A business idea - What are your thoughts.

AllyG wrote:Snowbandit,
I'm really sorry - I totally misunderstood what you were talking about :oops:

I am trying to get my head around this, and finding it rather difficult.

Are you saying that the government is going to stop parents taking children out of state primary schools during term time? When my kids were young it was not a problem when they were in primary school.

Ally

Head teachers are no longer allowed to authorise an absence for holidays in term time. So: Parent asks permission, school says 'no', family go on holiday anyway and absence is recorded as unauthorised. Attendance figures have an influence on the outcome of an OfSTED inspection.

As an aside, nothing against Snowbandit's idea...

but I must admit I don't get this "unauthorised absence thing". At 6-11 yrs old it's not really about the children, is it? It is about management & targets and the one-size-fits-all policy we have IMO. 5-days of missed school is not "truancy" in the proper sense, if the other 160 days are fully attended.

The proof is that most schools run "outward bound" weeks away and some go skiing themselves during term time...if the school organise it then its ok, but a family goes and it's a problem. Something smells fishy with that to me.

snowb4ndit wrote:
they would also receive a report on what the child had done during their stay. This could then possibly count as off site education and the unauthorised absence that would normallly be recorded will be avoided.

It is a very popular service at present, that is not in question. What I am thinking is if the opportunity was there for the nanny to be a qualified teacher that liaised with the child's school and prevented an absence would you choose that over the usual ski resort nanny service.

Sorry snowb4ndit - I don't mean to rain on your parade, but schools here are incredibly picky about this. They are extremely reluctant to authorise absence of any sort except in extreme circumstances. Believe me, we have tried all sorts. There is also increasing political pressure to punish parents for taking their kids out of school. I don't think it's realistic that your teachers would liaise with a child's school - the schools simply wouldn't do this. I repeat my opinion that most schools will never authorise these absences, no matter how much they are dressed up as education. I speak from experience here. I wish it were different.

Oh right Snowbandit, I am finally 'with it' :idea:

Sorry I was so slow on the uptake :oops:

Well, in that case I would consider your new idea if my children would have only been ski-ing for a half-day anyway, because I wouldn't like them to miss any ski-ing time.

If they were old enough to be able to ski all day I think I'd rather pay the extra and go in school holidays.

I know my younger daughter managed to ski all day in lessons when she was 9 years old, but I don't know about children younger than that.

Ally

acarr wrote:
Sorry snowb4ndit - I don't mean to rain on your parade, but schools here are incredibly picky about this. They are extremely reluctant to authorise absence of any sort except in extreme circumstances. Believe me, we have tried all sorts. There is also increasing political pressure to punish parents for taking their kids out of school. I don't think it's realistic that your teachers would liaise with a child's school - the schools simply wouldn't do this. I repeat my opinion that most schools will never authorise these absences, no matter how much they are dressed up as education. I speak from experience here. I wish it were different.

No need to appologise, it's not a parade, it's a discussion about an idea. Any comments are valuable!

But as I said in my OP:

snowb4ndit wrote:


I am more interested in your thoughts as a parent who might use the service as I am already pretty clear about what a school would be prepared to do and not to do and how to deliver an appropriate and fun curriculum.

I find it strange that a school can organise a trip and take kids away during term time but parents cannot.
Fundamentally its the question of what is education. Schools and teachers have so many targets, assessments and pressure of results that at times the core of teaching seems neglected. I have heard of kids doing 4 gcse on one subject across two years so they have multiple chances of passing. I'm not slagging off teachers, I think they do the best that they can do.the pressure they are put under is immense but its now with league tables etc a result based business, not what's best for kids rounded development.
I think you're business idea although fundamentally good will fail when you get into the paperwork side and the communication issue you will have. Having to get individual lesson plans for each child is one hurdle to overcome

john987 wrote:I find it strange that a school can organise a trip and take kids away during term time but parents cannot.
Fundamentally its the question of what is education. Schools and teachers have so many targets, assessments and pressure of results that at times the core of teaching seems neglected. I have heard of kids doing 4 gcse on one subject across two years so they have multiple chances of passing. I'm not slagging off teachers, I think they do the best that they can do.the pressure they are put under is immense but its now with league tables etc a result based business, not what's best for kids rounded development.
I think you're business idea although fundamentally good will fail when you get into the paperwork side and the communication issue you will have. Having to get individual lesson plans for each child is one hurdle to overcome

The school would not be expected to do or supply anything apart from a short phone call.

The resort teacher/nanny would be responsible for lesson planning. Qualified teachers will not find this a problem whatsoever it is what they are trained to do.

The paperwork side of things does not phase me in the slightest, I already have most of what would be needed and I am very experienced at developing policies, procedures and proformas.

Have you looked into setting up a business in France? It's much more complicated than in England. http://paris.angloinfo.com/countries/france/business.asp You will also have to get your qualifications recognised and show that you have 3 years experience and I think you will also have to do a course (in French) on business practice in France.