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Original poster

term time holiday refused

66 replies

elliejjtiny · 30/09/2021 13:21

My eldest started school 11 years ago and I have never taken them out of school for a holiday/day trip.

DS2 is in year 9 and autistic. His obsession is formula 1 and he wants to work with racing cars when he leaves school. FIL has offered to take him to the grand prix next july. It's a 3 day trip, friday to sunday and on the friday you can walk on the track, see the pit lanes etc. It's a fantastic opportunity and very expensive too, thankfully FIL is paying as well as taking him.

We filled in the form for a term time holiday request and it's been refused. They say that it's not essential and if we take him out anyway it will be an unauthorised absence and we will be fined. His attendance is almost perfect. Since he started secondary school 2 years ago he has had 2 days off sick. That was when he took an overdose in february and ended up in hdu. He took his overdose on Monday morning, came out of hdu on tuesday morning and came home from hospital on Tuesday afternoon. He went back to home learning on the Wednesday morning (his choice - I would have given him time off).

The lady who signed the refusal form was the same person who was our first point of contact after his overdose. So it's hard not to take it personally.

I know that attendance is important but it's 1 day and it will make him so happy. Can I appeal/fight for this?

OP posts:

H1Drangea · 30/09/2021 20:33

Just take him
Email / phone the school the morning he’s off and say
Unnamed is unable to attend school today , due to personal reasons

willowstar · 30/09/2021 20:39

It wouldn't be authorised in any school I don't think, certainly not in ours. In fact I wouldn't even bothered to have asked for it to be authorised. Just let him go. In our county you only get fined if you have 5 days/10 sessions off within a six week period.

BananaPB · 30/09/2021 20:40

Just go. Why do you need it authorised ? 🤷‍♀️

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Larryyourwaiter · 30/09/2021 20:40

I wouldn’t have told them. They can’t say yes.
Hopefully there is a long enough gap they won’t associate your request with a single days sickness.

Lulu1919 · 30/09/2021 20:49

Don't worry just let him go !
I very much doubt they will fine you for taking one day !

Peanutsandchilli · 30/09/2021 20:58

You won't be fined for one day. Just let him go.

KateTheEighth · 30/09/2021 21:00

It wouldn't be authorised in many/any schools

Don't lie

Take ownership of your decision

minimecantrollerskate · 30/09/2021 21:06

They only fine when 10 sessions are missed, which is 5 days, well our LEA anyway, They won’t fine you for one day. (Unless you had already accumulated 5 days)

gospelsinger · 30/09/2021 22:18

An unauthorised absense means nothing really. Just take him. Be honest, don't phone in sick as I believe it sets a bad example to your kids, just tell the school nearer the time what will be happening. Don't ask permission. 'DS will not be in school on (date), as he's on an educational visit with his grandad' My local authority doesn't seem to fine parents for this sort of thing, but other areas are different.

Timeisavirtue · 30/09/2021 22:28

I would have just called sick.... it’s not worth the aggro. They can’t prove it short of coming to your house which they are not supposed to do...

guiltynetter · 30/09/2021 22:34

I wouldn't have even asked them for one day 🙈

Original poster

elliejjtiny · 01/10/2021 13:02

Thankyou everyone. I'm glad it's not a personal thing and their hands are tied. I see lots of other children from the same school going on holiday in term time and I assumed they'd been given permission. Now I'm thinking they either didn't ask or had it refused. I asked the school for permission and filled in the form from the school website because I thought that was what I was meant to do. I did wonder about calling in sick but I thought staff might notice if he came back to school all excited on the Monday morning. He is normally very withdrawn and quiet until he gets talking about formula 1 and then he starts stimming/flapping and jumping up and down with a huge grin on his face. He is going and we will pay the fine if necessary. It would just have been nice to have a "sorry we can't authorize this but have a lovely time" letter rather than the official letter.

OP posts:

beautifullymad · 01/10/2021 13:29

@MrsWorriedMother

You have to take ten days off unauthorised to get a fine. Not just one. That sounds like an amazing (and educational) experience for him. Take him out anyway.

This!

Take him, call in to report his absence and switch your phone off.

Howshouldibehave · 01/10/2021 14:06

It’s 10 sessions (ie 5 days), not 10 days, but essentially agree. If his attendance is good anyway, I’d just go.

MerryMarigold · 01/10/2021 14:10

I don't think you can be fined for less than 3 sessions. That's 1.5 days - so do it!! I've bitten the bullet to do it a couple of times at the end if the summer term in order to visit family abroad. Got snotty letters from school but 🤷.

MerryMarigold · 01/10/2021 14:12

And quite frankly they are lucky he's at school. My friend whose son is on autism spectrum has had terrible attendance since secondary.

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