Will I be fined for kids missing school?

namechangedjune the bit I posted off the gov website comes into effect in August (so a few weeks). Yes the head can, at their discretion, allow an authorised absence. But I'm willing to bet they won't, because that discretion, is really aimed at very exceptional circumstances, not a term time holiday. The head would have to justify why they have used their discretion, and I doubt it would be a satisfactory decision for either the LEA or OFSTED.

I feel like schools /government are becoming way to controlling. I think deregistering children is becoming more common than it used to be.

Makes you wonder why everyone 'needs' 2 weeks off for Easter and Christmas.

(Not complaining about Easter since it generally benefits Passover observing Jews.)

I remember a grandparent telling me sadly that her grandchild was unable to spend Rosh Hashana (Jewish New year) with them since it would have meant missing school to travel. A one hour flight but even so.

@Topaz89 it is so hard because as the parent you feel they should just do as you ask, so I was 😲 when my dd point blank refused. I didn't know what to do so I bargained/ threatened to take things away spoke about her wasting her future, she didn't care at all. We drove my dd to school and even the teachers couldn't convince her.

If I can give you some advice, push it and push it with the school. We finally got help, but, sadly she was already in year 11 so no doubt her GCSES will have been impacted.

I tried for 2 years to get help, I am now paying for a private counsellor and she is due to go to college in September. However I know that won't be plain sailing. It breaks your heart. Good luck and solidarity.

Same thing 80 x 2 = £160.
It's not very well worded... but that's not unusual for the gov website.
I'd assume if you were widowed it would be £80; but the website doesn't clarify.

My DS is 13 and is exactly like your DD. How do you get an adult sized child to physically go to school when they’re refusing? And they’re not refusing because they’re being naughty.
This last term has been awful. He was missing school 1-2 days most weeks. The days when he was in, he was mostly late after I managed to talk him round. I’m honestly shocked I haven’t had a fine yet.

So if paid within 21 days it’s £160 rather than £80 as it’s per parent?

No. The 10 weeks is incorrect in England and Wales.

The above is for England and Wales.

Here from gov website:
How much could I be fined if my child misses school?
In the majority of cases, schools and local authorities will try and provide support to help you improve your child’s attendance first, but if this isn’t effective or the absence is for unauthorised term time holiday, parents may face paying a fine.
Currently, it’s the responsibility of the local authority to decide when to issue fines to parents, meaning the process varies from council to council.
However, under the new national framework, all schools will be required to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons.
From August 2024, the fine for school absences across the country will be £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days. (N.b this is £80 per parent)
This rate is in line with inflation and is the first increase since 2012.
In the case of repeated fines, if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160.
Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.
If you’re prosecuted and attend court because your child hasn’t been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500.
Money raised via fines is only used by the local authority to cover the costs of administering the system, and to fund attendance support. Any extra money is returned to the government.

The suggestion is often met with horror in here, but in reality a lot of people who are taking a couple of days either side of a school holiday will simply lie about an illness. Especially if they have otherwise high attendance. You'll know more than us about whether your school is likely to have the inclination and resources to do any form of checking, but it is very much A Thing.

If you explain that it's for a religious festival they should allow you some leeway x

You might get it authorised on religious grounds too, my dc got time off for religious reasons regularly (choristers)

Where it is for a family wedding it's worth seeking permission as there is discretion in some circumstances, misreading the term dates is unlikely to get exempted though. I would also caution that they will look at whether there are too many odd days so I would definitely suggest that is the limit for the day, they don't have to allow you any

To be honest I think that for Diwali those abscences should be authorised it is part of your culture but I would be nervous to tell the school if your school are the type to nitpick at everything. As for the Easter holiday I wouldn't mention it and just call in and say it's illness not a holiday

Forgive my ignorance- is illness an authorised absence?

There's a lot of local variation here. Some schools and LAs give many more fucks than others.

We've never had an issue with absences of less than 5 days, nor has anyone I know at our school.

There's mention of the 10 sessions in 10 school weeks at page 57 in this guidance

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f1b048133c22b8eecd38f7/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance__applies_from_19_August_2024_.pdf

The guidance we've been sent from our school, is that the school will have to report all unauthorised absences, and the LA have the right to fine parents even if the threshold has not been met. It's £80 per parent per child if paid within 21 days, so I would budget that into your finances. If you don't get fined, take the win.

I rely on taking DS out of school once a year to visit family abroad. However the rest of the year his attendance is really good so I don't fall foul of these regulations. I also use my common sense and if he had missed school due to illness I wouldn't then take him abroad during term time/wont do it during GCSE year etc. It's not compulsory to go abroad for any reason.

OP you might get the Diwali trip authorised as it's a religious observance. Give it a try.