Unauthorised absence from school

I'm really shocked that you have to apply for time off. Nothing like that over here at all. And the the possibility of getting fined

To be honest I don't think there will be any consequences as such. It just really bugs me that his report card/school record will show unauthorised absence. I'm going to speak with his teacher tomorrow - she doesn't teach on Thursdays so haven't seen her since it was refused. I know she'll be supportive as was very excited when I told her our plans and said she couldn't see that we'd have a problem getting it authorised. I know she won't be able to make the head change her mind, and I wouldn't expect her to try, but I want it noted (and will follow it up in writing to the head) that I'm not happy with it being on Connor's school record given that we had the support of his teacher who acknowledges it's a fantastic, and educational, opportunity. Etc, etc, etc... Which may be a bit OTT given that they are completely within their rights to refuse, and I do know children shouldn't be out of school during term time. But I'll feel better knowing I've done it. And then I'll get on with holiday planning

the crazy thing is that you could have just got someone to phone in on those two days to say connor was sick and they wouldn't have batted an eyelid for 2 sick days
Of course then he would turn up telling fab stories of his trip around the world and they would think he had an amazing imagination

I wouldnt have asked tbh i would have just written a letter / requested a form stating the 2 days off he needed , im sorry but i wouldnt even bat an eyelid at my son / daughter taking 2 days off school after easter for the trip of a lifetime

We dont have 'holdiays' as such but as dp works all week and i work all weekend we do take 3 / 4 day trips a year as family time. One of them is always Ds's birthday. Ive always just written a note to the school and told them she needs that day off , or i'll phone in sick before we leave for our day trip!

I dont feel guilty as i know damn well that taking 3 days out of school in a year is not going to harm my childs education.

I hope they authorise it for you hun , and if not , well poo poo to them!

ETA: DD is very very rarely off school for being poorly as she absolutely hates it so she still has a good record! Not 100% , but lifes too short

Well his teacher was shocked when I said this morning that it wasn't authorised, but said that of course we must still go. Which of course we were going to do anyway She said she knew the board (I guess she means education board not governors) are tightening up but hadn't realised it was zero tolerance. But I got the impression she thought it was rather silly and kind of dismissed the fact he'll have it noted on his end of year report.

As my friend said, it won't take long for word to get out and people will just ring in sick when it's a case of a day or two. It'll be interesting to see how their sickness stats look at the end of the year, we'll have one sickest schools in Leeds

I'm really shocked that you have to apply for time off. Nothing like that over here at all. And the the possibility of getting fined

Well, I can see the reasoning behind it. DH teaches in a "challenging" secondary school where just getting some parents to take even the vaguest interest in their child's education is difficult - sometimes parents need a little push to ensure that they encourage their children to attend class - we are all sensible parents and understand the importance of education (in whatever form we choose) but I can assure you, there are many parents out there who really don't care.

However, setting up an environment where phoning in sick or being absent without permission is the answer is so wrong. Children will grown up believing it is acceptable behaviour to just not turn up because they feel like doing something else that day - no wonder businesses struggle with absenteeism if that is what they learn from a young age.

I am amazed that the school refused it

We never go away in school holidays as it is too expensive so my kids are taken out of school for holidays every year and i wouldn't think twice about doing it, and tbh the school has never refused holiday even when they were out for 2 1/2 weeks last year (and when we came home they were only back in for 4 days before the summer hols started!

As far as i am concered going away to another country is an education in itself. Kids learn about the country they are visiting, their food, language, culture etc which can only be good

What would annoy me most was the permission for the other child - how hypocritical!

Just wait till senior school - we go to a festival every year, which is usually roughly just as the kids break up for the summer. I applied for permission for DS in reception for the last day of term, he wouldnt miss anything educationally but I wanted him to be able to say goodbye, take home end of year things etc.
However the senior school will not even issue a form anymore, zero tolerance and older childrens details are given on the primary form.
I dont agree with taking them out as habit, eg birthdays, having 10 days automatically, but its not as if they do anything in the last couple of weeks, I think DD got to watch the same film in about 3 different lessons

I'm really shocked that you have to apply for time off. Nothing like that over here at all. And the the possibility of getting fined

Well, I can see the reasoning behind it. DH teaches in a "challenging" secondary school where just getting some parents to take even the vaguest interest in their child's education is difficult - sometimes parents need a little push to ensure that they encourage their children to attend class - we are all sensible parents and understand the importance of education (in whatever form we choose) but I can assure you, there are many parents out there who really don't care.

However, setting up an environment where phoning in sick or being absent without permission is the answer is so wrong. Children will grown up believing it is acceptable behaviour to just not turn up because they feel like doing something else that day - no wonder businesses struggle with absenteeism if that is what they learn from a young age.

I do see why they do it, some parents take the p**s but zero tolerance does just that - encourage parents to phone in sick. We will have to this year, DP had already bought tickets for this year's festival as its cheaper before Jan , (we go every year as usually school has broken up), before we even discovered school doesnt break up until 27th July this year! We will have to phone in sick for the friday and monday the week-end before as the senior school wont even issue a form