To invoke the ‘otherwise’ option for school absence?

If you want to change the system, there will be more effective ways than sending one school one letter. At the moment schools are set up to expect a certain level of attendance by a certain number of registered children, not to keep mixing and matching whatever children happen to be available.

Some people said why don't private school parents take their children out of school- one obvious reason is they have shorter terms and longer holidays, so are able to holiday out of peak season of state school terms, so not only are they getting a private education, they have cheaper holidays as well!

You seem to be making two completely different points

1. we should return to the ‘10 days off a year’ rule we had before because constant penalising parents for wanting affordable holidays isn’t working - yes, completely agree
2. The education system doesn’t fit with modern families and so we should be able to educate at any time however we like - you cannot possibly think this achievable or even desirable for the vast majority of children

The education system ‘doesn’t fit modern families’ because it isn’t for the families, it’s for the CHILD. It provides consistency, safety and a broad and balanced curriculum (for most). Children’s right to this is enshrined in law. Attendance rules are clumsily applied but the exist to stop families from failing their children in this regard because they cant be arsed getting out of bed/think the rapture is comimg any day/do not believe in educating girls.

i think there is a middle ground to be found where schools can work better with modern working patterns. Certainly we have to do less ‘behind desks’ learning. But the idea that you should be able to randomly off roll your child because you fancy a sabbatical trekking round Europe is childish nonsense. Children need stability and a planned progression for their learning. How on earth would schools function? I love how you arrogantly suggest the traveller community have a better deal as if their children aren’t consistently identified as at risk of poor outcomes. (And outcomes doesn’t just mean ‘sats results’)

If you genuinely believe in learning outside the classroom, outside of 9-3 and away from desks then homeschool. Homeschooling works specifically because most families have small numbers and so can adapt to the very specific needs of their own children. It is not a model for state education.

But you don’t genuinely believe in this. You are annoyed that your child’s RIGHT to an education makes it tricky for you to go travelling.

Seasonal and climate factors also affect some travel. For example reliable snow in the northern hemisphere now tends to fall later and less predictably than in previous decades. This means some families cannot fit certain activities into the narrow half term week without overlapping with term time. This is not about extravagance. It is about how travel timing and seasons have shifted.

The above makes your whole argument laughable. Schools should change their entire way if functioning because posh white people find that the skiing just isn’t as good in Feb half term any more? Piss off.

This with knobs on - well said!!

The OP’s post is probably the most foolish and entitled post I’ve ever read on MN - perhaps OP missed a lot of her education too.

Your first post isn't clear or concise and won't make a good impression. I hope it is a chatGP note or bot work and not your own best effort. Its style suggests that home-education (in some subject areas) might not be a good option for your child!

Yes, you can take your children out of school … and the school can fill their places with other children.

When you return from your holiday, you will need to keep home-educating until school places can be found. They might be placed in other schools.

Being restricted on holiday-time is a pain but 'free' education is shared. Staffing levels are too low to allow for the sort of individual support that would be required if everyone did as you plan to.

What is the waiting list like for your school ?
It is risky and you need to be prepared to find new schools on your return (potentially different schools if you have more than one child - nightmare logistically!) Is it worth it. Pay the fine !

I worked in a school that did exactly this. Parents took their child abroad for a month and were warned it could happen.
It did !
He went to another school as his place was filled .

YANBU to take them out of school.
YABVU to expect your choice of school to hold places open for them.
They won't. They would not be funded to keep them empty, and if another child wants the place while yours are away then of course they will be given it, not by the school but by the education authority.
When you want to put them back in the system you will be allocated places that are available. These may not be at that school, or indeed at the same school as each other.
Also, the letter is hugely pompous. The head teacher will know the law in as far as it involves them, which is that on receipt of your written notification to deregister your children they must do so from the end of the school day you specify, even if it is today.
That's it.
Other staff may not know, or may lie about knowing (yes from first hand experience) but the Head will know, and will be in contact with the education authority.

My DD is at a private school that specializes in offering children who need time out of school for things like high level sporting events etc.

It’s all very structured and the children who need this type of schooling have their whole curriculum individually designed around their specific schedule and interests.

We’re not in the UK so they are working towards graduation and a GPA so don’t have to worry about a national curriculum or exam periods.

But absolutely no one takes time out of term for family holidays!

Let’s imagine, for a moment, that the flexibility the OP desires is in place. That means that for every school in the country, there is flexibility for any parent(s) to remove their child(ren) for a specified or unspecified amount of time.

So, on one Monday morning in October, a class of nominally 30 children has 17 in class, because 13 are absent. On Tuesday, 5 return and 3 are absent. On Wednesday, 6 more return. They’ve been off for varying amounts of time.

Leaving aside the variation in the ability and progress of every cohort, how is any school, or any individual teacher, going to plan, monitor and evaluate what those children are learning p, what progress they are making and how to measure all of that in line with government edicts.

Oh, by the way, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, so 5 out of the 15 teachers are having their holidays this week too.

