Kate
by KATE HUNTER
Dear Mrs Sheehan,
Just to let you know that Annabel and Sally will be absent from school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. We are taking the children on a study trip, exploring alpine environments and communities which we believe will be of enormous benefit to their intellectual, physical and social development.
Best Regards,
Kate Hunter
Seriously? Who am I kidding?
Dear Mrs Sheehan,
Annabel and Sally will miss three days of school next week because we are going skiing. It’s a travel-writing gig, only available outside school hols, and the snow is fab. I’ll make sure they do some maths. Hopefully.
Cheers,
Kate
Well. It turns out my children are part of the ‘New Absentee’ class. Apparently this a growing group of kids whose parents pull them out of school to take advantage of cheap holiday fares. There are also kids who get days off for haircuts, birthdays and visits from Aunty Suzanne. Educators aren’t happy about it. Here’s an edited version of the story from news.com.au:
CHILDREN are missing alarming amounts of school as parents take advantage of cheaper overseas holidays and let them stay home on their birthday or to go shopping.
Principals say parents are increasingly pulling their kids out of school for up to six weeks for overseas trips because airfares are cheaper outside school holidays, but it’s having a negative impact on their learning.
Public Schools Principal forum chairperson Cheryl McBride said a birthday was no excuse to miss class.
She said overseas holidays were fuelling absenteeism. “There is the frustrating issue of children going on long holidays with mum and dad and missing significant slabs of school,” she said.
“I really commiserate with parents who say I can only get the cheapest airfare out of school holidays, but need to go home and visit family. But there are some families who want to take kids away for six or seven weeks every year and then come to school and complain that kids are not achieving as well as they should.”
Forbes High School principal David Harris said children miss school for reasons unheard of 20 years ago. “Reasons like celebrating their birthday or sibling’s birthday, stayed up too late watching TV, going shopping for clothes, extended long weekend, non-participation in sports carnival or special school events,” he wrote in a news- letter to parents.
He said children miss an average of 12-15 days a year with parent-condoned absenteeism highest among young primary aged children.
Sydney University research fellow Andrew Martin said school absenteeism can have a detrimental effect on learning.
“The amounts of time children are involved in instruction and lessons and learning does have a significant relationship with achievement.” he said.
“Shopping days, an aunty coming over and late nights have no educational yield.”
Teachers Federation deputy president Gary Zadkovich said children should only miss school if they are unwell or have an important family issue.
‘We believe absence from school should be a result of valid reasons to do with illness, important family issues or concerns but some of those reasons they are not supportable,” he said. “We place a high value premium on providing high quality teaching and learning for our students and we hope and expect that parents will support us in that endeavour.”
The top 5 excuses for days off (when kids aren’t sick):
1) Travel is cheaper outside of school holidays.
2) It’s their birthday or their sibling’s birthday.
3) They went clothes shopping.
4) They stayed up late watching TV the night before.
5) They don’t want to participate in a sports carnival.
I don’t have a problem – obviously – taking my kids out of school to go on a family holiday. Especially if it’s free. They’re still in primary school, on top of their work and rarely miss school because of illness (I’m touching every bit of wood I can reach). I’d never give them a day off for shopping, a haircut or to recover from a late night (?!) And I’m ruthless about participation in school events, even if they LOATHE the swimming carnival and come last in everything.
Kate Hunter is an advertising copywriter with over 20 years experience and one Gruen Transfer appearance to her name. Kate is also the author of the Mosquito Advertising series of novels. You can buy them here.
Does this make me hypocritical or normal? Where do you stand on days off school for healthy kids?
Comments
347 Comments so far
As a teacher, I ask you to remember that teachers can and do (though not always I know) take personal days off. I think students should be allowed to do the same in moderation of course. To say a student can never take a day off unless he’s sick, and then to take one off yourself to attend a wedding is not fair. However, when it gets to b 6ish weeks (which I have never seen) something may need to be said
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im in the US, and we dont have those sports days…..however, why cant kids get their birthday off? and you can always call in sick on your birthday so you dont have to work, arent ppl given a certain number of sick days a year…i know…only thing i can think of is those days are for EMERGENCIES…..you never know, u may become ill and need that ONE DAY you called in sick for cuz it was your birthday?
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Well… ever since there was a teachers’ strike that had Friday closure for weeks and we had a note saying the children’s education was NOT being compromised I’ve had serious doubts…
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As a teacher, I can see both sides. However, teaching high school, accelerated classes the expectation is that assigned work be completed. I detest parents indulging their child lack of organizational skills with set work but asking for a non completed assessment task to be excused bc they were in Queensland and little Jonny could not be expected to work whilst on holidays. When reports demonstrates non completion, they complain. I have set writing assessments around children’s holidays, workbooks and reading tasks – none are ever completed bc ‘they were on holidays’ . I get the cheap airfares etc- so how about I do likewise and leave your child for a few days whilst I take mine on holidays? Holidays can be educational however that needs to have a context the child can bring back ton the classroom rather than ‘ I spent every day playing COD on the free Xbox’.
