Will we get fined for this?

[Itscurtainsforyou]

I know you don't have a crystal ball but thought I'd ask...

My son has won a non-academic award and the presentation is in London on a school day. We are taking him to get his award, it's non-negotiable as far as I'm concerned.

But I'm now wondering (after reading another thread about being fined for 2 days absence) if I'm being optimistic to think we'll not be fined if we do so.

What do you think?

[yellowsun]

At my school you wouldn't get fined for 1 or 2 days unless there were already issues with attendance.

[smilingsarahb]

Well done to your child winning an award. I can't imagine the school I work at doing anything other than authorising this and asking the child to bring in the award to show everyone.

[tarheelbaby]

Read the fine print on the website for your LEA/county. In my county, the big distinction is between excused absences vs. unexcused. Here, there are no fines until you have missed 5 (= 10 registrations) days unexcused. If your child has a doctor/dentist's appointment, that counts as excused here, just like being sick. Your child could miss many days/registrations for legitimate reasons. If your child were sick for more than 10 days you'd have all kinds of paperwork to throw at it and it would be excused.
But if a child has a good reason to be out of school (e.g. receiving an award, renewing a non-British passport), parents in my county can fill in a form requesting an excused absence. I have done this a few times with success, including several days for a family wedding in a foreign country. Not all the absent days were granted but enough were to keep us under the 10 day limit so we did not incur any fines. Even if your child's absence is not excused, he/she'd still have to have four more unexcused days before you'd be fined in my county.
Many schools might want to celebrate the award even if it's not strictly academic.

[Wolfiefan]

I would ask for permission to have the day off. (Go anyway if you don't!) My DS received an invitation to an official opening where he would meet a royal. He's secondary. They authorised it. Worth a try.

[Bunnyjo]

My DC were granted an authorised absence for 1 day last year to attend my graduation. Speak to the school about submitting an absence request as it may well fall under 'exceptional circumstances' and be authorised.

Congratulations to your DS!

[prh47bridge]

You may well be able to get this absence authorised. Even if it is unauthorised, if your son's attendance is otherwise good it is unlikely you will be fined.