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!

Who is fining you?
How much is it ?
The 'unauthorised bit isn't important to you or your dd - it's the school that gets picked up on figures like that (can be a 'biggy' when OFSTED come acalling - but if you don't mind contributing to your dd's school being downgraded, then it won't affect her personally apart from work missed).

Just go and don't worry about it.

That said, it certainly does cause problems, in every school year. Children who have been absent often find themselves stressed with the idea that they have missed stuff, and low confidence kicks in. I've seen this from primary to sixth form.

if your dh's holidays are genuinely unchangeable then i would go. a week holiday with her father (if this is REALLY the only week he is off work and no other week during any of the many school holidays) is imo more important.

i am sure the fine is less than the cost would be to go in holiday time...

YABU

Not sure why SATs should have any relevance. If a child is away, the teacher's assessment (more accurate than the SAT) will be sent to the receiving secondary school. Who will re-test anyway as so many students are hot-housed throughout the SATs so give unreliable results.

The SATs are not for your children, they are for the school under the cosh of the government.

no this is in july, My dd doesnt break up until this thursday for 2 weeks and neither me or my husband can get time off so are paying childcare for almost every day, its just one of those things, we both work shifts and as a nurse and a National Express employee were both very limited. Worraliberty!...I stated the 100% attendance thing because if her attendance were poor I might understand a bit more or if we were taking her out for 3 weeks but its five days

Do the school know about the fixed holidays?

yes Floggingmolly, crap rules invented by idiots.

Or do you always obey authority and do exactly as told and never question higher powers ever?

lottie, can you not see why having all of the children in a class together for most of the time is the best thing? And who are the idiots who invented the rules?

Worra - many parents are limited as to when they can take their holidays. I know several people who cannot take time off over Easter, Christmas or summer. Are they meant to take separate holidays to their dc?

Some of my best memories growing up are of family holidays.
It's very narrow minded to simply state that holidays should be taken in holiday time only, and if you can't afford it, or work won't allow it, well, that's just tough.

last year dh has 3 weeks off throughout the year which fell during school holidays so we were fine but this year he has none, its the way it goes. we are going anyway

I think that having a dh with set holidays (that don't fall in school holiday time) is a perfectly goo reason for taking a family holiday during term time.

Schools waste plenty of time taking kids out on non educational trips (Alton Towers, for example). If your school has ever done a trip like this, then it doesn't have a leg to stand on, in objecting to your holiday.

I second the idea of phoning up and telling them she is ill - they will be able to record that as an authorised absence and even though all of you know otherwise, they won't be able to prove it - their figures won't suffer and neither will your daughter's record.

goo reason? Meant good,

lottielou is right here. No-one gave a toss about these holidays, always a minor contributor to the overall absence rate, until the government made it part of the OFSTED rating.

The ones who gave me the pip, and still do, are those who demand work for their child. And then don't do it. DD's school had the right idea - take your child out by all means - but do NOT expect busy staff to set work for your child. Aussie rules.:o

Can all the people saying it is a crap rule etc please write to their MP? This has very little to do with schools and everything to do with government targets and trying to please Ofsted. But it creates conflict between schools and parents; the last thing most schools want.

lostlilly glad you are still going to go.

Our holiday partially falls during term time this year because we're going with extended family and they are paying, so was not about to quibble over dates. And I am the sort of mother who only allows days off ill if they are at death's door, so it's not like I think people should swan off whenever they please. But for a family holiday, especially if you don't get to go away much, I think that schools should be allowed to OK it.

Just go, & send a note saying she's ill.

The HT is under pressure to meet attendance targets so pretty much has to refuse if they're already below target as a school.

She won't be missing any vital exams, & you obviously don't make a habit of it. It's a bloody silly rule.

(Just don't expect teachers to set work or give up time to help her catch up...).

Lottielou is actually sounding like one of the idiots she clearly resents so much herself.

Im just fed up because I genuinely couldnt afford a holiday during school holidays times really and because of my dh holiday assignment this year were stuffed anyway. I promised my dd while I was studying that as soon as I started working again we would have a holiday abroad so she could go a plane, its already cost a fortune getting 3 passports!! I ensure she attends at all times and it just makes you feel guilty for doing something that should be a really positive experience for us as a family...and cost us money that we really can't afford on top of everything else,

Just think about it peeps

What sort of example does it set to a child, for a parent to call the school and tell a deliberate lie that she is ill for a week? And that will involve the DD in lying too, make no mistake about it. The DD will have to tell all her friends about her mysterious illness rather than her lovely holiday.

Sheesh

lottielou actually, the onus would now be on the OP to 'prove' her daughter was ill now the request for holiday has been put in and declined.

If the OP couldn't provide a letter from the GP confirming illness during the period of unauthorised absence, the unauthorised mark would still stand.

I sets a brilliant example, that life is about far more than following mindless rules, and that family fun is important, and that holidays aren't a waste of school time.

Joyless refuseniks.

OP, you're supposed to ensure she attends at all times, so I don't know why you're even bringing that up?

It's the same with cost...if you can't afford to go during the 13 weeks holiday she has from school, then look for a cheaper holiday or spend longer saving up for it surely?

However, you seem to also be saying that it's because neither you or your DH can get time off with your child...that's a different matter.

i would not lie about illness. i would just say 'i accept the unathorised absence'.

but note that this is ONLY if one parent absolutely CANNOT spend a week with the family in holiday time. It's the family time i think is invaluable - even a 'staycation' would be ok, i don't believe everybody has to be able to 'go away'.

I am simply going to take my daughter on a weeks holiday in the sun, her first experience of flying and our first proper family holiday since she was 2 and she cannot remember. Im not lying, I have tried to get authorisation but due to other restriction in our lives we either go on this holiday or don't go as a family at all. She is my daughter and Im taking her whether they give me permission or not