School holiday "request" form

[Sickofthisdressandthesejimmychoos]

Can anyone help me with what to write on my leave of absence request for my sons' school please.

It's a week away abroad and they will miss 5 days of school.
The ultimate reason is that I simply can't afford to go in the holidays.

I do understand it will be refused and go down as unauthorised but still have to fill the form out so how can I word my reason nicely? It just feels awkward to me to put "I can't afford it any other time". Is there a better way to word this?

I've just filled in the same holiday form this morning for the same reasons as you. I simply wrote 'family holiday' as my reason. There is no point trying to justify it as it will go down as unauthorised regardless. I too deliberated on whether to try to explain it but decided against. Hope this helps reassure you. Have a great holiday!

Please don't lie. Not a good example to set your DS. Use the words you suggest.

Unless you are visiting a relative who cannot travel, or going for a cultural one-off event, such a trip is not essential.

If you get a fine please accept it with a good grace.

It won’t matter what you write so just put family holiday.
Hopefully you won’t get fined but if you do have you factored that into the cost of the holiday?

@balalake I wasn't planning to lie at all I was just wondering if there was a nicer way to word that it isn't financially possible for me to go in the holidays.
And I will accept my fine with good grace if I get one lol.

@Hoppinggreen @Star789 yes maybe I will just put family holiday then as it will be unauthorised regardless.
I dont think I will be fined as I've not known anyone to be fined for a holiday at our school but yes I have factored the possibility into my finances. The £60 each child (single parent) is still much cheaper than the extra £1000 my holiday would have been in August.
@Star789 I hope you enjoy your holiday too.

Have a lovely time. They will probably look at his attendance overall and whether he’s had any other unauthorised time off before recommending you for a fine. At my kids’ school they don’t fine unless it’s over 5 days anyway and if it’s someone who hasn’t had much time off before they’d let it go too.

I’ve got the same form to fill in. It feels too blunt to just put ‘family holiday’ so I do intend to write a brief explanation.

I see lots of these forms. They say 'family holiday' or 'family holiday due works annual leave requirements' or 'family holiday taken now due to affordability'

Some people write much more but it doesnt seem worth it.

Forgive my naivety but why fill it out at all?

I have never completed one, just took kids out of school. Doesn't affect me one bit if they're marked down as unauthorised absence.

I said we had a destination family wedding, dd only missed 2 days but the principle is the same!

If you send it in advance the teachers know that your child won't be in school. Otherwise wouldn't you need to phone/email on the day to let them know in the same class way you would if they were sick. I'd totally forget to do that if I was on holiday.

There are very few 'acceptable reasons' for taking kids of whatever age out of school. If you don't hit any of them - e.g. holidays set by employer for a paramedic for example then I wouldn't bother trying to explain.

'Family holiday taken now for affordability' seems like a reasonable phrase.

There are ALOT of these happening this year more than usual so schools are getting a bit twitchy as their absense figures are already sky high. Keep it simple and polite and move on!

The LA send out an 'inclusion officer' or EWO to schools each half term. The head has to show the EWO the attendance record of everyone below a certain % and they go through the reasons and the EWO decides whether any further action needs to be taken. If you have a nice form, filled out it draws less attention to yourself than the head having to check who took the messsge and what was said etc.

It doesnt impact fines or anything like that so you are right in that way.

It will be refused. Councils are cracking down on fines BUt the fine is still cheaper than the increased cost of holiday going in non term time.
Enjoy

I did just put "family holiday" in the end. It did seem a bit blunt though 😬

I'm going to say destination wedding due to cultural reasons. Otherwise its £60 PER ADULT that has to pay PER DAY ! £120 X 5 .. They didnt give a shit they wouldnt let my daughter in school for best part of 8 months due to covid so fuck them and the online work they set out was a joke
I'm holidaying right now all inclusive abroad and the fine will cost more than I've paid for this 5 nights in the sun
Nah fuck them
Take me to court I wont pay it

Or I'll just say covid symptoms 🤷‍♀️

For child protection reasons they need to know where the child is. If you suddenly don’t turn up to school and aren’t contactable for a week that is a lot of running around people need to do. Plus it’s basic manners.

It's changed now and is now uniform accross the country to ensure it is the same everywhere. Schools won't have a choice.

Ah thanks PPs for suggesting why fill out the form. My kids are lucky to have 100% attendance rest of the terms but I do text school the day before to say they won't be in.

We just took 4 days off (luckily the Friday was an inset day) and didn't get a fine. I spoke to the headteacher who said they don't fine as a rule - only in exceptional circumstances if someone has multiple term time holidays.

Agree about being honest.

And if you can send them In Registration first day of absence and collect them so it's only 9 missed sessions!

We don't have to do forms anymore - just send an email in. I sent "I'm requesting they have a term time holiday and I know that you're going to say you can't authorise it but then we all go ahead anyway" - but I know our head really is incredibly laid back about this sort of thing.

I believe LAs are getting tougher on absences as the numbers are sky rocketing. And as soon as one family are seen to escape a fine, more will make the most of affordable holidays versus astronomical peak season prices.

Studies have shown that there is a direct link between attendance and attainment.

I don't know what the answer is though - family holidays also add value to a childhood. If only they weren't so out of reach during school hols to many family budgets.

@Gazelda the best idea I have come across to do something about the cost of holidays is for a school to group all their INSET days in one week, so a week off for children in term time so not odd days. As long as not all schools over a very wide area do it, holiday prices are unlikely to be hiked up by travel companies.

Staggering school holidays, say Cheshire doing one thing and Staffordshire another (as an example) will not be supported, as no-one will want their summer holiday to end by the end of July.

I'd have just lied and said they have covid. What are they going to do, call you a liar?