i told SIL that she was in the worng

[itsnotmereally]

Namechanged because I know people on this in real-life.

SIL (DHs sister) is going on holiday her and her DH and their DCs who are in secondary school.
She is going on holiday this week during school time. It has been booked for months. We have discussed it before and everyone warned her that they probably wouldn't authorise the absence.She just shrugged us off saying they would and she won't have to pay the fine.
I saw her today and she was very pleased with herself. The absence had been authorised because she told them that her mother had cancer and they had to see her.
She even told her DCs to act extra sad and maybe mention it to their teachers.

I said that was an awful thing to lie about and encouraging her DCs to do it was even worse.
She sighed and looked at me like I was an idiot ,and said I don't understand. I think she was unreasonable.

Blu

You would hope not but attendance is being closely monitored by OFSTED and schools can fair pretty badly if their attendance slips which it can very quickly if one or two families with a number of children at the school are pulling stunts like this and it catches on that you can make something up and get away with it.

Not saying the school would react in that way but it may well be discussed with Governors.

Doris: then you would imagine that it would be in a schools interest to accept a story of terminal illness (for surely it is only a minority of people who would deploy such an awful tactic as to lie about that) and mark absence as authorised.

Things will have gone way, way too far if people have to start getting copies of other people's medical evidence at the most stressful time in their lives to show to a school secretary.

It might be in a schools best interest to accept a story but clearly not in a child's or their wider families...

And those things need to be considered too.

Attendance is a biggie for OFSTED and this situation merely demonstrates how far people are willing to go to get holiday authorised. A governing body has to address that in some way.

God knows how - hope it never is something I need to address as a Governor.

(....being nosey)

Any update OP? Hope your MIL is okay-ish now?