unauthorised abscence from school

aimee21j

tired_mum wrote:

oh boy i wish i had never asked this question i wish that some of you teachers worked at our school as we have teachers on holiday in term time and also my child is taught sitting on the floor in a corridor as they dont have enough classrooms to use her school has been opened for 3 years and thy are sometimes taught by a TA which i think personaly insults teachers who have worked hard to qualifyas i said before i am going to take them as to leave the 2 older ones behind would be devastating to them and would probably cause more problems when i booked this i worked in the furniture del buisness and have an enforced hol for the 2 weeks after xmas and also we have enforced hol during the year as well as times at the end of every quarter when we cannott take time off making it hard as i only had 22 days a year this was one of the deciding factors we will not be taking them out again whilst they are at school after this as my daughter will be choosing her options soon and feel that this is not right but on the flip side do i send them on the 1 week educational trip to eurodisney? that the school does

As a teacher I am going to go with the people that say please don't take your kids on holiday during term time. However, I am aware that the price of holiday's shoots up in school holiday time so no-one can really blame parents (especially those who are not as well off as some of us) who can only afford to take their kids places in school time- i'm not advocating this by the way

To the OP, teaching assistants who have completed the HLTA (Higher Level Teaching Assistant) are required to take groups of children (be it 2 children or 30) and have studied for a year to be able to do this. I have seen the content of this course and the standards they have to meet are fairly similar to those of the QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) course.

If I have read each post right, i'm assuming you just want your kids to miss two days off school- my head would probably authorise that as it's just a couple of days. It seems to be at the school's discretion. However, no teacher would be allowed time off during term time, unless it's a day to move house and hospital appointments. We're not even allowed time off for a dentist or doctor's appointment unless it's an emergency.

soolin

I still say take them. My middle son was sent home on two occasions last term as there were not enough teachers to ensure the children were safe at school (due to high sickness and other absences by teachers). fine for me as I could take time off work to be here to look after them, utter chaos for some parents who suddenly needed to make emergency arrangements to make sure their children were not left alone at home unsupervised during the two day enforced 'holiday'. Some of our acute teacher shortages are because some teachers go on pilgrimages, or do voluntary work abroad, all of which they are allowed to do incidentally during term time as we are a religious school.

No additional work was sent home for them nor was any attempt made to catch up lost mudules. Add to that the fact that my A level son had to stop one subject after 3 months as the teacher resigned and a replacement could not be found for that subject and he wasn't bright enough to work purely from books whilst being minded by a reluctant PE teacher.

This has to work both ways, either every day is important, or some are not.

Soo

Ivrytwr3

Miss some lessons (which they will catch up on) or an experience of a lifetime for you all? ie family time together, flying, a different country/culture.

Life is about learning and experiencing, not just Maths and English. I'd take them and accept whatever criticism, punishment i recieve.

Tran

I have mixed opinions about this.

I think that if parents chose to educate their children in school (rather than H.E.) then kids should be in school unless they are ill (and i mean ill and not feeling a touch under-the-weather). Holidays where kids are just going to be sat around the pool with a whole bunch of other english people then this is not a good reason top take kids out of school. I also see that it tends to be parents who don't give a toss who constantly let their children miss school. It appears that parents who let their children regularly miss school and then take them out for school holidays is making it difficult for everyone else.

However I do appreciate that holidays can be educational (if parents do it right). i also see how missing a few days once a year is not a big deal - especially if the child is a regular school attender and hardly ever is absent. Also some families simply can't afford a holiday in school holidays. I looked at prices the week before the end of school and compared this to the week after and it made the difference for us between affordable & unaffordable. Why should less well off parents who support the school & their child's learning be denied a holiday abroad? Low income is not classed as a good reason to take holidays in school time.

What i also object to is having to "ask" the schools permission. This REALLY ticks me off. My kids are MY kids. I am the parent - they are the school NOT the parent. I write to the school and politely "inform" them of circumstances I never write and "ask" the school anything. They are "in loco parentis" they are not "in parentis".

My kids school will not allow any time off at all. No holidays. Many schools allow up to 15 days. My kids' school will allow nothing. I signed up for this and a largely support it (but i do think there should be a little more manoeverability). I have not written to them yet but i shall be writing about my kids missing 2 days later next year. I have already spoken to them and been told no. This is for my graduation ceremony. When i write i shall hit the roof if i am told no in writing and point out the stupidity of refusing to authorise my kids absence for them to attend my graduation. Are we not supposed to be providing positive role models for kids? Encouraging children to excel in education? But yet they are not allowed to see this because it occurs on a school day? Oh BTW, they have already told me my kids can have 3 days off before the xmas holidays because it's the xmas play and my kids don't do xmas (i'm thinking double standards....)


