If you are diving with Great Whites, I'm coming next time

Taking holidays during school term time is such a conundrum. It's frowned upon by the state and even legislated against in the Education Act. It requires a Principal's approval (imagine if I said 'no'!) and is quite disruptive to the learning program of a class. While children are away, they miss key learnings, and the sequential development of complex concepts in literacy, numeracy and science are interrupted. It's difficult for the class teacher and even more difficult for the child when they return to school to find the class has moved on and that they are in the middle of a lot of half finished work.

The flip side is the wonderful time children have being with family, visiting far flung places, engaging with other cultures and the local people, meeting the wildlife, learning about food and customs and developing an understanding of tolerance and diversity - this is much harder to achieve in the classroom, and can be the most valuable learning of all!

Last year one of our beloved families took off for a 12 month hike around Australia. The kids were enrolled with the School of Distance Education, the maps were drawn, the caravan prepared and off they went. They have returned this year with a collection of the best memories of a wonderful year on the road. They dropped the flash drive into my pigeon-hole in the office to have a look at. Being a traveller myself I had to fight the urge to sit and look at it until the weekend. And when I finally plugged that drive into my Mac I saw the best images of a family having fun, drawing closer together, creating a life time of memories of the places they have visited. I followed their journey through the images of north Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, NT and South Australia, and up the west coast of WA. There were animals, paddle steamers, turtles, Parliament House, swimming, Uluru, massive escarpments, Ningaloo, our great capital cities and ... Great White Sharks! Oh, so lucky! I so want to swim with

these amazing, majestic creatures. My friends and family think I'm mad and no one will come with me!

I loved seeing these photos of a family at play.  I didn't see any of the kids engaging with the School of Distance Education!!! However, I know that what they have learned about our magnificent country cannot be described in any curriculum.

I have to say, I don't and can't approve of holidays in school time.  The time children are with their teacher is too short, too valuable. But if you are going diving with the Great Whites, I'm coming with you.