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I took my kids out of school because the nature of my job and the cycles of my work meant that I was always working when they had holidays. When I had time off I wanted to spend it with them, and I felt that was more important than schoolwork. Now that they have left school I feel good about my choices. It made no impact on their schoolwork, and their current path in life was not at all affected by absenteeism.
I think that the whole school thing is over rated – especially when you look into history and realise that school was put into place to educate and babysit kids for an industrial working class lifestyle. Real life is not anything about what we learn at school. It doesn’t stop you from getting to where you want to get to. If you don’t leave school with the appropriate qualifications, it’s possible to get those after school or train in appropriate environments.
Family is more important than school. It’s more important to be with your children than it is to attend every day of school
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Yes parents, please do take your children out of school for important family time and don’t apologise for it. There’s plenty of time during adulthood when your children may be expected to be conformist little ‘yes men/women’. Childhood is possibly the one time in their lives when they can be spontaneously adventurous and creative without fear of reprisal or failure. Children do not need to be in school all day every day to learn the skills they need for their future….there are very few workplaces now which the school environment is representative of…..I have never been in a job where I shared a small room with 30 other people, if I had I’m sure I would never have got any work done, with all the chatting and distractions. Take your child out for the day, or two, or three, breathe the fresh air, enjoy being a parent to them and a teacher, don’t leave it all to the experts, as brilliant as they are (and my husband is one of them) they are overstretched and under-resourced and will never, ever, know or care about your child the way that you do. Or even better do what we’ve done, in favour of our kids leading more imaginative, bountiful lives and reject the system entirely by home-educating them and you’ll soon see just how pointless these rules are.
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Here here
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As a teacher, I think kids taking some time off to be with family and travel is educational. I only have a problem with it if you expect me to plan 6 weeks work for them (which they will not do) and then complain when their report card shows areas as incomplete.
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I am so with you on this. My girls are hardly sick (touch wood) and I do make them go to the athletics and swimming carnivals but we often take the kids out of school for 2 weeks each year for a family holiday.
They love experiencing new cultures and learning new ways of doing things , eating new foods and delicacies.
And in doing these things they actually have so much more to talk about in their weekly public speaking that they often have to do in class.
I have to admit I have given my youngest a day off because she is tired and lets face it for young ones why not????? It helps me in the long run – I mean she is then an easier child to deal with as she gets the rest she needs (and so do I)
I suppose for me I have a flexible job so I can do this and am fortunate to be able to do this.
If my children were struggling in school it may be a different story but to me while they can handle their school work on top of being cultured – let them have the experience -they are only young once!!!
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You think you are being a good parent by indulging your child with special treats and no school because …. (insert lame excuse here).Hmm explains why so many kids are little Veruca Salts.
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I have a daughter in Year 10 who has an anxiety disorder. The school is aware of this and has been reasonably supportive. She’s having counselling and is taking medication and has done REALLY REALLY well to get to the point that most days, she can go to school.
Having said this, there are days that, quite simply, she’s just shaking and can’t leave the house. This is the nature of an anxiety disorder. Sometimes, you just can’t function. This also includes things like swimming carnivals. The noise, the disorder, so many people in one place – for someone with anxiety, this is a waking nightmare.
So on “bad” days and on sports days, I let her stay home and I am totally fine with this. Her grades are great, she’s an A/B student across the board and is working hard to overcome her anxiety.
So these days off are a matter of mental survival. And she’ll continue to have these as long as she needs them despite scathing comments from various teachers in her recent (almost straight “A”) report that “she would benefit from more time at school”!
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I just think it’s a shame you feel you have to explain yourself to the “jobsworths” of the world. If your children are missing some school, for whatever reason your family sees fit, it is no-one’s business but your own. The children under discussion in this article are children who are cared for and doing fine, but simply miss school sometimes. The jobsworth brigade are not concerned for your family, only that you are getting away with breaking what they see as the rules. I also have had very good reasons for sometimes keeping my children off school – but won’t be explaining those reasons to anyone except for my nearest and dearest, if I choose to. No matter what you say, anyway, there will always be the ones who shake their heads and purse their lips – move along busybodies, nothing to see here. The very best of luck to you and yours.
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Ok.. So can I send them on Monday? (pupil bloody free day) because I’ll be at work and its another day I need to find care for them….oh didn’t think so!!
