As of September 1st no more term time absences - complete overkill?

[Levvylife]

We've just been notified that schools will no longer authorise any absences in term time as of September (bar exceptional circumstances) and if you do take your child out in term time you get a £60 fine.

I'm not saying I approve of kids taking time out in term time per se, but this seems ridiculously heavy handed to me, what's wrong with the current system at the Head's discretion?

For example, my 6 year old DS was studying the Great Fire of London, so we took him to London for two days, but on a Sunday and Monday to avoid crowds and reduce the cost by half. He learnt way more in that day than he would have in school and I find it very hard to believe that the odd day here and there for good reason is going to make a massive amount of difference.

Also, Dh pointed out that some people work in offices and it is not always possible to take your annual leave in the summer if everyone else gets in there first. Then what?

So, AIBU to think that this is really over the top?

Wow, I didnt realise that about the fines, thanks for the info. Not that it makes much difference as thanks to redundancy I am more likely to walk to the moon than go on holiday!

Mary, mad isnt it?!

Are the fines per child, per day? I thought they were per child per 10 sessions, ie. a school week.

at Bogeyface and school not spotting the irony. My DD has 100% attendance in theory but has already missed two days since half term. One to a clinic appointment at midday forty miles away in the city and one for an ultrasound, again around noon. No sick days, no malingering. I wonder if she would be allowed to go on that trip?

This is not well thought out and after receiving a similar letter from my dc's school have decided to take our oldest dd out of school and home educate. She has, this year, had five afternoons off in December for Panto (when I asked the head what these new rules meant for Panto she advices we didn't audition!!), a few sessions for exams, a dy for a dance festival, a day for an audition in London and three days with tonsillitis. My ds1 and ds2 have 100% attendance. Therefore, so that dd can continue with her performance related oppurtunities we have decided to home educate.

As I understand it the fine is £60 per child, per parent, per week.

Sparkly

So glad you were able to reach a decision, in terms of performance as I said on previous threads, the freedom has really boosted dds opportunities which in turn will enable her to reach her goals.
Good luck.

How will per parent, per child work? I haven't seen a penny from XH in thirteen years although he has P.R. I'm not even sure where he is tbh.

According to the school policy though, an adult who normally lives with and looks after the child has P.R in their view and can be contacted in case of emergency, receive progress reports etc. So that would be DH and he would have to pay the fine as well.

P.R is legally defined, surely? Can a bio father and step-father both have it?

Thanks potato.

It's been a big decision, but as of the 1st of September she will be HE. For a years trial to start with. Dh is still unsure but has finally agreed to let us try.

Dd had better get into Panto after all this! Lol!

I think this will pan out okay. Our school has a large community of folk from across the world and quite often the "once every two years" holiday to see grandparents back home DOES clash with term time. As a Governor I know our Head will always authorise this as "an exceptional circumstance".

I think it is going to be those who regularly take time off in term time who will be hit by this.

I have only ever done this on one occasion and it was when MIL paid for us to go on holiday as a surprise (bless her, so grateful we were) and it was term time. Only four days but great fun.

I am guessing that now it might not be authorised though.

we got "the letter" but as well as warning of fines, we are told "the government may notify the airports"!! Very Big Brother, but perhaps I'll go through the tunnel!!

Seriously, I have never taken DS out of school for holidays, but the letter made me feel like I really wanted to!

It isn't the schools who are doing this.

And fines are not automatic - in our county it has to go to the legal team who then decide to prosecute and issue fixed penalty notices.

We have tried to explain this by saying that, as we say now, all holiday counts as unauthorised absence, unless there are exceptional circumstances - we have a child with a terminally ill sister, for example, who is going away with her and the rest of the family, and we are authorising that absence. We are not authorising the absence of the child in the same class who has been on holiday and missed two GCSE exams and will miss another if he takes the holiday he has just told us about.

We send warning letter at 92% and refer to legal at 85%, I think.

Another of the many reasons we won't be bringing up our half-English child in this country. Fucking ridiculous. Who the fuck do they think they are?

What annoys me though, is the fact I informed the school dd had a London audition and asked for work to be sent home with her so that she wouldn't be missing it. Lecture about unauthorised absence; no work sent home for her to do!

"the government may notify the airports"!! Oh my God! I am imagining families with suitcases on their way to Majorca being wrestled to the ground by a SWAT team!

I am completely confident that the government will not /cannot inform the airports! What over zealous official composed that letter?

@ notifying the airports. So now security staff not only have to look out for people with bombs in their shoes/bottles of milk, but also families with children of school-age, in case they try to flee the country (for a week).

sparkly, whilst I have no issues with term time holidays I absolutely refuse to send extra work home either for or after that holiday. Go if you feel it is right for your family but do not expect me to increase my workload because of it.

And don't forget, with different counties having different holidays, security staff will have real problems.

It's overkill.

We are in NZ. To visit grandparents in anything like decent weather, the children would have to miss a couple of weeks of term as there is no long Jul/Aug break.

I recently asked the school about this, and the reply was that while it was not encouraged, it was common enough and was not a matter of particular concern.

Furthermore, while I suspect that claiming a day out is educational is a bit of a fig leaf sometimes, it's a perfectly valid point. Educating a child is not some mystic art that only teachers can perform. Furthermore, there is far, far more to education than the fecking National Curriculum, for Pete's sake.

I'd tell them to bite me.

bogeyface - how are sports days, play days and school trips not educational? Not all education has to be about maths, English and textbooks. I'll give you film days but even then, it depends on the film.

A good end of term programme should be both fun and educational. Not difficult to achieve. Children don't even (ime) enjoy being stuck in front of films for lesson after lesson anyway so I don't know why some teachers bother, it's not worth the moans. My classes have done things like 6 legged scavenger hunts (PSHE), reading in trees (English) and battle reenactment with water pistols (History) this week. We've also had things on for the oldest children like a leavers' pantomime, first aid course and charity work. I don't think that kind of thing is 'not worth being there' for and I think most schools do these sorts of activities rather than endless films and toy days nowadays.

Having said that, I don't think it's a cardinal sin to take your kid out of school as and when you need to. Our parents do it all the time for the most genuine and asinine of reasons.

What about us Forces families? I hope that'll come under exceptional circumstances or my DC won't get to spend another chunk of time with their dad for aaaages.

There is no automatic let out for Forces Families. Various documents on The Military Coevenant state that it would be good practice for HTs to authorise leave for when a parent returns from a deployment. But it does not say they must do so - it's always HT's discretion.