Holiday in term time not authorised, will I be fined?

aliasojo

grumblybum wrote: »

I agree with you completely, my children think I'm dreadful because unless they are on verge of collapse, they will be going into school!

That used to be my belief also. Unfortunately a change of school policy a few years back meant that any child who so much as coughs or sneezes more than once, gets sent home immediately.

It's ridiculous. They seem to think they are restricting germs spreading but all they are doing is growing a generation of namby pamby kids who think the minute they feel off colour they need to go home to bed. The kids are also becoming less resiliant to germs because they are no longer allowed to mix with them.

I can see the point if a kid has a seriously hacking cough or has such a bad cold that they can't even see straight but honestly our old school sent them home over nothing.

It does seem rather ironic to me.

maman

bestpud wrote: »

Not everyone thinks it is wrong to take their child out of school per se!

Also, I think you will find the thread was ok until a teacher started bashing parents. It's always the sanctimonious teachers who cannot see beyond their little domain who start hurling insults and it's actually quite scary to have such blinkered people teaching the next generation!

Thank goodness some parents are able to provide a more rounded view of life!!

There is something very wrong when a teacher feels they must have the pupils attend all the time so they can get them their GCSE results, don't you think? That isn't education - that's force feeding prescribed facts in order to gain prestige for oneself!

And I can't think of a teacher in the country who wouldn't agree with you!!! However, prestige ends up with government ministers not even the poor students themselves!

sunshinetours

Spendless wrote: »

No the crux of the thread is that the OP was asking if she'd face a fine since she had (reasonably) assummed that May half term was going to be in the same week as every other since 2002 which was before she had kids at school. I don't see anywhere where she asked anyone's opinion on whether she should take her kids out. There might be umpteen reasons why she can't/doesn't want to change.

The OP knew she could check online for dates two years ahead. She made a mistake (as we all do) bit then seemed IMO to just want to get out of any potential fine rather than look at other options. Its a serious point and teaches younger generations that its OK to do whatever is necessary to avoid punishment rather than face consequences of doing something wrong (mistakenly or not). Any empoloyer will see examples of this in youngsters starting in their work life expecting the world on a plate.
We all make mistakes its how we deal with thsoe mistakes that is important IMO

Today I put some hols in at work, 1 for a school hols break. After it was authorised and my husband booked, one of the supervisors said to me 'you know that deadline you said you could meet? You do realise it includes doing xxxxxxx. Have we made that clear?' Well no they hadn't made it clear, and no I hadn't realised and though the hols will be honoured I'll get no more time off, so in the event of school hols changing,which is a possibilty since I'm using an inset day and I have known those change before at last minute (only once but it has happened) I wouldn't be able to change my hols and nor would I be doing so.

None of which is relevant to the original post context though is it?

onlyroz

grumblybum wrote: »

Blimey, teachers get 170 days a year off?????? Compared to my paltry 28 days I'm jealous. I may retrain :rotfl:

Well that includes weekends and bank holidays. In any case, most teachers I know tend to spend their "holidays" marking coursework, preparing lessons, writing reports etc etc. The same with their "evenings" and "weekends" as well.

janninew

vax2002 wrote: »

And these "teachers" want us to have sympathy when they cut the pension money us mortals have to pay in tax to top up your pensions ....

I do have to wonder what taking your children out of school in term time has to do with pensions?! Teachers pay tax to you know and are also mortals.

Spendless

sunshinetours wrote: »

The OP knew she could check online for dates two years ahead. She made a mistake (as we all do) bit then seemed IMO to just want to get out of any potential fine rather than look at other options. Its a serious point and teaches younger generations that its OK to do whatever is necessary to avoid punishment rather than face consequences of doing something wrong (mistakenly or not). Any empoloyer will see examples of this in youngsters starting in their work life expecting the world on a plate.
We all make mistakes its how we deal with thsoe mistakes that is important IMO
OTT reaction much??? An employer will think her kids want the world on a plate cos she booked the last week of May instead of 1st week of June because she hadn't known about the Queen's Jubilee and realised that changed bank/school hols? Really? Admittedly I might keep my mouth shut about mum's mistake if in a few years time I was applying for a job as a Royal Servant. She's taking 2 Primary school aged kids out of school for a week, and she didn't start with intent to do so, she thought she was booking half term. One is infant age the other not in the last year. It's the week/s after sats, teacher assessments that the youngest isn't even old enough to do, and before a weeks school hols.

None of which is relevant to the original post context though is it?

I was giving an example of a reason why you may not be able to change a holiday but kettle, black?!

sunshinetours

Spendless wrote: »

I was giving an example of a reason why you may not be able to change a holiday but kettle, black?!

its fine, some get my point some don't. Its called a principle. I'm comfortable with my opinions thanks.

poet123

sunshinetours wrote: »

its fine, some get my point some don't. Its called a principle. I'm comfortable with my opinions thanks.

Actually, I think it is called extreme extrapolation.;)

squashy

flimsier wrote: »

That's a disgrace.

Seems a bit odd to get an unauthorised absence for a funeral. Be interested to know what "code" it is showing as on your child's attendance certificate.

Did you inform the school before/on the day? Did you go overseas or take a prolonged period of absence? Were you sent any kind of letter from the school querying or ackowledging the absence? Have you since queried this with the school?

The reason I ask is that if you think in an average primary school of 300 pupils that is 600 little crosses, circles and symbols that need entering electronically every single day, it's not unknown for one to go astray every now and then-I'm sure they'd put it right if you spoke to someone.

gregg1

bestpud wrote: »

Not everyone thinks it is wrong to take their child out of school per se!

Also, I think you will find the thread was ok until a teacher started bashing parents. It's always the sanctimonious teachers who cannot see beyond their little domain who start hurling insults and it's actually quite scary to have such blinkered people teaching the next generation!

Thank goodness some parents are able to provide a more rounded view of life!!

There is something very wrong when a teacher feels they must have the pupils attend all the time so they can get them their GCSE results, don't you think? That isn't education - that's force feeding prescribed facts in order to gain prestige for oneself!

Certainly in the school my OH teaches at, it is the PARENTS who put the most pressure on their kids to get decent GCSE results (despite the fact that they have, in some instances, regularly taken their kids out of school during term time to go on holiday!).

I think you are also insulting a lot of brilliant teachers (of course, there are bad ones as well) who are dedicated to helping the kids they teach get the best start in life they can by making sure they do the best they can in terms of qualifications. Of course the school gets the recognition if the results are good. But that does have a knock on effect of giving parents an idea of which schools are good enough to send their kids to you know!