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It’s school. Not prison. If your children are struggling academically and you feel it’s an issue, be as strict as you like. Or even if they’re not struggling, your family your rules. If others are doing well, stop worrying about them having an odd day off or even a week if it’s important to their family. Obviously, we are talking about healthy, cared for children who are being well looked after here, simply missing a few days at school from time to time, anything else is an entirely different topic. Of course, this is not about concern at all, some folk are just irritated that other people’s children and families seem to be having a lot more fun, living their lives more freely, yet still doing really well. It’s the “jobsworth”, “rules are rules” clan come out to preach. Here’s a link, in case you don’t know what a jobsworth is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz44_Sp0K8A
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I am the other extreme.
I am making my 9 yo daughter do one hour of school work during the holidays. Every day.
WE do matheltics, reading, maths worksheets, clarinet practice.
Plus, she does a bit of housework (dishwasher plus tidying her room).
AS I tell her, you have 23 hours to yourself every day for two weeks, the rest belongs to us. She does not like it, but accepts it. She sees how little time her dad and I have in a day, even on holidays, and I explain to her that most kids in the world work everyday of their lives.
She feels really happy and relieved and proud of herself once the hour is up and NEVER complains of boredom.
So far, these holidays, she has also gone to vac care, where she has been to Luna Park, ice skating and lots of fun other adventures. She and I even went to see YTT in concert.
My only regret? That she does not spend enough time just chilling.
But I would Never pull her out for shopping or a birthday.
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that one day a year , their birthday, I will always allow them to take off. It’s a special day for my child and I , and we get a real kick out of spending the whole day together, one on one. My kids are smart enough to know that that doesn’t happen in the real world once you start working. Until then , bring on the birthdays, I say.
. . ( the rest of the school is for schooling obviously, not extra holidays in my opinion)
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It certainly appears that all children are special but are some are more special than others, go to school and learn you are not the centre of the universe!!!!! A great lesson for many people,
P.s I love teachers!!!
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I love your last comment Kate. It sums up exactly where I stand. I am glad I am not the only one.
We travelled OS when I was in High School for 2 weeks and I remember my mum getting homework for me to do on the plane and the teachers setting me assignments to do based on where I was going. I just loved that!
I know parents who keep their kids home from school as they are ‘so tired towards the end of term’ that they need a day off. In my head I am saying ‘give them a cup of concrete and send them to school!
I have spent several days these school holidays coordinating shopping and haircuts and visits with family. That is what holidays and weekends are for.
I am sure my kids see me as ‘mean’ (I like to explain that I have been practising on their sister for 13 years and I am really good at it). Suck it up. You will go to school if you are tired (should have had more sleep) and you will certainly go to sports days. If you don’t want to participate, cheer on those who do.
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Any trip, holiday or event that exposes kids to the world is alright by me. Different cultures, organising events for the day, packing, booking accommodation and travel, etc – get your kids involved in that and it will give them life skills far and beyond the stereotypical school day. At my boy’s old school (which he hated) I regularly booked holidays during the term, just to give him a break from the painfully excruciating curriculum and terrible teaching attitudes (he’s ADHD and Aspergers). After our trips we always do a travel diary, which he types up, binds and includes stuff like tickets, leaves, shells and interesting photos. The other kids loved it and he got to work on his public speaking skills too.
However, if parents are going to do this, complaining about their kids not doing as well as they should is just plain dumb. If they want their kids taught, don’t take them out of class!
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p.s A big thank you to all the great teachers out there who do provide quality education for Australian kids. It is NOT an easy job, as some people on here have suggested. My sister WAS a teacher, and quit because of abuse and threats from students in her class and their parents, and she is by no means a pushover.
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Guilty – when I was at school, maybe once or twice a year we skipped school to go to the city for a day of clothes shopping with my sisters and my mum. The joys of living in the country with no decent clothes shops!
Also guilty of convincing Mum I could get more school work done at home instead of sitting in the grandstands watching kids swim. And in Grade 12, this was certainly true! Exams and getting assignments done took precedents!
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I guess I have grown up in a very dysfunctional family as we didn’t have anywhere near as much ‘family time’. My parents couldnt afford expensive overseas holidays or skiing trips in or out of school time. I know there are many parents the same as mine. I think the ‘family time’ justification for these types of holidays is a bit weak. The fact is you want to go on holiday and you can save some money if you take it during school time because most people go during school holidays pushing the prices up. Please let’s be honest. It sounds like a middle/upper class ‘problem’ to me and not the type of absenteeism that most teachers care that much about. Take a trip into the schools and areas where absenteeism is rife and these kids are not on lovely family vacations to he snow. There is a real and serious issue here and the consequences are high.
