To call into school sick when actually on holiday?

[RosieLancs]

AIBU to lie to the school and pretend the kids are off sick when we are in fact on holidaying?
In a rash moment I booked a caravan holiday for me and the kids the week before half term.
It has been a long year and I feel like we deserve a little family break.
I would normally go in school holiday time but it was over triple the price for the half term week which took it out of our price range.

I know I could land myself with an £120 fine here and if that happened then so be it but would I be unreasonable to just ring them in sick for that week?
Has anyone else done this and gotten away with it before?

If its relevant - after a recent parents evening both of their teachers said they were still very confident and well adjusted after the lockdowns of the last year and both are working at 'Greater Depth' for their age group so I don't feel missing 5 days of school will harm them in any way.

I don't agree with taking children on holiday in term time, as I feel it gives a message "other people should follow the rules, but we do what we like"

But, since you've already decided to go, I think YWBU to pretend the children are ill. Better to be honest

In Ireland once you hit 20 days you'll be reported for a welfare check unless they are aware of an illness.
If attendance is usually good it's fine to take a few days especially at the end of term it's mainly movies and crafts.

@EmeraldShamrock i am from a long line of Mullingar and Dubliners.

I am English, I work in a sch In England. The Irish safe guards are not applicable here. 3 days off sch in England sch's , warrants safe guarding visit.

@KensingtonKate That's interesting and possibly a lot of fluff with time wasting when there is genuinely cases of DC who would benefit from welfare checks in the home versus families who miss 3 days for a break and a minimum absence over the rest of the year.

Oh well if you work the NHS then do whatever the hell you fancy

@TheUndoingProject

Oh well if you work the NHS then do whatever the hell you fancy

😂 So true

@EmeraldShamrock all children who are absent from sch in the UK are subject to welfare checks, no fluff here. No waste of time.

All children absent from sch are subject to welfare checks. All safeguarding and attendance staff monitor and check on all students.

All and any vulnerable students are also monitored. Rest assured we see all students.

Don't worry @EmeraldShamrock sch staff see it all. We got this covered.

[quote KensingtonKate]**@EmeraldShamrock all children who are absent from sch in the UK are subject to welfare checks, no fluff here. No waste of time.

All children absent from sch are subject to welfare checks. All safeguarding and attendance staff monitor and check on all students.

All and any vulnerable students are also monitored. Rest assured we see all students.

Don't worry @EmeraldShamrock sch staff see it all. We got this covered. [/quote]
When's the last time you saw a kid off for a week with chicken pox?

"@AtLeastIWasWinning When's the last time you saw a kid off for a week with chicken pox"?

Erm years ago when my children were young/ toddlers. About 17 yrs ago. Yes, early 2000's or there about. I has a week off work to care for my eldest DC. He had chicken pox. My youngest DC has not had chicken pox

I work in a secondary. Not much chicken pox there either.

Whats your point?

I has a doctors note for my DC's chicken pox absence.

My DS was off school for a week with chicken pox but they didn't ask for a note.

Don’t expect your children to lie, that’s not fair. Just be honest, you might not even get a fine. We went abroad for two weeks in may/June every year our two were both in primary and we never got fined. And if we did, the same holiday in August was way more than £120 more expensive!!

Children don't need to spill the beans for school to know they're not really ill - all the children in a family off at the same time, especially for a week, will tell them.

Just go, but make sure the sickness is believable to last all week. Unauthorised absence looks crap on your kids school record, sickness is just one of those things. As a teacher I say yolo

"@SenoraSurf As a teacher I say yolo" "Unauthorised absence looks crap on your kids school record".

Crap, kids, yolo. And you are teacher you say?

@SenoraSurf and coding on the register for unapproved holiday appears on student record as ? You will know this, being a teacher. What letter ?

I’m in the U.K., my DS’ primary school allow 10 days for unauthorised absences. We’ve got a last minute camper van trip booked for this week, 3 nights from Tuesday, which will take us up to 9 days holiday since September. I work in tourism, as do most of the families that attend the school. We can’t afford term time holidays, especially given the price hikes - Sykes holiday cottages alone have put a 40% increase on theirs this year. We don’t lie though and DS is in reception.

Also, FWIW, I was a primary school teacher before I had DS and I couldn’t have given a flying fuck if otherwise happy, engaged, healthy children were taken on holiday by loving parents. The education system in this country, coupled with the appalling approach to economics, is pretty shite, all children deserve holidays and, for most, that means term time is more accessible.

@EvilEdna1

The children always let it slip.

True.

Especially pre-Covid when they come back with a lovely tan after their fortnight in Spain. Or you ask if they're feeling better and they look confused and tell you they haven't been ill.

One parent of three at my school used to take her children away for the same week every year (I think they got vouchers from the Sun). Every year they all had diarrhoea that same week. We teachers used to laugh about it.

I work with key stage 1 children and having them taken out of school now is very frustrating. Particularly when they are families who did not engage well with home learning. Staff are now putting every spare minute into intervention work to catch these children up and it is a bit of a slap in the face when their parents then decide to take them out for a holiday. I'm not saying this is you OP but it is the case for some children. I feel sorry for them to be honest.

You could offer to take some work away with you? If you tell the truth then the class teacher will have time to print out some hard copies of their planned activities for your child to do while away. That may be a good compromise?

If you tell the truth then the class teacher will have time to print out some hard copies of their planned activities for your child to do while away.

That'll go down well with the teacher ....

@RockingMyFiftiesNot

If you tell the truth then the class teacher will have time to print out some hard copies of their planned activities for your child to do while away.

That'll go down well with the teacher ....

No, they won't.

That was addressed to the person who thought the teacher would print out work.