To think education is a privilege and removing a child from that without damn good reason is shocking?

[MBT1987]

So, in the latest episode of "Why am I being fined for breaking the law?" AKA "Yet Another Unauthorised Absence", we've had:

"I'm going to tell my kids to lie"
"I'd vote Labour if they abolished compulsory education" (Fun fact - the Education Act 2006 was passed under Labour)
"My children with both parents are disadvantaged as opposed to single-parent families!"
"What are they really going to do if I break the law and don't accept the fine?" (Hint - prosecute)
"My school are lovely, so they won't mind" (Then ask in advance?)

I could go on.

There are some absolute howlers coming from this place, and it's sickening. Parents are encouraging kids to play truant and lie about it.

I don't care if I become Social Pariah of the Week as a result of this. I'll just have to be lonely on my little patch of moral high ground. Anyone is welcome to join me.

[Rooners]

Oh and I home educate one of mine because (in part) I already resent a lot about the school system so when he wanted to HE I was happy to.

[maggiemight]

Yes, argawarga has it right. contempt for education and lack of respect for authority as Hansolo states (and the fact that my taxes are paying for it and it is being scorned).

[HanSolo]

juggling- average cost of primary place is a staggering £10k p.a. secondary is less, but but of course special school places far, far more.

[brokenpurpleheart]

Ok, have read through the thread and just wanted to add a few things.

Firstly the decision for these fines was made by the current government. The previous government introduced fines for anything over a ten day absence.

Secondly head teachers are not able to make the decision - there is a list of acceptable reasons - forces, funerals etc. anything beyond that is at the discretion of county.

Taking your child out of school is damaging at certain times - not primary but at Key Stage 4 it can have a serious effect. In my current Year 11 class I have two pupils who both missed ten days due to a holiday. Both missed a significant part of the coursework and had to attend after school lessons and Saturday mornings with me to get this work done (they missed ten hours of teaching in my subject). There are also pupils who have time off near to exams and miss essential revision.

Finally a law is a law, whether you agree with it or not. No wonder pupils find it really hard to follow school rules. The biggest problem in education today is a lack of respect from some pupils, many seem to think they don't have to work, think they have a right to have their mobile phones out, think it is ok to answer back, that headphones plugged in are part of the uniform, think that rules don't apply to them . .... then I read what some parents are saying on here and realise why!

Please note that I said some

[mummymoo47]

Hi guys please help me decide!!??
I live in Barnet and my 14 year old daughter and her 11 year old friend wants to go to watford which takes 2 busess. She really wants to go! I would take her myself but I have work to do! What shall i do let her go, or not?

[HanSolo]

C'mon maggie- how much do you make in contributions p.a.?

Never use the health service, or motorways, or the rail network...?

[LEMmingaround]

You are probably right - my spelling is terrible - probably because my parents took me out of school to go to australia when i was 10, for six weeks Actually - that was wrong of them, but thats another story. I clearly stated that i will not be telling my DD to lie to the school about being ill - lying is wrong, why would i teach my child to do that. IF we go away this year, i will probalby go for a four day thing - leave friday, back monday - thats TWO whole days off school. Are you seriously expecting me to believe this is going to be to my DD's detriment.

I imagine algernon's parents can afford to wait until the school holidays anyway, if they can afford the school fees - apart from the fact that they are hardly at school anyway and seem to have the whole year off

[MrsCakesPremonition]

I am also thrilled to hear that people think it is acceptable to overload GP surgeries with emergency requests for sick notes because a child has a cold, flu or D&.

Last week my DS's class had 5 children off with D&V. That's 5 emergency appointments (£25 each), 5 children sat in the surgery infecting elderly and vulnerable patients instead of vomiting and pooing in their own homes. And why? So the schools can tick a box that says the absence was authorised.

[LEMmingaround]

did you mean to post that here mummy?

[Argawarga]

Yesterday I got some work I set for a student going on holiday. It was done to a very high standard. This is the only time I've had such good work done. Usually it's shoddy, incomplete or never handed in, and I've been teaching for donkey's years.

[maggiemight]

maggie no- £12k is the average cost of a STATE place. Do you have any idea how much a place in a special school costs p.a. for example

Yes, I know the cost for state schools it was just on the pm prog, 4,000 a term I think they said. Special schools for difficult kids were 28,000 a year a few years ago.

When I said I paid for many children's education it was just to avoid being lambasted by other posters with the fact that I don't pay towards public schooling. I meant I pay towards many children's education.

It is annoying that despite tax payers paying for education it is acceptable for so many dcs leaving school but unable to read or write at an acceptable standard to get a job. Who is it that deems it ok for tax payers money to be wasted to this level.

[Honeysweet]

mummymoo47 has posted the same message on another wrong thread too.

[GoofyIsACow]

I thought that honey, thought i was going mad!

[LEMmingaround]

No mummy, they are too young, its after dark - HTH

[starlight1234]

I completely agree noodle oodle ..Education can be learnt in more places than the classroom..otherwise why do school do school trips? I would of thought that we had learnt there is far more ways to learn about the world than sitting in a classroom staring at a teacher...

Our Holiday last year we visited Bewilderwood..resulting in DS reading a whole series of books...He has poor motor skills and spent the day climbing and running but some people will find no educational value in this...

I am sick of the nanny state and the people who tell me how to raise my child..help those who aren't and for information he has had one day off this year with a tummy bug...

[Honeysweet]

Goofy

Sock. Thanks for that. I didnt think PiperRose was right, but wasnt 100% sure.

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

But not everyone can afford to home educate (many households need two incomes or are single parent) or send to private school Hic and others.

So, I think it's very important that the rules are reasonable and work well to support the majority of families.

I don't accept the "these are the rules you can't question them" approach!

[Honeysweet]

So what I posted stands. Parents can take their kids out of the school system and rules for all of the 38 weeks of the year if they choose to Home Ed.

[SpinDoctorofAethelred]

"If your child is "seriously ill", get to A&E. If they're not ill enough to bother with A&E, they're not seriously ill.

It's amazing hospitals have departments other than Accident & Emergency then. If all serious illnesses can be appropriately treated at Accident & Emergency...

You should tell the Department of Health this amazing insight, so they can cut funds. No, actually, please don't. They'll seize on the concept and hang on to it, no matter if millions of people point out it's ridiculous.

It is possible to be too ill to attend school or work, and for it to neither be an emergency or an accident, but a chronic or lifelong condition. The patient may already be undergoing treatment for it, and have a consultant and everyfink. It's just that a magic visit to the hospital hasn't made the condition go away.

[Blu]

SaucyJack - are you serious?
I wasn't especially studious but I could easily fill about 40 pages of A4 with stuff I learned in formal education and still remember,

[ChoudeBruxelles]

Not read the whole thread but my son will miss another day of school if teachers strike again. But on those days his education his apparently not as important.

[Argawarga]

The teachers do not apply the fines, so their industrial action is not the point here.

[HoratiaDrelincourt]

It isn't "these are the rules, you can't question them". It's "these are the rules, question and fight them all you want, but obey them while they're in force".

Not hard.

[maggiemight]

ChoudeBruxelles surely the teachers can catch up the work after the day's strike. They cannot catch up the work of individual DCs taking time off when it suits their parents or not within the normal school day unless they make all the non holidaying kids repeat the work

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

It is hard for some families Horatia in many different circumstances (not particularly for ours but I do find it blood boiling as someone else said, but only because of the principle - they are my children)

I put it like that because several posters have posted a "these are the rules, you signed up to them when you decided to send your DC to school" type of post.
But actually I don't remember anyone asking me about this.

As I've said all along I think it's more of a partnership.