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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask the school to authorise absence for DD(5)

47 replies

UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea · 04/05/2013 16:09

DD, aged 5, in reception. We submitted a request for one day off school to accommodate travel for a family holiday ( i.e. not a particularly important thing) and have been refused.

This is the first time we have asked for time off school, she's had a few days off because of illness (chicken pox before Easter, an infection before Christmas) but otherwise her attendance and progress has been excellent.

AIBU to challenge this? Or is the majority opinion that children should be in school? Would appreciate some perspective, new to all this.

OP posts:

Groovee · 04/05/2013 17:11

I'd just take it as unauthorised

Geezer · 04/05/2013 17:12

That's understood, fortyplus, and answered in my post at 16.37.

LillyPickle · 04/05/2013 17:15

Out of interest, is the request for this academic year or next? We have had notification that the government is cracking down on term time holidays from September and unless there are mitigating circumstances, no term time holidays will be authorised.

Original poster

UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea · 04/05/2013 17:19

From the school policy:

"Under education law, parent/careers may request a family holiday... The school may authorise leave of absence of up to 10 days in any school year.

In considering whether to authorise absences the school will look at individual circumstances and take into account:

the age of the pupil
the time of year proposed for the trip
the nature of trip and parent's wishes
overall pupil attendance pattern
pupil's stage of education and progress
no holidays will be authorised in May when tests are administered.

Warning

If you take your child out of school without permission you will be committing an offence under the Education Act 1966."

The absence is in May but it's one day and I wasn't aware they did any tests in reception.

There are no particular features of this weekend like elderly relatives flying in from abroad, and again I won't lie (DD will get me found out). But I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for one day?

OP posts:

mrsjay · 04/05/2013 17:33

why challange it you want to take your child out on holiday It reallly is a waste of your time to challange one day your child must have a below the daft average for an authorisation, just let them know say you realise this is an unauthorised holiday but X will be off on Y day, it is our choice to take children out of school schools dont have to authorise anything imo,

SpanishFly · 04/05/2013 17:36

what the school are saying is that they arent authorising her to go, and will treat it in the same way theyd treat sickness. Iirc, theyre not allowed to say it's fine to go on holiday, as it isnt fine at all. There are 13 weeks for family holidays.

Theyre not saying she cant go at all. So go.

Also, you state yourself that it's "not a particularly important reason" so why would the Head suddenly authorise it?

I dont think it's awful to do this, but there are rules for a reason - what if we all took our kids on holiday during term time? And if you cant get annual leave from work, you either dishonestly phone in sick or you dont go.

SpanishFly · 04/05/2013 17:37

PS no, it's not unreasonable to ask for one day, but why's it such a huge deal to you that it's authorised?

mrsjay · 04/05/2013 17:37

OP do you want the authorisation to make it look ok that you are taking her out for a day ? it is ok you know just take her,

Blackqueen · 04/05/2013 17:38

The EYFS profiles will be being completed for all reception children over the next few weeks ready to be submitted to the LEA at the end of June so yes there are assessments in reception classes. That said in my school these are done very informally (the children wont know they are even doing them) and one child missing one day would not be a disaster. However over a third of my foundation unit have requested time off for a holiday between now and the summer holidays and that does make life more difficult for staff. Hence our policy is the same -no requests for holidays during May will be authorised. There will also be SATS tests for older pupils it's easier just to have a whole school policy on this to avoid confusion.

lostmykeysagain38 · 04/05/2013 17:41

If I'm honest, I'd say just go (hanging my head in shame as I am a teacher). However, I can imagine the parents of the children in my class if I did the same and left them with a cover teacher...... I don't know of any teachers who have ever had a holiday authorised during term time and to be honest, we do have a fair few weeks to choose to go in, so I am not complaining. I just have to organise my holidays around school holidays, which is why we can only afford to go camping.

Original poster

UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea · 04/05/2013 17:43

I don't want to be one of those parents who think school rules are for other people. TBH it never occurred to me not to ask, and it never occurred to me it wouldn't be authorised. Other parents have done similar and it has been authorised.

Our request was filled out on a small form with no room for explanation, maybe we should have had an accompanying letter.

We will still go and take her out of school I'm assuming the cops won't be waiting on my doorstep when I get back

OP posts:

SoupDragon · 04/05/2013 17:44

Just take her out.

YANBU to have asked for authorisation, however they ANBU to refuse it.

mrsjay · 04/05/2013 17:44

NO i am sure the FBI wont be on your tail as fugitives as long as the school know where she is then I can't see it as a problem ,

SoupDragon · 04/05/2013 17:45

DD had an unauthorised day last year because her father f*cked up booking some flights. There was no comeback. I believe you can receive a fine though.

mrsjay · 04/05/2013 17:45

they will know you have taken her out you have done all the right things

Original poster

UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea · 04/05/2013 17:46

Thank you BlackQueen that's useful to know. And thanks everyone else.

I should have paid more attention to this May rule. We won't be making a habit of it so my conscience is (mostly) clear.

OP posts:

HintofBream · 04/05/2013 19:17

DH is head of a school with many disfunctional families. He virtually always authorises family holidays on the grounds that a few days' family interaction could well be all some kids get.
Our DGCs have been taken skiing during school time, though it won't happen next year because of SATs.

lljkk · 04/05/2013 19:26

You would have no trouble at all getting one day off at DC school!
Just go.

phantomnamechanger · 04/05/2013 19:27

re: teachers taking hols in term time, I have only ever come across this twice (and that's both as a teacher and a parent) - once was when the teacher had 3 extra days off at the end of term to go abroad for a family wedding, the other was last year when their DP was not allowed any time off for several months around the Olympics because he's a police officer and both her school and her kids school allowed her time off in term time instead

Finola1step · 04/05/2013 19:46

Don't bother challenging. Just take the day and accept that the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.

Yes headteachers can authorise up to 10 days in exceptional circumstances. For example, I know of a family who had a week authorised for their children because the maternal grandfather had passed away in Ireland. The funeral day itself was recorded as other circumstances and the four other days were authorised as holiday.

FagEnds · 04/05/2013 19:52

We had a day's leave turned down due to 'poor attendance'. We challenged it and discovered that the school had made a mistake. It's quite serious that the school should make such a mistake. It was worth finding out about. After that we were fine about having a day off.

lljkk · 04/05/2013 19:55

DD's teacher had a few days off for his honeymoon.

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