get found out.
For a long time, my husband struggled to get any leave during school holidays as so many of his colleagues needed it too.
At one point, he had to book a year in advance to have any hope of getting time off in August or at Christmas – if we didn’t take term time breaks, the boys would miss out
on spending time with their dad.
Because I plan vacations around our family schedule and not the school holidays, I’ve saved loads over the years and we’ve been able to visit far-flung locations like Australia and Dubai, as well as visiting lots of European cities to soak up the culture.
I actually think that getting away in term time can sometimes help at school as well.
A change of routine and a bit of rest can be just what children need to go back to school with more energy for learning,
particularly during the long autumn term as the weather gets colder and the days get darker.
Instead of taking three long breaks for Christmas, Easter and the summer, it would make more sense to have the academic year broken up into smaller terms with a week or a fortnight off in between.
Prices for holidays would come down if everyone wasn’t competing for the same few weeks and fewer term time breaks would be taken by tired parents who just want to get away with their kids.
In the meantime, I’m grateful that I can go away whenever works for us without being made to feel like a bad mum by the school.
And my boys can experience the big wide world beyond the four walls of the classroom.
Having a good school that is lenient with holiday has made such a big differenceCatherine Lofthouse Read More