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I agree completely, I have been attacked on this site for saying my child spends their birthday doing special things , with me. Also because they don’t go on the last day and stack the tables, I’ve been told I’m a bad mother. ( they actually begin the cleaning at the start of the week)
It’s seems if I could afford to take them on overseas holidays, or skiing trips, during school time, that would be perfectly acceptable to most who have commented. But that one day a year I allow them off , seems to really get their goat up.
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I certainly do not think that the parents with money for overseas holidays are justified, it is an attitude that I don’t agree with, if you can’t spend time with kids on evenings, weekends and holidays then how much time do you need?? My comments are not aimed at your financial position at ll.
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We have taken our prep/1 student out of school for about a week each year- one to travel to qld for my mums wedding ( she was flower girl) and another to attend a friends wedding in Sydney. We ( and her teacher) were absolutely comfortable about this but I would be more circumspect about doing it the older she gets. I think there are circumstances ( beyond illness) when it is perfectly legitimate ( not to mention in your child’s interest ) to miss some time at school. When I was 7 my parents took my brothers and I out of school for 3 months to travel around the Northern Territory. During that time we attended a school where my aunt taught in a remote aboriginal settlement for about 3 weeks. The rest of the time we did a bit of school work with dad who was a teacher. I cannot underestimate how valuable the 3 month experience was ( it shaped my attitudes in relation to indigenous people) and it could not have happened if we hadn’t been taken out of school.
What alarms me is the practice of quite a few people I know who give their young children “mental health days”… Or a day just to hang out with mum. I just think this potentially fosters a really poor attitude to school and later work.
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As a teacher, it comes as no surprise some of the negative sentiments written here. Just like the holidays, it comes with the job..the holiday argument is an old one.
20 yrs into my professional life , I still love – LOVE- my job, and spending time with your kids.
There is no one size fits all and can I just say , some of the best, funniest days are those days at the end of term, where kids see a different side of each other and their teachers in the other jobs that need to be done. The learning that happens is volunteering, problem solving, initiative, pride of workmanship, looking after belongings, organisation and seeing learning and school in a bigger picture- all of these are great life and workplace skills. Oh, and new friendships and a whole lots of laughter that always happens when we can be a little more casual, and more messy..
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You are so right about this. I remember those long hot days leading into the Christmas holidays and how much fun it was. One year we walked down the hill from school to our Year 3 teacher’s parents house to have a swim in their pool – imagine doing that now? They were days of long lunches , water balloon fights in the hot concrete playground in the afternoons and relaxed teachers and students.
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Yeah, I used to love going on the last days of term and often just hanging with the teachers doing stuff like filing, clearing through things. I actually liked my teachers anyway though. It was still a great feeling to be trusted to do those jobs and to be able to work closely with the teachers like that.
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My mother used to give me the day off for my birthday every year. We would have cannoli for brekkie & she would take me shopping. Every year (As an adult I make sure every year I take my birthday as annual leave).
I certainly didn’t suffer – but it was one day. I also never had to go to school the last week of school in term 4. But this was back when we did NOTHING that week. We would watch movies in class and do christmas craft *if that*. It was pointless.
I have no opinion on this, just wanted to share my little story.
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With a birthday in winter, I often had it off because I was sick
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I have had students go on cruises when they are supposed to be doing thier trial HSC, seems you can get out of school for just about anything…..
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My husband and I are about the become part of the famous statistic: leaving the teaching profession within the first 5 years.
After reading these comments, I’m not surprised that we are. I am utterly shocked and disgusted at the general attitude towards teachers. I actually feel rather sick.
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Same but I have just moved on after 20 years. 20 years experience and I used to love it. What made me leave? Mostly parents or perhaps more accurately, the shift in the way most people parent. Focussing on rights without teaching respect has had a diabolical effect on many children and their ability to interact with others.
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Isn’t it the law to send your school aged kids to school unless they are sick? I’m not sure how skipping school for holidays, shopping, tiredness sets them up to be responsible employees later on
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In my experience there’s actually no point being a responsible employee (except for, you know, self-respect-type reasons). In all of my jobs the people who regularly slack off and have lots of sickies get paid just as much as the hard workers do so what’s the point in being a hard worker? I think that if kids and adults alike are tired of participating in the daily grind of the society they were born into, then go nuts and have sickies.
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We had kids get days off for shopping, or just because. Even in high school. I think it’s bullshit to have a day off to go shopping. Or to not go to the athletics/swimming carnival or your birthday.
We used to have time off school to go away on trips, but only in early primary – it was the only way we could do it as staff travellers. Then we had to go standby or just went to my uncle’s place up the coast instead.
I also don’t get the having the last few days of term off either. That seemed to start when I was at high school.
