Unauthorised absense from school - one day

couponqueen123

embob74 wrote: »

I would tell the truth as I wouldn't trust my kids not to trip me up and I could never ask my kids to lie on my behalf.
I actually thought that schools no longer had a say in authorising absences as government had legislated for it not to happen.
One of my children missed 7 days of school as their nan offered to pay for them for a once in a lifetime holiday and I didn't ask the schools permission beforehand as they had made it quite clear they would never give it.
I thought it would be ok to inform them afterwards but it had such serious repercussions that I wish we had just been fined!

I do think a 100th birthday is such a momentous occasion it is not in the same league as just having a holiday.

did they remove your child from the school ,?

what could be worse than a fine ? im just being noisy;)

to the op i wouldnt lie i would tell them the truth , adleast they will know what ever u decided to do

embob74

I suppose in a way they did remove her. The holiday was at the end of summer and overlapped into the start of the new term. My child was due to start sixth form and the school (well one teacher) decided that she had missed far too much and could not start. By the time letters went back and forth noting that other pupils were allowed to start even later it was too late and so a year was wasted as we then applied to college but spaces had been filled by then.
Child lost a year of education and then failed the year at college and couldn't continue as they would have had to pay.
So serious repercussions are that child effectively lost out on being able to achieve in higher education.
Just to note: child's failure was due to lack of effort on their part so school is not to blame. However I do wonder if they had been able to continue in education with their friends as had been planned and not had to go to college where the only people they knew were those who had previously bullied would it have turned out differently?

Sorry OP - I don't think for one minute there will be any repercussions but after the dealings I had with a lying, spiteful teacher I would be upfront and honest and get written confirmation it is ok to go :-)

Goldiegirl

Tell the truth.

It's an amazing thing to be able to meet your great, great, grandmother. Not something most people are able to do in their life.

Spendless

peachyprice wrote: »

Was this info taken from the full 'code of conduct' on the LEA site? I have found that the info readily available to parents makes no mention of the 10 sessions, lots of LEA's seem to be hiding that, but if you dig deeper for the full CoC that is issued to schools you may find it there.

It came from going on my child's school site which then took you to a link that was issued by the council. I just removed identifying details. But, I've just looked my going directly to the council's website and it gives this;

[B]Holidays during term time[/B] Every school day counts towards your child’s future. Days off school add up to lost learning.

In total there are 175 non-school days a year. This gives families the opportunity to:

• Spend time together
• Go on family visits
• Go on holiday
• Go on days out
• Attend routine appointments

The law says that parents do not have the right to take their child out of school for holidays during term time. If you take your child on holiday during term-time without the schools permission this will be recorded as unauthorised absence and may result in parents being issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Why shouldn’t I take my child on holiday during term time?

Many parents and carers think it is okay to go on holiday during term time, this has a negative affect on their children’s learning and ability to achieve. If your child goes on holiday during term time, they are absent.

• 10 days absence = 95% attendance
• 19 days absence = 90% attendance
• 29 days absence = 85% attendance
• 38 days absence = 80% attendance
• 47 days absence = 75% attendance

Children with over 90% attendance are more likely to gain 5 or more A-C GCSE’S or equivalent qualifications.

How do I request leave of absence for a family holiday?

All requests should be made on an Application for Leave of Absence for Annual Holiday which is available from your child’s school

This should be submitted no later than 21 days before the start of the holiday.

Will the school authorise taking my child away during term-time?

Parents cannot demand leave of absence be granted for a family holiday. The Headteacher will consider the following exceptional circumstances prior to responding to your leave of absence request:

1. Where it is company/organisational policy for an employee to take leave at a specific time in the year and there is no opportunity for a family holiday in school holidays. This must be evidenced by production of the policy document of the organisation.

2. Service personnel returning from/scheduled to embark upon a tour of duty abroad.

What happens if the head teacher does not agree my request?

Your child’s absence will be marked as unauthorised absence.

