Taking kids out of school for a term

@Whenthechipshitthefan I would check with the school. My DC’s school (non academy village primary) permitted siblings to go abroad for a term last year. I think they did a house swap. The head saw the cultural benefits and supported the parents - I don’t know whether or not they got fined.

They can't stop you.
Worst case scenario is they don't authorise it and you have to withdraw them and reapply when you get back and it may be they will not get back into the same school.

You can do it but there is nothing you can do or say that will allow your school to simply just let you go and hold your children’s places for when you choose to come back. It’s just not how the system works.
your younger ones place is likely to be the biggest issue as at that age the class sizes are legally limited. There is no wiggle room to admit one extra.

This is so true. Imagine how they will feel when they are back and out of the loop. The younger one will have missed out on critical phonics teaching. The older one will find maths hard as it builds on previous learning. The poor teacher and stretched school staff will be left to mop up the pieces. I am a teacher.

We took a family sabbatical last year and took the kids out of school for summer term (year 5 and year 3) to spend some time living in France and travelling. They came off roll and we notified LA we were homeschooling. The HT was broadly supportive (keen on languages/sympathetic to our wish to expose kids to other cultures) but couldn’t keep places open. Best she could do was indicate she’d be minded to exercise discretion to réadmit them above the school’s Published Admission Number provided they were next on Waiting list at point of decision. We immediately reapplied for the Sep term to max chances on the waiting list. Kids were both re admitted though we had prepared (inc with them) for them not to be, at least not immediately. But we figured life is short and we wanted them to know it’s ok to take risks/manage uncertainty. They’ve just finished years 6 & 4 and both exactly where they should be academically (older aced SATS) and richer for the experience. As are we. Go for it!

I regularly overstayed abroad (I am self-employed) with dc. It was glorious. Good in every aspect apart from the price we had to pay - underperformance by dc in final year of school with consequences - forget about your uni of choice. Our minor school was indulgent, they were struggling and scared to lose full-fee paying parents, but I would not do it now if I were to go back in time - I can't put my finger on when this underperformance started - maybe it started as early as primary, it is difficult to pin it to a concrete date. I hope if you go, you won't be like us - just chilling and your dc will learn the language of the country, i.e. there will be some educational benefit to make up for the absence.

Not a private school, 3 years ago.

I agree with the others that say go for a month and use half term plus 2 weeks. I'm guessing a remote African country.

This is incorrect. I work in a school.

I have some experience doing it the other way round. Coming to the UK for the same reason.

The home primary school provided teaching materials so that the child could be home educated while away. They didn’t have to deregister or lose their place while away. Different country and different regulations though.

Perhaps ask if the school is willing to do this.

She would still definitely get a fine for the older child (the younger one may be under CSA depending on the birthday.

If by some miracle your children weren't taken off role (and it sounds as if they would be), you would almost certainly be prosecuted.

The rules have now changed (or will this month) and headteachers have no choice but to report every unauthorised absence to the LA, who will fine every offence, but have the power to go straight to court, and with the amount of time you would be absent for I can't imagine the LA would fine, I imagine they'd go straight to court.

Deregistering is the safest (and only) way to keep the LA out of it, but you run a huge risk that the places will be filled when you return.

I would still be tempted to do it at the age they are, you certainly cannot do this when they are older.

As I said the rules have changed, so stories of going with the school's blessing are now meaningless as no head could authorise it for even a shorter period.

Deregistering is your only option, as even if the children are taken off role, you could still face action by the LA as your children would be classed as 'missing in education' and the LA would have a responsibility to make sure they are safe, whereas if you take them out of school to home-school them, the LA wouldn't intervene.

I would hope that OP is planning to keep up with the curriculum whilst they are away. There are loads of free and very low cost resources which are suitable for home educating primary aged children. The majority of Reception class is play but she will need to be doing daily maths and reading, Y4 is a bit more structured but as long as they do the necessary maths and English they won't have any problem slotting back into the class. They tend to change topics for science, geography, history etc. every half term anyway and their "topic" will have been exploring the culture of another country, probably a lot more educational than a 6 week unit study on volcanoes or the Romans.

This is what I would do. Wait for a 2 week holiday like Easter or Christmas and add on 2 weeks.

They arenot hot on absences 'sadly' -but rightfully so.
Fixed it for you.

If you ask the school, they can hold the place in terms of recording the absence as unauthorised- this may mean the LA prosecute for unauthorised absence. There is a strong push regarding attendance if enrolled at school (including independent schools). To avoid the risk of prosecution you can legally re-register, go away then apply for schools when you return, which maybe original or another. They may grant exceptional circumstances but there is limited guidance on what counts as exceptional circumstances, (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f1b048133c22b8eecd38f7/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance__applies_from_19_August_2024_.pdf)

A headteacher may see all the benefits of such a trip and wish you well, but won't want the potential work that goes with that amount of unauthorised abscence.

Normally headteachers are understanding of attending a religious service would be granted, unless attendance was poor (see page 76 onwards of document linked above)

Pacific islands? Alaska? Why not go for a year enrol them in local school there then come back chance your luck on a school place

Definitely. They learn so much in Reception.

It won't be allowed, attendance figures are something that schools are absolutely hammered on. I think the only way is to deregister them to home school, then re-register them when you get back (could be a different school). They will have missed a lot of learning, so depending on how old they are you will want to plug some gaps while you are away so they don't feel anxious going back behind others.
I think if you want to do it then go for it but nothing you say to the head will mean they keep your children's places in the school for 3 months.

My friend did this, this year. She had to remove child from the school (no longer enrolled). Child attended school in the different location (but you could home school). Then came back and as no other child had taken the space then re registered into the school.

it wasn’t disruptive, it was a really valuable cultural experience. I think it sounds really meaningful and important to you and to them. Go for it 😊

Don't take them out for the mid oictober census - the schools funding the following year is based on that

I agree.

DS just finished reception and he would be quite abit behind having that much time off

You will lose your school place and it will be very detrimental to your children's education, especially your younger one (as she will be learning phonics). They will then come back and the teacher will have to work doubly hard to catch them up and the rest of the class will be negatively impacted too by the fact that they have missed out on learning. On the other hand, maybe they will gain more life experiences, depending on what you do. I think the summer holidays are long enough for you to give them life experiences and there's no need to hamper their education.

Loads of people do this. Many people have to take their kids away for a work assignment. It’s not at all unusual. Suggest speaking to the head, making the case.

A friend did this to take her daughter to Japan, where mum was gone. The school were actually very supportive and her daughter gave a presentation to the class when she hot back. Think she was about 8. I think this might have been an unusually supportive school (top of the national league tables, so was surprised they kept her place open).