Everyone knows that the education system is underfunded, under resourced and often under appreciated. Everyone knows that it needs more money, more training, more access for SEND in particular. I hope everyone knows that the majority of schools, colleges and teachers do their best for the young people in their care, under a system that is stretched to the thinness of tissue. Please tell me OP, how your notion is going to make a positive difference to that.

Exactly this!

and the poll results indicate that actually society has not changed the way you imagine it has!

Well, when you're paying a not insignificant sum for your child to be there, you're not going to want to lose value for money. You're also more likely to be able to afford peak season costs for holidays.

I taught in private schools for fifteen years. Have also taught in state schools.
It’s funny, attendance was not really a problem in private schools. Very few parents will book a holiday in term time. In fact, genuinely, I can’t remember a single instance of that happening. I really can’t imagine why.

Why would you want to faff about this much and create loads of admin? As if schools don’t have enough to do. This feels quite elaborate for a cheaper holiday.

You’d be better off talking to your MP.

Children need structure - sorry don't have chatGPT - if they are missing a chunk of time out from school I would say it could be harmful for their self development and social skills regardless of how good the home schooling is. Coming back into a class after even a week, many friendship groups move on. It may be something to look at as society has changed working and living patterns but the fact remains that it hasn't yet. Ask the children if they want to be at home or at school, unless they are on some extended trip, then I expect they would want to be in school the same as their peers.

Your post reveals all the reasons why you cn't reliably use AI to compose legal arguments. It's missed the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 which provide, amongst other matters, that one if the circumstances when a child may be taken off a school roll is when "a parent of the pupil has told the proprietor in writing that the pupil will no longer attend the school after a certain day and will receive education otherwise than at school and—
(i) that day has passed; and
(ii) there is no school attendance order naming the school in force in relation to the pupil"

What is significant here is that there is no requirement for a cooling off period or for giving the child any sort of priority if they apply to rejoin the school. So you can certainly take your child out for the purposes of home schooling, but you can't assume the school will take them back whenever you choose to send them.

No, not unless there is some very specific reason why your child needs to be out of school, like they are on medical treatment. It is legal to home school your child for as short or as long a time as you want, but by doing so you give up your child's school place unless there is an agreement from the school that says otherwise. My dad used to work in HE/SEN sectors, and LAs/schools would sometimes agree to it, if there was a very clear reason why mixed education was required, but otherwise the schools would have the obligation to take a child from the waiting list who wanted to be there.

Just send the kids to school. They get more than enough holidays. It is their best interests to be in school.

No worries - I'm too deadpan for my own good sometimes 😜

My neice is a child actor, and it hasn't been an option for her. Twice now she's been on tour with a big show (once in Asia and once the European tour), and both times she was required to fully de-register and reapply when she got back. The first time, she was lucky and her primary school had her straight back with no issues because nobody had taken up the place; the second time, she ended up being home educated for over 6 months after she got home because her secondary school was oversubscribed and her place had gone.

Seriously why take a child out of their school environment & friends they've got used to, foor a set period. And then send them back to the school they were at again afterwards?

fair enough, sorry I did miss that!

Are you the OP on another username?

Travellers are recognised as an ethnicity and are therefore protected from discrimination under the EA. That's why LAs have an obligation to provide them with a place in mainstream schools.

Wanting to go on holiday is not a protected characteristic.

Travellers children have wildly lower average literacy and numeracy rates, and exam pass rates. I would imagine that slotting in as best as they can in different schools every time they move, knowing each time that they won't be staying for long has something to do with that. Do you think that every school covers the same topics in the same order every term or something? Because that's not how the national curriculum works.

Travellers children moving around state schools is a best attempt to provide those children with as decent an education as the state can manage, in a world where the system is set up for the majority of children, who live at one fixed abode. It is not a system to aspire to.

They do this to ensure the travellers children have access to education, as they haven't much historically due to their movements. Because the community continues to travel and won't stay for a kids education then this is the best way for this tiny minority of kids accessing schools to gain some education. If the government said no you have to remain in one place while the children are at school and the parents then kept travelling (the parents who often didn't get an education so travel for seasonal work etc too) then you're seeing another generation in same boat.

Thats a simplistic reason but still, its not an example to use as to why the majority can't pick up a school place and drop it with no consequence. You can take your kid out of school, you can home educate them reapply for a school place, nothing stopping you. You'd just rather know that abfine won't come your way for a term time break and that you have a guaruanteed first choice place for when you want them reenrolled.

I work in attendance. If you take them off roll they lose their place. If it's a state school which has spaces and you are in the catchment area they have to take them back but you have to reapply.

I took my DC out of school for five months over summer holidays ten years ago, we went campervanning to Morocco and across Europe. I had to lose their school place, but in my case i could apply for it back a half term in advance, so i took them out on the last day of the spring term, then applied for their place back the first day of the next term, ie a week and a bit later. Had there been a waiting list for DS's class, I'd have lost his place, but he'd have had a couple of terms at a different primary then he'd have met up with all his friends again at high school. DD's class had loads of space. Bit different to two weeks off though, and i really did home school them. Teachers said they hadn't lost ground at all when they got back.