That’s a lovely platitude, but it leaves your child at serious disadvantage in school. They’ll be 2 weeks behind and that may mean they spend the next two weeks without a clue about what’s going on because they missed the start of the chapter. There’s plenty of time for travel. It’s not like school holidays are short.

The Travel Agents use the school holidays to screw customers, you can only get a bargain at winter time! You know how the Irish love to rip their customers off, we’re our own worst enemies and greedy little feckers!

Kevin, who says 2 weeks, travel agents sell 1weeks hols too plus long weekend breaks, so a child can go on a hol and if worked out right only miss 3-5 days of school which can be easily caught up on wit a little extra work at home or take a little work on hols for an hr a day

I reckon I’ve got a decent enough understanding of primary school-level academia to cover the missed subject matter with the kid myself. Maybe not in Irish but that’s a price I’m willing to pay.

I think you’re all thinking of the best case scenario, where your child is in primary school and you’re an attentive parent who is bringing them on a holiday to broaden their horizons and who will make sure they catch up. That’s not the reality for an awful lot of children. In fact, it’s the attentive parents who are the most likely to have reservations about taking their kids out of school. For the rest, it will mean a sun holiday by the pool and no pressure to catch up.

Not to mention if your child is in secondary school. Try missing a week of honours maths and see how easy it is to catch up and keep abreast of your current workload.

It’s like going on the hop by proxy.

Its not the end of the World, If parents take kids for a well earned break. All work and no play, makes Kev a dull boy!

“dear sir,

little tommy was in Spain with us for a week. but he’ll catch up on the fluid dynamics and thermal conditioning he missed out on.

he’ll also catch up on the mechanics he missed for football matches

by the way, why isn’t he getting an A. you must be a bad teacher

Take a chill pill Kevin, most parents know what’s best for their kids not some flute of a Minister. Is the world going to end with two weeks of no school? I think not….

Yes, parents know what the best educational practices for their children are… cause they’ve been to school 20 years previous and thus are experts!

Risteard, I never said parents are experts in the education system, what I said is that most parents know their own children and whether or not they can afford to miss a couple of weeks of schoolwork and then catch up later.

Well, i have professional experience that shows that it’s not the case.

Congratulations Risteard, if you have professional experience then I bow to your higher power. Professional experience of raising children and knowing what is best for them or text book experience?

You’re not doing the child any favours. You’re actually being quite selfish. You want your holiday and you can’t leave the kids home alone. Instead you’re going to take them out of classes and set them back a week or two behind their peers. You’re then putting the stress of catching up onto their shoulders. It’s not like it’s you who’ll have to rush through all the extra homework.

No textbook experience about being a 2nd level teacher. And it’s not just textbooks and exams. We’re the ones who foster the environment for them to develop their social skills. We’re the one’s who foster the environment to give them opportunity to get involved take initiative and do things they like. We’re the one’s who regularly have those “awkward” talks about drugs and sex. Granted the parents are the primary care givers but don’t know the profession and the minister who’s worked with kids for longer than most parents changed nappies.

**don’t knock the profession**

Being quite selfish Kevin eh? I have never taken my kids out of school and have no plans to. If you read my original comment I have said that parents know their children best and not Minister for ineptitude Ruadhri Quinn ,nor any other randomer who feels the need to lecture parents on what is best for their children.

What about the rest of the class that have to wait, while the teacher helps the student that takes a holiday to catch up, any thought for them.

Life is short. Too much time is wasted in school that could be condensed by a large degree. It’s more important in life to build a solid family and strong experiences. When you leave school and the education system, no one cares if you did pass or honours Irish. What matters is the level of practical experience you have built up. You don’t build experience from sitting in a classroom but from pursuing one’s own educational interests and experiences in the real world. School is designed to be economical, not to maximise education.

Oh wow, you’ve got a bad attitude..Your obviously a teacher by the sound of it..-’no dark sarcasm in the classroom’- That’s Pink Floyd by the way,Should be obvious ,but people like you are usually quite uneducated outside of your own four walls..-What a brick!!

Risteard – you arrogant fool!! You seem to believe that you! are rearing these kids, and that the parents are no more than a bad influence on their own children.!! You’ve been brought up in the and by the system.You are brainwashed.Now you want to brainwash our kids.You are diluting the respect that children have for their parents.Who do you think you are?!!! RISTEARD YOU FOOL.

This popped up in an email update… but seriously!!!! Trying to troll on a 6 month old article. Grow up child!

Liked that Albert…funny chappy.

Did you manage to teach them about full stops?

Yes, of course I do. You may also notice I wasn’t using capitals where needed. I also used ‘however’ a bit too often. My children, of course, are not reading the comments on the Journal, so what difference does it make if i used a full stop, or 5?