BTW in my area the fine is £50 per child per parent per week. Therefore, as happened to a friend of ours, they took their 2 daughters out of school for 1 week at october half term and have been landed with fines of £200. I can see why parents just lie and say the kids is ill.... i would except i can't stand lying.

DjSatansfury

You got to love it when you cant take your kids for a 1 week holiday somewhere , without the permission of the local gestapo, ahem i mean Local Authority. The rules are there to stop unrurely kids with slack parents (who dont give a !!!!) from skiving off all the time. Not to persecute those who are in school 99% of the time anyway.

Yet more government meddling in day to day running of your lives.

debtfreehopeful_2

I struggle a bit on this one too.
Have to say my immediate response is take them, have fun and let them learn so much more about life and the world than any geography or languages class can teach them.

However i also agree with tran in that if parents choose to send their child to school they should abide by the schools rules. I wont be sending my children to school unless its absolutely neccesary mainly because i have issues with the systems in place and would not be able to avoid opposing some of them.

I would say write and explain to the school just how educational this trip will be, how to deny them this opportunity would have a negative effect not just on their learning but also, on them as people.

If they are not in GCSE years then they can bring catch up work to do to keep up with their classmates and i really cannot see any detrimental effects this holiday can have. If you point out the good points and see what happens then think about how you intend to argue it if they say no. At the end of the day even if you get £100 fine it will still work out cheaper than booking an extra week in the holidays.

I would also be asking what the consequences of an unauthorised absence will be, at least then you will know what you have to worry about.

Sue

mom23

Hi
I am taking my 2 children out of school in june for our holiday!!
My OH cannot always get the summer holidays, as they have a stupid system at his work for booking there holidays (basically pulling a number out of a hat,if your 1st your lucky if your last tough!!!).
So it is not really through choice, (having said that it does work out about 1000.00 cheaper:eek: )
My 2 will be 13 and 7 when we go, and as they are not missing any exams, can't see the prob.
Our schools allows 10 days with a good reason,and as long as the children have not had to much time off school there is not normally a problem!!!

Having said this i do remember booking a holiday a few years ago in may just as my eldest would have been sitting his SATS :eek: ( i truly didn't realise when i booked it,but the head was fine, and let him sit them at a later date!!)
Anyway i wouldn't worry to much just go and have a brill time!!!

Tran

debtfreehopeful wrote:

At the end of the day even if you get £100 fine it will still work out cheaper than booking an extra week in the holidays.

i think the nail has been hit on the head.

If you are a responsible parent whose kids are almost always in school then i'd calculate in the cost of the potential fine in to the holiday costr and if you find the holiday is still cheaper than in school holidays then i'd go anyway.

So sad but i think this is the crux of it at the end of the day.

Savvy_Sue

I don't think you can write in afterwards and say they were sick. We're supposed to phone in on the first day, then send in a note on the first day back, but if the illness lasts more than a week the school expects a doctor's note. Not unreasonably, IMO.

To the OP: your children have already missed 5 days school this academic year (and did it not occur to your relative to check the dates were convenient ie not clashing with school before spending this money on a holiday for you? ) The primary school have said OK to another 5 days, but because the school can only allow up to 10 days authorised, 2 days will be unauthorised.

Did the secondary school grant those first 5 days as authorised, or was that also unauthorised? If it was unauthorised then, you knew what their policy was. It if was authorised, the secondary school may have a policy of only allowing 5 days, and you've had that already.

I've never really understood the need for fancy holidays anyway. One of the best I remember as a child was when we didn't go away, but went for lots of day trips: every day a different city! As an adult, we had a great weekend once just 'doing' our own city. Surely the point of a holiday is to relax and do something different. It doesn't have to be hot or on a beach ...

Becles

debtfreehopeful wrote:

Have to say my immediate response is take them, have fun and let them learn so much more about life and the world than any geography or languages class can teach them.

I agree with that.

However, where do you draw the line?

Some people don't like touristy holidays. They tend to go somewhere less touristy, eat local food, speak the lingo and learn about the local history, environment etc., at relevant attractions.

Other people like to go to places where lots of British people go. They speak English all the time, eat British food and their days consist of sitting by the pool all day and drinking all night.

While schools might be happy for children to go on example 1, I'm sure they wouldn't be happy about children going on holiday 2. The schools cannot police what holidays are acceptable or what isn't, so it's easier to have rules and procedures to deter all holidays in term time.