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What’s wrong with skipping sports carnivals? If you’re not a popular athlete type student who doesn’t mind wearing swimmers in front of everyone, the whole day just makes you feel like shit. In addition to that, if you’re not racing in anything, it’s a day off just sitting around, so you may as well do something you enjoy.
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I was crap at athletics and came last and second last in all my races. Even at school I thought I had a better deal than being the kid who was crap at English or Maths. At least athletics was infrequently humiliating.
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Many schools have HPE several times a week. I would imagine the children who are poor athletes are therefore embarrassed several times a week, too.
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Because it’s part of going to school, taking part in school activities. I never took days off because we were doing dancing or gymnastics for PE, I sucked it up and had a go. Why is that such a hard proposition?
Also, it’s a school day. You’re supposed to go.
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When they start instigating reading carnival and maths carnival days, where every child, however poor they are at maths and reading has to compete publicly against every other child for a trophy, I will start worrying about children missing a day where they are forced to compete against highly athletic children (and often be judged by their highly competitive parents) whether they have any athletic skills or not. There is no such thing as a compulsory sport’s carnival, even if schools like to use the word compulsory. If you want to attend, do so, if not, don’t. Rules are made by people, for people. If the rules are foolish, we change or ignore them. If you enjoy sport’s carnivals, good for you, have fun, and leave those who are not interested in peace.
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So we should tell our kids to not even try? “It’s not about winning, it’s about trying your best.” is what I was always told. And you know what, I went, I participated and I gained confidence. I may not have won everything but I gave it a shot. What kind of message does this stay-at-home-just-because attitude give to kids. Give up before you even try? Brilliant. Really spurs confidence.
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I completely agree with you here! I attended a swimming carnival when I was in year 8. I lathered myself up in sunscreen, put a huge wide brimmed hat on (I am very pale and burn easily) and tried to find somewhere to sit in the shade. But as the bus I was on arrived to the pool last, the grandstand was packed and the only place left to sit was in the sun. So of course I came home as red as a lobster and from then on never went to a sports carnival ever again.
For me it was an issue of trying not to get sunburnt, but no matter how many precautions I took, I still did. Unlike other kids who took the day off to shop, I used it as an extra study day. (Nerd? Me? Never).
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I missed two or three weeks of school when I was in year 10 to go to Europe (with another two weeks which were part of school holidays). I remember what a hard time the school gave me and my parents about it. The attitude that they ‘owned’ me annoyed me the most. Frankly, in NSW they made such a big deal about the School Certificate, which actually meant nothing to me or any of my friends. This was in 2003, not a time when many people actually need a ‘leaving certificate’. I am now studying for a Masters degree, so I cannot see any adverse educational side effects.
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Hasn’t had the best effect on your attitude though……
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And this reminds me why I disliked most of my high school teachers.
Should I put some ellipses on the end of my sentence to covey my passive aggressiveness?
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Guys, just a reminder this post isn’t about teachers but about time off from school. Keep it respectful
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I suppose I can see the arguments on both sides but this has always been such a foreign concept for me. The school year was the school year, and the only legitimate reason that was accepted in my family’s household for absences was illness.
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Mum used to have ‘mental health days’ on the very odd occasion, very odd occassion. We never had days off for hair cuts or shopping, though.
I think it’s about common sense, really. If you take your child out of school often and you find they are not performing well, then you need to re-think whether you can really justify that day off. Teachers can only do so much, and kids are not going to cement their knowledge if they are in and out of school.
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I don’t have a problem with a day here or there for some family time, or even for a family holiday, but the other excuses are ridiculous.
Taking a child’s birthday away from school sets up this precedent for every year, and I think can encourage kids to think they are entitled to some sort of free pass because it is their birthday.
Not participating in school events is a unacceptable reason, as is clothes shopping or a late night
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Why wouldn’t you use that day here or there that you don’t have a problem with, and use it on that one day a year that is your child’s special day. I think everybody ‘s entitled to feel special on their birthday. ( that’s just my opinion obviously).
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When I was growing up (a million years ago), you did feel special going to school on your birthday – all of your friends were there and could wish you a happy birthday (and sometimes it was mentioned in class). Then, you would have a party on the weekend. No wonder so many kids these days are so entitled and get a shock when they grow up and the world doesn’t revolve around them – imagine the horror of having to go to work on your birthday!
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I suppose you’re right, I should stop making my kids feel special on their birthday and spending the day with them, one on one. With 4 kids and being on my own, I would hate to think of them growing up feeling entitled to that. I’m sure once they grow up and start working, they’ll realise they have to go to work on that day, just like I do.