“Double checks” should be hyphenated. ;)

lol touche !! I didn’t use a capital D though so your inverted commas are incorrect :P

i am taking my 5,16 and 18 year old children to the USA for a family wedding in December there is no way those idiots in government are gonna tell me how to bring up my kids of which i have five one uni grad with honors and none of them has been arrested or warned about antisocial behavior and how does the government and the so called responsible leaders of industry (well banks) reward us? my kids now face living in a no job shit hole for the next twenty years or emigrating just to get a decent job. When they start to lead by example maybe then i will listen just more soundbites by a government trying to distract us from the real problems that exist i do agree there are some parents who are irresponsible but why punish us all hire more officers and use technology to target those at risk and while your at it cut the wages and perks of those ineffectual morons in the government and civil service and i am not saying all are but there are enough of them some of whom i know personally who years ago freely admitted they were in it for the money and security which is ok except when you are not doing your job

Well spoken, Niall. I second that. Enjoy your trip to America and may your children learn much more in that short trip than they’d learn in a year spent in crappy, boring school! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5ApYxkU-U

Educate the living brains out of them and then tell them their obselete before thy even get started is it.Education of the mind is more than lugging back breaking bags of books around .Ive a kid there that is happy in his own self i dont pressure him and his doing just fine been free to cultivate his mind at his own pace that is who he is and Ruairi sellout Quinn has no say in the matter he can not be taking serious anymore promising kids one hing and doing the opposite.What kind of educator is he.He’s a joke and my young lad is already far superior in his education than mutterrer Ruairi.

And yet they want us to vote yes in the children’s referendum… take the role away from ALL families and give it to the state….. think I’ll be voting no… all the guidelines are there already in our constitution they just have to be acted on.. :) it’s amazing when people start to educate themselves outside of schooling systems that they no longer are a sheep.

If you can’t afford to go on holidays without taking your kids out of school, then don’t go on holidays.

Holidays are not a right.

what do you mean not a right.
family holiday should be encourage

What about teachers taking time out of school? My youngest lads teacher went missing for over a fortnight last year. “To get married it seems”. Can you believe that? 14 weeks a year off, yet she needs over two weeks on top, to get bleedin married!

If i can afford a standard priced holiday but not the extortionate prices aimed to rip families off during school hols then it shud be my right to choose to take my kids out of school for max of 1 week thru the year. I wud be happy to take school work with me and spend some time while away covering whatever they might be missing but 1 week a year wont make any difference long term. Plus peak summer time is too hot, may/end sept is a nice time in terms of heat abroad for kids

@Rodrigo, that’s total BS. Teachers can have up to 5 days off if they get married during term time including their wedding day. Probably from a time when women might “fall pregnant” and need to get married pronto, considering the ethos of their employer, who is still legally allowed to discriminate against people in such a situation. Anyway, are you allowed to choose when you get married? That’s nice for you.

incontinent simian that is the most moronic statement i have heard you obviously have lots of money and no brains hope your children don’t inherit the latter typical of someone who wont use their real name

Capital ‘I’ Niall.

Sorry Paul, but I agree with whatsisface. Teachers get ridiculously generous holidays. Taking additional holidays on top of the scheduled ones is just jaw dropping greed.

Travel agents hiking up prices during school holidays is what the minister should look into. I know its not his department, but if he could liaise with the relevant government department that could put much needed pressure on travel agents, then, maybe it would be just as affordable for parents to take their kids on a foreign holiday when school is off, therefore reducing the need for children to be taken out of school.

well said. sometimes people forget learning happens outside the classroom. Our curriculum in Ireland is too focused on academic achievement and not on other skills needed for life. education should not be a one size fits all.

Would say the session on “bat conversation” was good :-)

And that what happens when you leave it up to auto text.. should have course read bat conservation… could have been told to go back to school for that one. :)

I always wondered how a 7 month old could views biodiversity and bat conservation.

Might aswell seeing as the politicans will be screwing the kids over soon enough.

Nah. Just kidding. Went to the Canaries. Great holiday.

did you travel over by eco friendly sail boat.

lol comment of the week for me that,well played sir

At your service Mr. Lennon. At your service. :)

That made me laugh. Bravo

well said

My sister got married in Canada this summer she deliberately waited until summer holidays in order for her nieces & nephews to go but we were punished for it by paying way over the odds! This included price hikes for her also due to the time of year. I think there was regret on everyone parts for not pulling them out of school! Though it was a special occasion an expensive one for sure.

My daughter is on her third teacher this year!! First one was in for 2 weeks left on maternity leave, second was part time and got a job in another school, so now she has another until the one on maternity leave is back, I’d see this as more disruptive to her education than my daughter taking a week out.

Selfish teachers! One depriving children of the opportunity of a practical and real biology lesson on human birth and infant nutrition, another selfishly taking a full-time position instead of a part-time one, couldn’t he/she just cut corners and put up with a temporary /part-time position? Some people eh

And I suppose women don’t deserve a right to vote either JP?

Thanks for your comment but you need not have bothered Paul. No need to get smart, all I was saying is 3 teachers in 2 months is more disruptive than a week off school.
But thanks for your comment, such a great contribution.

Rob Jones, eh what ??
I’m simply talking about staff planning or lack of being disruptive to pupils. Not for a second complaining about a teacher being out on maternity leave, why on earth would I ?? But you knew that already.
Just better planning by the school to cover such instances would lead to less disruption in this case.
But it’s off point and your obviously picking up on things that aren’t there in comments hoping to start a debate over nothing so ill let you get some more sleep.

