To ask for a term time holiday for DS with autism?

[Plushypumpkin]

Do schools/councils take into consideration the reason for taking a term time holiday or will it just be a blanket no?

I have never taken DS out of school and he has a near-perfect attendance record ( he is in year 4). However, this year he is finding busy situations increasingly difficult.

Are children with autism taken into consideration for term time holidays?

They don't "let you go", a school cant stop you going on holiday or being off for any reason. How would they stop you?

I have always been granted holidays term times for my son (he has complexed needs) I always explain to them and on the holiday form that we go at quieter times as he cannot cope with too many people etc. Hope you can get a yes from his school

It certainly is worth requesting but factor in the fine if not.. have a fabulous time.

Hi OP Heads absolutely can authorise term time holidays for children with autism so it’s very much worth asking.

Well, this is a nice thread

I’d just go, to be honest.

I would since hes only year 4.
It would be more affordable. Milder weather. Less crowded. I would state all the reasons. If they rejected it id still go

We’ve had it authorised for same reasons. We would have gone even if not authorised. The cheaper holiday means the fine would be covered in my view.

It probably won't be authorised. But send email to teacher with dates and as long as it isn't longer than 5 school days in a row then you won't be fined, may depend where in UK you are though, that's if you are in the UK sorry. We have taken our child on weekends away in term time and it's been fine, we usually do it when there is an inset day on the friday or monday.

Schools can't authorise holidays even if they think they're not a problem; that's not something they're allowed to do. Schools just record absence and there are certain codes they can use and strict rules about them. If you explain they might file it under something like exceptional circumstances but they're the ones who have to explain attendance figures to OFSTED who are pretty unbending so they may not be keen.

cunningartificer

You are wrong, the head can authorise holidays for a number of reasons, SEN being one of them.

I know this because a) I have had holidays authorised and b) I used to be an attendance officer.

I have 2 children with ASD (both ehcp but 1 mainstream and 1 SEN independent) and we do this. They are both just back from a week off for a theme park holiday as it is too busy in the holidays for them to cope with and their schools agree this is a reasonable adjustment they are willing to make for them.

I had a holiday authorised for that reason. Both DDs have ASD, eldest was out of school due to not coping and terrible mental health. Youngest wasn’t diagnosed at that point and was in school. I wrote a blinder of a letter really tugging on the heartstrings, re dd1’s problems, how beneficial a family holiday would be, how I had a voucher from the family fund to go on holiday, but as a single parent I still wouldn’t be able to afford to go out of term time. And also stated that we were going to Egypt, and would be visiting ancient sites, so dd2 would be having an amazing educational experience and would
make a scrap book from her travels to show the class. Just so happened they were learning about the Egyptians at the time which was handy.

Authorised and told to enjoy our holiday 😊

Look up your local authority (council) rules as non private schools are governed by these policies. Ours is no more than 10 sessions (2 per day) in a 7 week period as not to incur a fine. Fines are imposed by the council.
In our area no holidays are authorised.

I take my DS out though and just goes down as unauthorised

You might be better off having your child signed off sick with stress by the GP, the way an adult would be. That was our only option when DD was still in school. Schools are simply not allowed to authorise holiday now. But if he needs a holiday for stress...

Our holiday needed to be in term time since it was for an event that's only once per year.

Hang on, in the UK (?) you have to ask school permission to go on holiday? What happens if they say no and you go anyway?

I'd ask, if they said no I would go anyway and then contest any fine that arose. My adult son is autistic and I would definitely have gone term time if it hadn't been for the younger two.

I'm a teacher and in our school, all term-time holidays are taken as unapproved.

However, parents take them anyway and there is nothing we can do about it.

Parents are only fined if the term-time absences exceed a certain number of days - I forget what this is now, because nobody has ever been fined and you won't be either for one holiday.

Don't embarrass yourself with a long, explanatory letter that nobody wants to wade through. Don't ask the teacher for work to do while you're away. Just send a simple email advising them of the dates and a brief explanation. Tell them you acknowledge that it will not be approved but are telling them as a courtesy.

I work in a special needs school and we do authorise term time holidays for this reason. Many of our children would not cope during the busier school holidays. Prior to working here I worked in a mainstream school who would also have authorised a holiday for this reason.

I know a HT who would authorise this, especially if the family were not financially well off. It totally depends on who you are dealing with and possibly how you present your request.

Yes, during term time you need to ask permission.

If you go anyway and it's for longer than a certain period of time, both parents receive a fine which, if not paid, can land them both in court.

When you agree to send your child to school, you agree to them being there during the school year.

I'd go, the worst they can do is fine you. Here in Wales they are less strict about this. At our school as long as your childs attendance is generally good they don't fine. We've done it many times for a week and never been fined. I imagine they'd be sympathetic to a child with a disability too.

If you want to take your child out of school for a cheap holiday then do it, but don’t try and use your child’s autism as an excuse. It will be unauthorised as it should be.

Are you sure your child’s autism won’t mean he feels school is even more difficult when he gets back from holiday and has missed out on things he needs to catch up on?

Ds is autistic generally we have planned holidays around him during the holidays without an issue.

he is in year 8 now and and st the end of the academic year we are taking him away 4 days before term ends mainly due to the fact he simply can’t cope with the disruption of the last week. For him finishing the week before makes more sense but I’m not going to ask for permission just tell school that’s what’s happening and factor in the possible fine.

We would authorise this request (it’s my job).