Where were you taken for the week your school did spelling?

So let me get this right: your advice is to lie. And presumably this example is handed down to your children, too?

By the way it was Prof. Robert Winston before he became Lord Winston. He'd be very angry if you likened him to what we terms "junior doctors" (ie Registrars and the like).

It was readable. Just!





Incidentally I missed a lot of schooling as a youngster. I hope it doesn't show.





I spent large chuncks of the school year away visting my father who worked overseas. Twenty five day's a year or so. Of course this is going back a while to a time when my school any way, didn't give a hoot about absence. Time's moved on of course now.

I agree. Utterly disgusting example to set to his / her children.

Okay, I was having a particular fit of pedantry.





My parents kept us off school rarely, but that did include for religious reasons (Whit Friday).



TBH, I don't recall any other time they kept me or my sister off.



We did spend an extra week or two off primary school at the end of one Easter holiday, because we had been staying with family friends who were farmers in Westmoreland. But that was unplanned, since my father went down with, IIRC, pneumonia. But we attended the village school for a week (or so) in the interim - which I remember fondly.



The whole holidays being more expensive in the, err, holiday season is a bummer, but in some ways I have limited sympathy: we had years on end when we didn't have family holidays because we couldn't afford it or (imagine this) holidays in Todmorden because someone my father know lent him a cottage there.



Times have changed.

SATS will be in May



Fill your boots and have a good holiday



This comes from someone whose combined attendance of my 3 kids is 99.9% over the last 6 years.



And if anyone says that losing 5 days education will have a major effect,well im guessing mine will be, as their secondary school opens a week later than most others due to it being a new building.

Took our kids out of school a few times because of cost, we always tried to mix the holiday with some educational visits to the likes of Ephasis, Knossos and Pyramids. It hasn't done them too much harm, they are both doing well in life with families of their own. I think its more about keeping school stats high rather than the needs of the kids.



Ironically, my daughter is now a teacher and is not allowed holidays in term time, while her pupils go when it suits the parents.

Indeed, if we started taking 4 days off here and there in term time for a cheaper holiday, would that be ok?

It's both. Indeed, the two are inextricably linked.

That'd be well smart innit cos we'd get a supply teacher in innit. We could doss about then.





Sir.

It's all a question of perception.

When I lived in London, I knew a Parisienne who worked at an employment agency who had lived in Tod-Mor-den (as she pronounced it) and absolutely loved the place.



It grows on you.



Yes, I know mould does too.