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I have no issue with pulling primary aged or early high school kids out of school for a few weeks for a meaningful holiday experience which is likely to far exceed anything they learn at school in that time. Unless it’s an extended period where you can get distance ed materials (like the caravaning trip around Oz etc) I don’t think it’s fair to expect teachers to prepare lessons or work for your child; there are plenty of opportunities for spontaneous learning along the way (how far to the next town, how much fuel are we using per 100km, history of the area etc, etc,)
However, I think letting kids stay home so they can go shopping or have a haircut is ridiculous.I think that runs the risk of teaching children that school and all it entails (academic, social, musical, sporting) isn’t important. Not everyone is going to rock at the swimming or athletics carnival, but rather than giving them the day off, send them along to cheer, celebrate the achievements of others and maybe be inspired to find their own ‘thing’ to excel or have a go at.
On a side note, I missed a term of year 4 due to illness and completely missed out on learning cursive. When I left everyone was printing with lead pencils and when I returned they all had pen licences and were doing cursive. Never did get the hang of cursive the ‘right’ way and socially I was a bit left out although that was probably because I was a nerd and didnt fit in socially before I was off sick.
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Actually this is a bit of a bone of contention in my house. I think it is ok to pull the kids out of school during term so we can have some time away from the farm.
Husband thinks School time is School time and we must only have time off for School holidays. Only problem is it is too darn expensive and hard to find accommodation in the holiday period. So we don’t go anywhere in the end.
We find it extremely hard to go away at the best of times, with all the animals and farming. Summer is too hot – animals die unless their water is checked every day and autumn we are sowing crops. Spring to summer we harvest and the only real time we can go away I find is August. Smack bang in term time. Snow holidays are out as it is way too expensive for us, so we just stay put most of the time.
Yes, I am being a whingeing farmer at the moment as we have had plans to go and visit family for 2 days these hollidays and we can’t because a heifer has decided she wants to wait to give birth the second we go. So we can’t leave her – she will die and the calf will die too. Anyway long rant! Moving on!
Hubby has relented once (two years ago) about taking the last week of term off when the kids would only be cleaning and watching movies.
Our last day of term was NAIDOC Day and it was actually productive and fun. They still did work and participated in mass and games – so that was worth going to. I just hate it when they do nothing in the last weeks and because hubby stuffs around we end up doing nothing about it – I am pulling my hair out!
I make my kids go in the swimming carnival. I cried every time I had one so I was determined that my kids would swim enough, so they werent embarassed about swimming (and to save their life too). Now all those times going to swimming have paid off, they love to swim, and love that they can go in any race and have a go at it. I wish my parents did the same for me.
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I feel so sad that so many of the responses to this article became an opportunity to ‘teacher bash’. Reading between the lines, I feel that the article is more concerned with students whose unnecessary and consistent absenteeism (Hair cuts, sleep overs, don’t feel like it etc) is being legitimised with little regard to future consequences. A family holiday, believe me, is the very least of our concerns. In fact, I applaud you! Why then, do so many, refer to the default argument of ‘teachers have holidays.’
It is so incredibly exhausting to do your job, do it well and then on top of that – defend it. I don’t think that my job (I am a teacher) is harder,or more time consuming than the next person’s. Yet, very few professions suffer more scrutiny or require more justification than those of public servants. Some of the responses to this article clearly devalue the professional role of the teacher. Shame on the mamamia community. Teachers care about your children’s educations. More support and appreciation for what we do and less ‘bashing’ is what we need. Parents have the hardest job in the world. I respect that about you. Where is the love for me?
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I for one , thank you for doing a wonderful job. I have nothing but respect for teachers and what you do. I doubt it would be easy.
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Thank you! And to you, who I assume is a mum of 4, ditto!!!
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I love you! Such an important job. I hope you love it, and always remember it’s a privilege to teach these young minds, with all its challenges. And I’m sure there are many.
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BEST. JOB. EVER!!!
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We have enormous respect for teachers. And living around the corner from our school, can attest that there’s not much holiday taking going on for teachers in the holidays. Thanks for teaching. It’s such an important job.
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Renee, my husband started in teaching at 35 and myself at 30. Between us we have 25 years experience in the private sector in a variety of roles (mostly business development for me in multinationals and my husband in the music industry in both a publishing and production role) and I can unequivocally say that both my husband and I have never, ever, been busier in any other role than as a teacher. Or more exhausted. The idea that ‘teachers get all of these holidays’ went out the window when I started teaching! And now I find that I have to defend, ‘all these holidays’. If only people knew!
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I am clearly a nerd. My daughter has 100% attendance so far.
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In 2007 I took my son to Africa and he missed 3 weeks of school in Year 7. He did struggle to get back into the swing of things and we pretty much wrote off the rest of the year from October when we returned.
Next week his mother is taking him to Asia for 10 days, missing 10 days of next term.