If you take your child on holiday your child’s school may request the Local Authority issue a Fixed Penalty Notice . The Penalty is £60 per parent per pupil and if not paid within 21 days this will increase to £120. Failure to pay the full amount within 28 days will result in a summons to appear in the Magistrates Court on the grounds that you have failed to ensure your child’s regular attendance at school.

That's all the info I've found. Again, nothing about how many days/sessions we are talking about. How do I find the code of conduct?

Spendless

Just tried googling town LEA 'code of conduct' relating to term-time fines and got this,


CIRCUMSTANCES WHEN A FIXED PENALTY NOTICE MAY BE ISSUED

Unauthorised leave of absence (holidays) taken during term time


Parents will be expected to complete a holiday application form at least 4 weeks in advance of the proposed holiday. The form will include information about the use of Penalty Notices as a consequence of leave of absence taken in term time without the Head teacher’s authorisation.

Where a parent/carer has taken a child out of school for a holiday or other leave of absence without authorisation, there should be evidence on the attendance certificate of unauthorised absence. The head teacher will notify the local authority that an unauthorised leave of absence has taken place and will complete the following documents:-

• A completed pro-forma witness statement
• A certificate of attendance for the period in question
• A copy of the advisory letter sent to the parent
• A copy of the holiday application form and reply
• A completed referral form

If a holiday form has not been completed but a Head Teacher has sufficient evidence that the child has been absent from school due to an unauthorised holiday/leave of absence. The Head Teacher or their representative should provide this evidence in the witness statement and submit the following documents to the Attendance and Pupil Welfare Service:

• A completed referral form
• A completed pro-forma witness statement
• A certificate of attendance for the period in question

On receipt of these, the Attendance and Pupil Welfare Service will issue a FPN by first class post to the parent(s). Where a parent fails or refuses to pay a penalty issued in these circumstances, then the evidence provided by the Head teacher will be the only evidence laid before the court, alongside a Certificate of Confirmation of Non-payment of the Fixed Penalty. This will be
done after 28 days have lapsed since the Notice was received. From that point, the court hearing will be scheduled for a date within 21 days subject to court availability.

Still unable to find anything relating to how much time we are talking about. Thought the last bit was interesting too. As it stands due to the lack of info from my council I'd still be lying and wouldn't be posting any pics of the event on facebook.:D

GedlingRed

I work as an attendance officer in a primary school and each LEA will have their own set of rules regarding absence and to be honest each school could quite possibly have their rules as to what they consider 'exceptional circumstances'. Our LEA have admitted the Government have made the rules quite 'woolley' purposely to put the onus on the schools.

In our LEA Exceptional Circumstances are set by the area's school rather than the LEA, we didn't get a list of what is considered an exceptional circumstance we decided by asking the parents what they would consider to be one and created our policy from there.

In your circumstance I would recommend completing a Leave of Absence form, explain why you want to take your child out and then having a chat with the Head Teacher. I am sure it would be authorised, it certainly would at our school.

On the subject of lying about taking time off, we recently had a child off for a week with 'a virus', we knew it was a holiday and when the child came to see me to show me his sombrero he gave it away slightly!

Lunar_Eclipse

Tell the truth. Why would you consider anything else?

squashy

Why not ring the school attendance officer and ask what the threshold is? Anonymously, if you like. They will be more than happy to tell you as the penalties are meant as a deterrent not to trick people. I would be highly surprised if they fined for one days unauthorised. Schools would be completing multiple forms a day if they did, it wouldn't be workable!

valk_scot wrote: »

You don't actually have to have their permission to take kids out so they can't forbid you to do so.

This is true, but remember only the school can authorise an absence, not the parent.

Spendless

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

Tell the truth. Why would you consider anything else?

Not wanting a £360 fine, 3 kids and £60, per parent, per child.

I think I'd also have to 'sound' the school out, as to what criteria does a fine kick in it?

peachyprice

If they tried to fine me £360 for taking 1 day unauthorised absence for a relatives 100th birthday celebration I would want my day in court.