unauthorised holiday ...so cross

[lostlilly]

5 days I requested, I finished my degree last year and we havent had a holiday for 5 years!!! my dd is SO excited about going on a plane she burst into tears when I got the letter saying unauthorised. It states her attendance is 100% but it is unauthorised. I am really cross, we have to pay a fixed penalty, as if anyone can afford that at the moment!

Don't understand - have you asked school for permission to take DD out of school during term time for five days and they have refused?

I don't understand what you're cross about. Why would a school authorise it? It's just a holiday, no exceptional circumstances etc. The fact that you haven't had a holiday for 5 years is irrelevant, the school has rules and they have to implement them. So if you're asking are you bieng unreasonable to be cross then...yes! I seriously don't see why you would expect a school to authorise it.

Just go.

And enjoy yourselves.

(How old is your dd?)

So you can afford the holiday but not the fine, how much is it?

Why didn't you book during the school holidays?

YABU (depending in how old she is)
How many days not clear?

Sorry you did, how old/ what yr is she in?

That is a very hard line for the school to take. I would speak to them and see whether you can come to an agreement given her previous perfect attendance record. Even with the fixed penalty, holiday will probably still cost you less than if you had gone during school holidays so I wouldn't be too upset.

It just means it will go down as 'unauthorised absense'. No big deal, just go.

The unauthorised absence bit wouldn't bother me but the fixed penalty is very harsh imo

fucking bullshit rules. Wont make a fig of difference to her education.
Tell the school she's ill. Let them prove it. (they won't be able to)
Bollocks to them.

I remember feeling the same in Y3 when I got an "unauthorised absence" letter. We still went, anyway, as the holiday had been booked for 11 months and cancelling it would have been very costly. Nothing happened. Well, the HT was a bit annoyed, I suppose, but as DS's attendance was otherwise 100%, nothing else happened. Enjoy your holiday and keep it in mind that next time, you need to book during school holidays

If she's in Yr 6 it's a massive deal!

seriously, call the school and tell them she's sick.
These 'rules' are bollocks. Some rules were meant to be broken. This is one of them.

Some rules exist so you can think about them before breaking them.

I hope you are going somewhere warm!

YANBU.
We're in the same boat. Haven't been on holiday for 6 years, can't afford the inflated prices during school holidays.
Our headteacher is very understanding, and appreciates that family holidays are precious.

The only people I know personally who don't agree with term-time holidays are the ones who have no problem affording at least one two -week holiday a year (often more).

I don't understand why the government don't make it illegal for companies to penalise parents like this...making us pay more just because they know the kids are off!

It's unfair...we are not allowed to remove DC for holidays...so it is not our fault...therefore it is discrimination on the grounds of being a parent!

she is 8, its a one week holiday sat -sat so just 5 school days off. My husband works for a huge company with hundreds of employees and has set holidays given to him throughout the year, sometimes they fall during school holidays and sometimes they don't! I am cross because I work hard all year and just one week of the treadmill and we get fined! it feels unfair when her attendance is 100%

Restraint of trade. It's all about demand and supply.

I know a few families who come from abroad and get an unauthorised absence once per year, as their Christmas holidays is longer than UK's and the children would miss out on their actual "Christmas day" otherwise. Every year, it goes down as unauthorised, and that's it. Just a note in a useless piece of paper which no-one will look at unless there's other absences during the year. The school won't like it because it looks bad on them, but that's the only reason. Are you sure about the fine? I've never known anyone who has actually got it.

How come every poster who starts a thread like this, happens to have a child with 100% attendance?

And why do they think attending school 100% of the time they actually should, gives them some sort of right to swan off on holiday?

Kids have 13 weeks in which to go on hols, unless there's an absolute reason they can't go during those 13 weeks (and cost isn't a reason ) then the school have every right to be pissed off.

always makes me laugh when people get all uppity about this particular rule. It's a shit rule. It makes no sense. It serves no reasonable purpose. The only time it would cause problems is up to and including SAT's.
Seriously, don't let your life be dictated by the crap rules invented by idiots. Go on holiday and have a wonderful time!

It's the Easter holidays!!!! Why would you want even more time off?

I had this problem when i sent in a holiday form, i wrote a letter to the head about how imprtant the holiday is and he phoned me a few days later to say that if my dc has no time of before the easter hols & i send in another form he will authorise it. The head said he has to stick to new governent targets -so blame the goverment !
I made a thread similar to yours last month but since then it looks like its going to be authorised-hoping to hear back afta half term- goodluck write a letter and see if it makes a difference . 5 days isnt a lot of time out of school but due to new goverment guidelines schools are forced to say no. Bloody Cameron ruins everything for us working class ordinary people!-the nhs is next in line to be ruined

Crap rules invented by idiots.