holidays in term time

ktj

Hi,
Having been refused permission to take our son out of school for a term time holiday, can anyone tell us what will happen if we go anyway? We would be especially interested to hear from anyone who has taken this action or from anyone who can tell us our legal position. Thanks to anyone who can help. kje.

marvic31

What reason did the school give you. we need some more info.

What age is he and when do you want to take him out of school?
Will it affect exams, etc.

bestpud

I agree it depends on the circumstances.

I have taken mine out for long weekends, despite the school refusing to authorise absence (for any child). They otherwise had excellent attendance and there was no come back. I knew it woukd not be authorised so just wrote and told them they'd be taking unauthorised absence.

If you live in an area where parents are fined for unauthorised absences, you could end up having to pay the fine.

If your child already has a poor attendance record, you could have a visit from an EWO. I have seen this happen but the parents have only been warned.

I'm not sure what happens if they miss exams but I would never have considered a holiday in exam time and I don't know anyone else who has either. I do know of families who have booked a 'Sun' holiday and have had to cancel when the dates clashed with exams (and these are families
who really could not afford to get away without the coupons.)

What is your child's attendance like normally? And have you been refused through a blanket policy, or some other reason?

Just to warn you: these threads are always a can of worms, so expect a mixed bag of replies!

peachyprice

bestpud wrote: »

I'm not sure what happens if they miss exams but I would never have considered a holiday in exam time and I don't know anyone else who has either. I do know of families who have booked a 'Sun' holiday and have had to cancel when the dates clashed with exams (and these are families
who really could not afford to get away without the coupons.)

I believe they will ask you to pay for the missed exams.

ktj

Hi,
Thanks for info much appreciated - keep trying to answer queries but I'm a slow typist and I keep getting logged out beore i've finished the post - something must be wrong with my computer - will try again later.

Dave101t

my sister took her daughter (9) to china even tho they refused the time off. apparently they charged her £50 and she paid! i told her she was a mug but she paid it.
it was in october so close to the beginning of the school year if that makes a difference.

martinthebandit

I wonder if parents will be able to 'fine' a school if its not open during term time due to industrial action or some other reason?

What goes around comes around

bestpud

I'm not sure these fines would stand up in court tbh.

Has anyone ever challenged it? It's only a matter of time methinks.

sueeve

It will basically be listed as truancy on your child's record. If it's the one and only time then I don't think anything else will happen. But the age of your child does matter. As a retired teacher I used to find that work missed was never properly caught up, or understod if it was difficult, and it could be a substantial part of a core question on an exam paper.

snowdrop1967

I work at a high school and it is my job to do the attendance. Any holidays that are unauthorised are marked as such on their record. It is only when attendance is below 85% that it is looked at closer and absences due to illness need a medical certificate etc. Parents will be contacted and meetings arranged before there are any fines so I would be surprised if you get one but then I suppose different schools have different policies.

paulwellerfan

yeah i got fined 50.00 as well.
mind you her attendance was really bad.
she hated school.