Fundamentally I have a problem with both trips but it’s so difficult to have a hard stance on this issue.
When I grew up in Africa in the 70′s & 80′s it was unheard of. But then no one travelled OS and there were no cheaper flights outside school holidays. Flights were unheard of and only the rich could afford to fly.
I think we are becoming too used to travelling all over the world. My son at 17 has been to Africa, NZ and Asia. By comparison at 17 I had hardly travelled out of my State.
Maybe our school model of 4 terms a year needs to be re-modelled?
I don’t know what the solution is but I’m torn between allowing “traditional” education and making time for “life” education.
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We quite often take our 2 out of school during the term (husband works overseas on occasion and also does FIFO depending on the job. They are 6 & 11 and we haven’t had any issues with catching up. Our 11 year old is working at the next year level anyway (split class)
I’ve never asked for work to be given while we are away, and none of the teachers have suggested it, we did however have one gorgeous teacher who suggested Miss 11 could email her daily to keep her up to date with her travels. Our daughter loved keeping in touch with her teacher (and in the end the whole class)
I think if either child struggled we would reconsider our holidays, but really, when both children are consistantly given “busy” sheets to keep them occupied because they have completed the set work, I don’t think a few holidays are going to slow them down. Obviously secondary school may be different.
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What a sensible comment.
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I’m not sure how I’ll tackle this when the time comes. We will be living on the opposite side of the world to one set of grandparents and it’s horrendously expensive to travel outside school holidays, let alone during.
I remember as a child that not going to school for a reason other than being on my deathbed was not an option. But then, we never went on holidays either (perhaps that’s why I’m addicted to holidays now!).
As for going clothes shopping, staying up late watching TV, or not wanting to participate; you must be kidding. Not acceptable reasons IMO.
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When I was 15 and my sister 12 my parents took us to Europe. We had a campervan, and spent 4 months away. Almost all 4 months was school time. We were doing well at school. We took school work with us, but I dont recall doing any. The experience of immersing ourselves in other cultures was incredibly enriching. It obviously didn’t do me any harm as I now have 5 degrees, including a PhD! If the opportunity arises I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same with my kids.
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I’m a teacher in a catholic secondary boys school. I have students taking time off for holidays all year round.
I appreciate the ‘trip of the lifetime’ to Europe or the US, but the cheapo holiday to the Bali resort each year annoys me. It always happens to be on either side of the school holidays too, so kids tend to miss even more classes.
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Very true ms w. I can easily recall our trip of a lifetime in grade 3 to the US. My sister and I learnt a great deal, more than we would in the classroom. Washington, pearl harbor, grand canyon etc sticks in my memory far more than the rest of grade 3!!!
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I plan on taking my kids out of school for a trip of a lifetime – or maybe even 2 of them. What they will learn will be worth more to them than a classroom experience. My neighbour (also a teacher) took her Grade 6 (12 yr old) daughter on a 6 month tandem cycling tour of Europe a few years ago.
Now that’s a trip of a lifetime!
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My kids have missed school on rare occasions for holidays and we asked for any homework from the teachers, which they didn’t give us. The last time (last year) my then 10 year old just did up a power point of the trip and my then 7 year old took a photo book of the holiday for show and tell.
As a rule if we have apps I try to make them before or after school, or at least either end of the school day. I think if the school recognizes that you don’t abuse parent condoned absenteeism, they’re ok when it does happen.
I’ve known of women that are too lazy to get their act together and get the kids to school on time and so just leave them at home for the day. Never understood this one…..
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Well, my kids are going skiing in September and I have on occasion pulled them out of school so that we can have some very special and rare one on one time together.
What I will say is that my eldest daughter has a friend at school who does a lot of travelling – missing at least a term a year – and she has struggled to socially integrate into school, just can’t seem to find her place, friends etc. Impossible to tell whether this is only because of her personality or because of the travel, but the travel can’t be helping her cement her friendships. Having said that, she has a very tight family unit and obviously the travel provides her with wonderful experiences so there is benefit for her there.
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And finding your feet socially is also a big part of academic achievement – if you feel uncomfortable in your environment, you’re not learning optimally.
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I’m ok with one day off a term per child to have a day with me, either at home or out to lunch. Just the two off us without the other sibling. Nice for each of us.
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What a lovely idea
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I agree – I do this too. With 4 children, sometimes they need one on one time with mum.
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Kate, we’re taking the same days off, for the same reason. We had to pay though (damn). See you on the slopes!
Ps. I never even thought twice about taking the year 3 and the year 1 out of school. Oops.
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If you can’t afford to go on holidays in the appropriate breaks then you can’t afford to go where you want to go.
