Requesting time off school and getting denied ??

[Oversteppingonasubject]

Do schools actually have the power to enforce this ?

Been waiting MONTHS for an allergy appt for dd (year 5) - got an appt and it’s 130 pm in a few weeks. For all appts or holiday as a formality you have to request the time off so it’s authorised- school have declined !!!!

The reasons are ‘low attendance’ (dd has had a d and v bug and an ear infection since September) and the fact that ‘the appointment could be out of school time ‘ they have checked with the hospital who confirmed the clinic runs from 1-430 !!! But that’s general info they don’t actually have an after school appt available for dd unless we reschedule for February which I’m not prepared to do !

So we will have an unauthorised absence which is unfair and the school have said with lower than expected attendance plus if I go against what they’ve said and get this unauthorised absences they may have to refer for a fine ???

That's actually a great answer to give.
Absolutely ridiculous that a medical appointment would be denied for allergies or asthma. As if ANYONE can pick and choose appointment times these days anyway! You take what you can get.

‘Dear X,
Thank you for your response to the request for authorised absence for DD to attend a medical appointment. As stated, I will be collecting her at lunchtime on XXX.
Regards,
X’

I wouldn’t even engage with the non-authorisation tbh. No one is going to fine you for an afternoon off for a hospital appointment and nothing bad happens because of an unauthorised absence.

That's crazy - my DC has numerous consultant appointments and they're always in the middle of a School day! I don't request time off though, I just normally send an email telling them the time and date then I ask if they need to see proof.
They never do, but always reply with a 'thank you we've noted in the calendar'

What happens if she has an unauthorised absence anyway?
Just ignore it.
In future, call her in ill on the day.

I work in a school and deal with attendance.

A medical appointment with an official letter confirming it does not need authorisation - it should be marked in the register as M. That code is specifically for medical appointments.

The only reason that the school can not authorise the time off is if they believe that your child is not actually attending a medical appointment and the onus is then on you to prove the appointment exists, which you have.

You may wish to remind the school that the register is a legal document and if they mark a proven medical appointment as O (unauthorised) then they are falsifying that legal document......

I hate this ‘computer says no’ attitude. My daughter recently had the chickenpox vaccine, which she was able to have free on the nhs because I’m severely immunocompromised. Nearest place she could have it is a hospital which is over 1.5 hours away on public transport (would take even longer to drive as it’s into London), so a 4 hour round trip including appointment (assuming all running on time). It’s 2 appointments a few weeks apart. I was able to book one for the holidays but one had to be during term time because of the gap needed. I spoke to the hospital and got the latest appointment I could which was 4pm. So I had to collect her from school at 2pm, exactly one hour early. She got a half day unauthorised absence that day despite the school day being 6 hours long and her missing 1 hour of it. She has very good attendance up to now so not an issue but it doesn’t take much to start getting letters from the school- anything below 96% attendance is apparently unacceptable even where there are valid reasons.

Just take her . Let them rumble on . It's a medical appointment everyone knows there's been strikes and disruption it might be another year until its rearranged. I though at first you were the teacher ! These schools are ridiculous like little Koreas!

I don’t normally make a thing of this but please don’t confuse England with the rUK. Things like this simply don’t happen in Scotland

Just tell them next time in a email rather than asking via a form.

The school is clearly overstepping in relation to an essential medical appointment. It’s this sort of pointless and unreasonable shit that get parents backs up.

Do this! Perfectly put

I would do this too.

Just take her. They have no authority to block a hospital appointment. I work in private and I get kids coming in late as they have appointments or sometimes they are run down so have a lie in 🤷🏼‍♀️ we’re all human.
Next time don’t ask, TELL them dc had medical appointment at hospital and she’s going to get picked up. As pp, they’d be falsifying records. What would happen If a child had serious medical conditions? I bet the school had a poor attendance record in general.

Can your husband/partner take her? If you have already had absence then they will likely not pay you. In my school this would have to be unpaid.

DH works in primary school & has never taken time off with children & is almost never ill. He was refused permission for an important dental appointment for DS. I had to negotiate the time off. I also work in a school. I think budgets are so stretched they are attempting to avoid cover at all costs.

I've been pondering this on and off this evening (also a parent to a child with a serious allergy, our school would never behave like this but the rules are more relaxed here). I would reply and thank them for acknowledging your request. Explain that as you're sure they can understand, paediatric clinics can't offer appointments outside of school hours to everyone. You've waited a long time for this appointment and so will of course be attending. You are very disappointed that the school is not willing to support your DC's medical needs on this occasion.

Just take her. And I wouldn't ask the school about an appointment- I'd tell them.

You are the parent and you make the decisions. The school can put it down as unauthorised but they won't fine for 1 occasion and you have the paperwork to prove it wasn't a jolly!

‘Thank you for the notification that this necessary medical appointment will be marked as unauthorised on your records.

I will collect DD at 12.30pm on X date.

Yours,
etc’

The whole thing is ridiculous. LEA guidelines or whatever the reason, silly.

Just take them end of story. Do you think for one fraction of a second Mr or Mrs Power Trip would let their own child miss a Hospital Appointment.

@converseandjeans The OP isn't asking for time off work. She's asking for her daughter, a student at the school, to be allowed to attend an appointment at the hospital and the school is refusing to authorise the child's absence.

I would be tempted to send an email to the clinic requesting an out-of-school-hours appointment the same day. When, as they will, they get in touch with you to say there is no availability, I would forward this to the school with the following "Dear X, as advised, I have requested an out-of-school-hours appointment for my child but unfortunately there is no availability. Just to be clear on your attendance policy, you are denying my child permission to receive essential medical treatment and suggesting this can be postponed against medical advice and with no clinical basis whatsoever upon which to make this judgement. Is that correct, in which case I will be taking this further, or would you like to authorise this absence?"

Ok, well you tried. Now take her to the appt anyway.

I prefer where possible to work with the school but some things are completely your decision.

Our school are generally fantastic, but they issued a communication saying that because of low attendance they would like all children bought into school and they will decide if the child is too Ill to stay and if needed send them home. That one got filed under 'No way'. If DD is unwell I decide if she's fit for school, if DD has a medical appt I decide if she should attend it. If they want to discuss it with me then fine we can have that conversation, but ultimately it's my decision.

My Ds school tried to do this, I told them where to go 😂 now I just notify them and when they decline I reply "you must be confused, I'm not asking for your permission, I'm telling you that I'll be collecting D on this date at this time".

I’d be >< this close to telling them to go fuck themselves to be honest!

This is actually bonkers.

what a great way to reduce sickness at school - invite every single bug in to school.

id send mine in with a sick bucket to make the point!!

The school are being rediculous. A bit of cop on wouldn't go a stray. I know that schools in the UK are particularly strict on attendence but I'm actually pretty shocked that they checked clinic times with the hospital.