What better planning would you suggest? Employ fewer female teachers of reproductive age? Employ a teacher to cover the entire year rather than just the maternity leave? Paid for how exactly? From the voluntary contributions or a bake sale?

Paul. What I said in my post is fact. I’ll name the school and teacher if you want me to!

Paul you obviously have no school going kids my kids teachers take more time off for courses sick leave or to become politicians all of which we pay for one teacher was an alcoholic who rarely showed up on a Monday about time adults started taking responsibility and stopped trying to shift the blame on struggling families thankfully there are only a few of these selfish b**stards but they are messing with a lot of children’s future’s

Niall, could you start adding some punctuation to your posts please? I’m getting quite out of breath reading them.

@Niall do you notice that your kids bring home all sorts of colds and sniffles once they start back at school? Well, is it surprising that people who work there also catch these? It’s always amazing how public service bashers get irate about nurses and teachers taking time off sick. D’uh! Where they work is crawling with sickness and people who don’t know yet how to limit disease transmission through good personal hygiene. About the alcoholic teacher, alcoholism is a disease, if it’s affecting performance it is regrettable but what solution do you propose? Firing someone for being sick is a bit harsh, although I agree a solution should be found I don’t know what it is. People who leave their teaching posts to become politicians no longer receive a paycheque for being a teacher, although I suspect this was just a “while I’m ranting might as well throw the kit hen sink at it” point.
@Rodrigo, check out the regulations online, there is a maximum of 7 calendar days (incl weekends) allowed if you get married during term time.

Continuous upskilling is part of Education. Most of the time teachers are sent on these. For example, if you teach sex ed…you must first be trained..you cannot go into a classroom guns blazing without fully knowing how to approach such an important lesson. New changes in the Junior Cert require upskilling…it’s part of the fabric of education.

sorry robin my education was limited because i never attended any school long enough to settle, two years tops and have only recently started writing ,plus mixing UK and USA schools got very confusing .@paul my kids never came home with sniffles or sick stop talking sh*** head lice yes but didn’t take time off school just tied their hair up .Alcoholism should be treated not a firing offense just like any other addiction .Also i did not know the salary for teachers who become politicians no longer exists .One last thing I have made sacrifices to make sure that my kids attended same schools for their entire education and all have passed leaving with enough points for uni which i can not afford and being self unemployed am proud my eldest has graduated with honours from UCD maybe she will get a decent job but it wont be in this country

It’s a supply and demand issue.

Are you a brother of Anna’s perchance? :)

Me! 8,7and 2. I agree with taking them out- see my comment about :)

I’m a father. My daughter is 2.

Do you vote no to keep the right with the parents. Vote yes and it’s up to the child and or the state… I can see that happening “dad you vote yes to change the constitution so its my choice not to go to school” or I’ll as the government what’s best for my child…. again it’s a reason to vote NO… it isn’t broken just not implemented..

Wrong

Sorry Dave my error,
http://www.batconservationireland.org/

I’d say that suggestion will go down like a lead balloon!

At a young age socializing is very important and keeping kids doing such in primary school is a necessity which must be realized.

I agree with Alan.
Most of my family are homeschooled. I was not homeschooled and I envy my younger sisters. They study whatever they want as well as the essentials like English and writing, Maths and geography, astronomy, art, the natural world…the list goes on. Mostly they are self motivated because they have autonomy over what they learn as opposed to sitting in a giant bacterial culture being bored half to death by a complete stranger.

Couldn’t agree more. For parents to pretend/convince themselves that the “cultural awareness” gained on holidays equates to a contribution to their childs education attainment in a state exam, is a farce. Parents should never seek to restrict their childs education and should never be allowed to restrict their childs education. Catch a grip people – take them on holidays whenever you want and take them wherever you want, but don’t pretend to the world and to yourself that you are giving them the exam focused education that our education system requires.

It’s the narrow suppressive, exam-focused system that has ruined education. Years and years are spent sitting at a desk being force fed what someone else decides you should know to be the perfect little citizen. The real education begins the day you walk out the door of the school and out into the real world. Is this the taste of things to come- well paid government ministers, who are well cushioned from any hardship in life, making decisions about what parents should or shouldn’t do.

Poor attenders perform poorly. In general, the poor attenders are not the ones going on holidays, they are the ones whose parents allow them to skip school two and three days every week because they don’t have any respect for education and have little education themselves.

What a nasty mean-spirited thing to say. I suppose you in Fine Gael will be thinking of some way of getting your hands on any holiday money we have saved to give to your banker pals.
A week in the sun in December or January, when it is most needed and appreciated, is half the price of a summer break. We’ll be in Grand Canaria; it will help the kids as they are doing Spanish at school.

Exactly what the children will get on a holiday, Fine Gael Fan – a sunny climate helps generate vitamin D and assists the growth of strong healthy bones; the change of scene and time spent with family will definitely be good for a child’s welfare; travel broadens the mind and is more educational than being stuck at a desk and there’s great socialising on a holiday. Children meet loads of new people from all over the world and can keep contact with them after the holiday is over. If mum and dad manage to have a few beers on top of all of that, good for them! Parents need a bit of fun too!