Pulling children out of school, particuarly for shopping days, late nights and ski trips sends the message to your children that their education is not important.
There is also the disadvantage to the rest of the class who have to wait while your child is brought up to speed on their return (no matter what work you did on holiday or how clever a particular child may be).
It’s a sad reflection on a “me” culture. My Time is more vaulable (prepare me some work). My Family is more vaulable. My Money needs to stretch further.
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You got it right. My family is more important and I rarely hesitate taking my two primary schoolers out for a holiday. they learn a shitload more with me, reading, going to museums etc etc than anything they learn in school for the same week.
Get a grip people. They’re in Primary School!!!!!
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Just remember your high school teacher isn’t going to teach a child to read. Primary school is so much more important than you give it credit for
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Probably why it’s called “Primary” school. Because it teaches you the primary skills you need to be able to do everything else.
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Im a primary school teacher… LOVE kids having time off for a holiday with parents! So many pluses. Spending time with parents, seeing the world and then teaching kids about where they went when they return.
I flat out refuse to provide work. Not my job to holiday-school them and it takes away from trip. I ask them to read every day and keep a journal. When the return I encourage them to bring in pics in a USB to share with class and discuss with us!
In primary school I think it’s totally fine for kids to miss a few weeks, high school a bit different!
Say thanks to your teachers next week… Most deserve it!
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Agree completely! They are learning so much that I would never be able to teach them in a classroom
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I am a school teacher and a parent. I just took my children to Japan for a holiday in the the first term break. I also can’t hoidays whenever I feel like it I just had to pay the additional cost of fares,etc to do this kind of holiday. From the other perspective as a teacher, when children miss particularly extended periods of time away from school there are some foundational skills these children never pick up. I teach at a TAFE where most of the students have missed extended periods of time from school – what I say is that it does really matter. Some of these students who might be up to the age of 18 sometimes only have the skills you might expect of a 12-13 year old. All the skills taught in primary schools are foundational to many of the things students learn in secondary school so whilst occasional days off are probably ok ongoing, yearly trips overseas are not. Think hard before doing this as you might not realize what the longer term implications for your children are.
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As a teacher I can actually see both sides of the debate. I believe that children can learn so much while on holidays and in some instances it gives them a better understanding of geography, cultures and many other things. Parents need to take some responsibility for this learning that can occur outside the classroom. However, my objection is when the parents are taking their children out of school for a week or more and expect that you will provide them with the curriculum you are planning to teach while they are away. Many times I have tried to accommodate this but it rarely works. So much time is spent preparing it in a different format to make it easier for the child – because you don’t have the luxury of explaining it effectively at each stage,or having them ask questions about it. From my experience it rarely, if ever gets done anyway. This is frustrating as a lot of time is spent preparing the material and then the parents complain when their children aren’t up to speed when they return to school. If parents wish to take them out of school during school time then I think that they also need to be prepared to do some work with them. I find that one of the best things parents can do is get their children to keep a journal about where they are, facts about where they are,……and interesting things they would like to write about. At the end they can then share some of it with their class mates when they get back and they will have a record of their travels for years to come.
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I can see where the teachers are coming from as it must be difficult to constantly catch children up who are missing school. But as a parent who has a husband with terminal brain cancer I can also see it from the family side.
My daughter (Grade 2) has had more time off school in the last 12 months than her first two years combined.
We have to keep her off if a kid in her class is sick (a heavy cold, rather than a sniffle, serious cough etc) so she doesn’t catch it and pass it onto my husband who is immune-suppressed. We are lucky in that her teacher will let us know when to collect her and also when it is fine for her to come back.
I also have to keep her off if I can’t find care for her while my husband is in hospital having treatment. We don’t have family in Brisbane and friends can only do so much so if I can’t get care she has to come with me.
I have also kept her off school to have family portraits done (we got them donated but had to be done on a weekday), family holidays etc as sometimes making memories is more important than school work.
I do think the excuse they were tired from a late night is a bit weak if it was just a normal day and you didn’t get them to bed early enough. Sometimes though parents don’t necessarily want the school to know what is going on in a family and may say a weak excuse to cover the absence.
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Hey kathl29, Thanks for your comment. So easy to talk of ‘family time’ as if all it means is a trip to the snow. Thinking of you and your family and hoping you have happy days, together.
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Perhaps a reflection of the learning experiences they are experiencing in each environment and which is valued more? Just a thought….
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Honestly? In most cases I think it’s more a reflection of a strong Australian dollar.
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I dont think that taking a day off because you slept in, got a hair cut or went shopping is a valuable enough learning experience to take a day off school. Most of the absenteeism that is a concern for teachers isn’t around parents taking their kids on holidays, this is pretty rare. Just saying.
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