To invoke the ‘otherwise’ option for school absence?

Why not just declare a period of unauthorised absence? Seems a nuch simpler option.
If you wish to have longer school holidays consider private school, or permenant home schooling. When you register a child at a school you agree to their policies. At your job, you wouldn't just declare 'I'm not turning up for next couple weeks, you havent agreed to my time off but I'm going anyway' and expect to walk back into your job! By all means deregister your child. But you aren't guaranteed a place at same school on your return, just a place at a school.

If you feel your circumstances are exceptional enough that this trip is essential and not a choice, ask for authorised leave. It does get granted occasionally - we have had it granted twice for a couple days each time.

They are often dual-registered and the travelling community rules will not be extended to OP's whimsical holidays. Why? Because it's about trying to get the generally disadvantaged and not well off traveller children an education and some chances in life which there lifestyle actually harms generally if they can't maintain school places. Every traveller child that is or ever has been on our books is in receipt of pupil premium, a very telling statistic about how disadvantaged they are going in.

OP is probably one of those people who always say "but what is normal?" as if "normal" is a dirty word.

So it can be done

Until reforms bring the policy into line with real life, it is therefore very possible for families to rely on the lawful option that Section 7 provides and on the practical 10 day window in which the school still holds the place. It is not misuse. It is a rational response to a system that has not kept pace with society.

Reform is a disaster idea and I seriously hope the right wakes up and sees that. Elite looking out for themselves pretending to care about the average UK citizen. They don't. At all. Especially Farage.

It is misuse. Declare the holiday and accept the fine, which is what this is clearly really about. Or de-register your child and take your chances of getting them back into school a few weeks after you're back from you holiday and you have to follow the procedures and local authority time lines of requesting and being offered a new school place.

Pretty much everyone normal accepts that once you have children in education your freedom is curtailed somewhat. Thems the breaks with parenting. It’s not in their best interests to be chopping and changing either. I know I would have hated that as a child.

Not how it works I'm afraid.

You can't 'hold' a place until you want it/want it back.

If your children are de-registered, the place is no longer yours. If the school is oversubscribed and/or has a waiting list, the place will be filled.

You will have to re-apply to the school to return your child to it and you may be turned down.

I've seen it happen in our school for a variety of reasons; there are no guarantees you'll get your child back in when you feel like it. Find another way to take what is likely 'a holiday' if you don't want to risk your child's school place.

We all know that there has been a huge shift into home ed over the past few years - so it's interesting to consider other ways that schools could work or be more flexible.

It would be impossible for LAs to manage something like this. If you de register your child then the space would be offered if there was a wait list. That's how things currently stand. If even a small percentage of parents decided to de register their child for several weeks or months each year with the hope of re-registering them then this could seriously affect the funding for the school. Every penny is accounted for so this would cause all sorts of issues on that level. Of course on a classroom level it would also be very disruptive to have a number of children coming and going for several weeks (potentially) at a time.

A pp said about private schools which are of course more flexible as you are paying for the space and as long as you pay it then you can take your children out of the school.

I haven't even started on the impact on children either - it would be very unsettling for them and to miss big chunks of a school curriculum would not be ideal. Socially they would also suffer, being away from friends etc.

There are other options like home ed, which often have great support networks, there is a big group in my local town and virtual schools which are becoming more popular. If you really disagree with the antiquated system the UK has for schooling then why don't you try one of those instead?

They'll soon learn that they have no choice in the matter, which is part of growing up. You might ant to try it.

This is peak mad individualism. It's all well and good parents believing that their family ski trip is somehow a legitimate human right, but try being a teacher with 200+ students across multiple years who are all taking different ten days off throughout the school calendar. Do you know how difficult it is to catch up even one student who's missed a couple of days? And that's with the other 29 in the class all being there, but with very different abilities and needs.

Issues with trying to keep classes ticking along the curriculum are hard enough as it is - if parents really think their family holiday is more important than the needs of the student(s), they should probably home school permanently and stop considering free education as a burdensome freebie. A handful of vocal parents want this because they've lost the ability to balance rights against responsibilities, and, like toddlers, their wants supersede considerations for the many. Very silly.

There is no legal provision for a temporary deregistration of school. And nor should there be. What are you planning to do OP when the school refuses your request? Take them on legally?

Ah, I think I see the issue. When I said "finally someone has seen through the OP's ruse" I was being sarcastic.

I've read it. I stand by my response to the pp.

the thread is full of posts laughing at the OP and her holidays, maybe you should read it?

Wealthy enough to go skiing but too tight to pay a fine. 😂 My heart bleeds.

It seems like the mother wants to take her child out of school to go on holiday and doesn’t want to get fined.

Eleven pages in and someone has finally seen through the OP's ruse 😄

I would suggest you acknowledge receipt of her email and report her to be fined for failing to attend school as it’s very clear she isn’t going to be homeschooling her child

Err, who are you addressing here? The OP is not the head teacher 🤔

Bizarre contribution....

If you do a Google search, you'll find messages both on Mumsnet and Facebook dating back to 2012, 2017...in fact most years, where people have had the same idea and been told the same answer. Your idea is not new and it's no more workable now than it was then.

If you do a Google search, you'll find messages both on Mumsnet and Facebook dating back to 2012, 2017...in fact most years, where people have had the same idea and been told the same answer. Your idea is not new and it's no more workable now than it was then.

@KuanKaKu
You repeatedly banging on about Travellers having it better than poor old you is not the "gotcha" you think it is. The educational outcome of traveller children is extremely poor in the main, which kind of proves the point that your idea is actually a really bad idea.

If you do a Google search, you'll find messages both on Mumsnet and Facebook dating back to 2012, 2017...in fact most years, where people have had the same idea and been told the same answer. Your idea is not new and it's no more workable now than it was then.

If you de register your dc their place is gone, schools cannot keep their place. If there is a waiting list the place will go to those dc. If it’s not an oversubscribed school you may be able to register them on your return but not guarantees. There are some exceptions for specific circumstances, my friend got permission to take her dc out for 1 month on compassionate grounds but this is working with the school not quoting legal documents at the school

If you do a Google search, you'll find messages both on Mumsnet and Facebook dating back to 2012, 2017...in fact most years, where people have had the same idea and been told the same answer. Your idea is not new and it's no more workable now than it was then.

Fortunately there is so much excess money in then state school system it will be fine for there to be a tailored flexible system to suit those parents that want to travel…No wait…

You're in the minority, however modern you feel you are.

The current even more draconian rules came in August 2024 so just over a year ago having been initially done in February so definitely not antiquated at all and came in for the specific purpose I think of improving attendance and stopping term time holidays