To move up north to allow son more opportunities?

[Corpo]

DS has been a child model for just up to a year now he has done 7 jobs within the year. He could have had many more but I have declined a few due to me being wary about his attendance.

School have flat out refused every single one but due to his attendance being over the percentage they couldn’t stop it. They have now put a stop to all his photoshoots as his attendance has dropped under the percentage and they won’t be allowing anymore.

DS absolutely loves his modelling it’s the one thing he loves he lives and breathes it. He loves football too but seeing how well he works on set and when the photos go out he is so proud of himself and of course him seeing his money grow and all the plans he has for it when he’s 18.

A lot of the shoots are in Manchester which is a 2 hour drive for us. So he having to take full days instead of 2 hours if we lived in Manchester.

I completely understand the school but it’s upsetting how much control they actually have over us and they are stopping DS doing something he loves.

What would you do if you was in this position? I know a lot of parents don’t agree with it. But I now feel as I’m letting my son down if I don’t try my best for him.

Ditto we live north home educate 4

You are absolutely mad to prioritise his modelling over his education. It's a short lived career in children. I was a child model.

Most LA's will not override the school and grant the child license, it's very unusual that your LA does. So it's highly likely a school will refuse permission more than say 10 days a year and that's if your get a supportive school

How can the school put a stop to it? He’s your child, not the school’s child. Can you find a different school with a more supportive outlook, or home school?

I would fully commit to home ed in that scenario because then he can build friendships from groups and still get all the socialisation. I think quite a lot of modelling and acting kids are home ed.

You need to prioritise his education. Anything else should come after that.

how low has his attendance dropped?

This is ridiculous. You aren’t giving him opportunities you are actively taking them away from him by allowing him to miss so much school.

If he has done 7 jobs, has he only missed 7 days of school?

Many kids are baby/toddler/child models then grow up into gangly awkward teens that don't fit the mould or hate being on camera.

You'd be mad to make a life changing decision like moving area just because your 7 year old likes modelling right now.

If you want to do this seriously then you need a tutor to pick up the slack or home educate with a tutor so school doesn't have a say in what you are doing at-all.

At the end of the day schools have a duty of care and responsibility towards students and if they are not turning up each day as agreed by parents when taking that school place, of course they will step in.

I don’t Home Educate (actually work p/t in a school) but I did move up North and love it! Used to live in London and everything was so stressful. Up here it’s just so much more chilled.

This can’t be real, nobody would move to the other side of the country for the sake of a 7 year olds hobby 😂 Christ he’s 7, he might decide he doesn’t like it anymore next week!

Also OP, don’t fall into the trap of thinking your son will always be modelling material, as he gets older, his looks may well change just as he’s entering a much more competitive industry.

As a mum of two child models, I would advise you to join the Facebook page: Parents of Child Models and actors. Lots of good guidance on there. One thing that does stand out from that page though is that most opportunities are in fact in London. Only certain brands such as Primark, Next, Studio, Tu to name a few operate in Manchester. So it may be your agency that you're assigned to that is the problem. Consider a south only agency, Kids London, South Coast Kids for more southern opportunities.
Next, regardless of where you are in the country, it'll will all come down to the license. If attendance is below the threshold, the council simply won't grant the license and they'll miss out on the job. Only way around this is to home educate.
Finally, bear in mind this is an age-related industry. Whilst he might be busy now, this won't always be the case as other children grow taller, develop slower/quicker. And briefs are often changing, I've noticed a big surge in children who look quite quirky or diverse - it's a rapidly changing field.
My last view would be that of the child too. My eldest went from being really busy age 2-8, but then as she grew into a tween it went really quiet. She's now getting loads of self tape requests now she fits the teen brief, but she's no longer interested as she's busy just being a teen. My youngest has only just started to get busy and she is 10, but that's very much based on her hair colour. Lots of demands for red-heads at the moment it seems. Just remember - nothing lasts forever. But for now, we're riding the ginger wave

Why don’t you home educate? Fits perfectly around son’s modelling

Surely being closer to London will be better as he gets older. My daughter was interested in acting and most of the auditions and opportunities were in the south, I would assume the same for modelling.

Just because Manchester is hot NOW surely London is the place to be as he is getting older?

Just do the 2 hour commute and miss the day, him missing half a day instead isn't going to make a difference overall to the fact that you are pulling him out of school at age 7 to work.....

Hell would freeze over before I'd allow a child of mine to do child modelling.

Seriously, of all the things to be prioritising in their early years.

Move and let him model. You never know where it could take him. As long as he’s still attending school regularly enough to not fall massively behind it’s a non-issue.

The op didn’t ask what you would or wouldn’t allow your kids to do. She’s asking if she should move.

Your decision making is way off here, and I suspect you are bedazzled by the money and seeing nice photos of your child. Child modelling is not something to move house or skip school for! It is a fickle industry and the work will peter out at some point - probably when he hits puberty.

Being a child model will give him a bit of money to spend when he's 18, and some photos to look back at.

Focusing on his education and school attendance will give him the tools to build a successful career earning a good salary, hopefully doing something interesting and enjoyable.

Which of those is the better opportunity to give him?

What sort of organisation wants 7 year old models during school term time?
I thought there were strict rules on employment for children and working has to be approved by the Local Authority.

I think it depends on the life you'll get in Manchester out of his modelling, do you have a support network? Can you get a job? I'd pro/con it really but i agree he's young enough missing 2 hours of school shouldn't be such a big deal

So you want to pick the nice bits of school and not accept the bits you don't like?

OP, @itsallabitofamystery has homed in on the key point: when attendance drops , children aren’t granted a licence to work. The only way around this is to home educate. I know this works well for some families but parent and child need to be fully committed. It is fine if you aren’t! School has enormous benefits.

Let’s put the money in perspective. Of course (almost) £7000 saved in just under a year seems like a fabulous amount of money to a young child. And well done to him! But as PPs have emphasised, it is not likely that he will keep this up through his school years. Looks change too much, to say nothing of interests. It is optimistic to imagine DS saving £40,000 or so by age 18, what with expenses, agent fees, taxes and the likelihood that his career like most will come to a natural end.

That’s a terrific achievement, but it won’t set him up for life. If he chooses university it will enable him to quickly pay down his loan. And take a wonderful gap year, etc. My point is, the money from modelling is fab but is not going to change his life in the long term: it isn’t that kind of sum. Why uproot yourself, DS and other family members for this? It is unbalanced.

I can see the post on Mumsnet in five years time: ‘My son missed a bit of his education and now his secondary school aren’t doing enough to help him catch up.’

His education should take priority over him being made to earn money.

Oh for gods sake people are making out that missing some days here and there of state school year 3 is going to be the make or break of this kids education 😂

Until he’s in secondary school age I say go for it!

I think missing a day or two a month is totally reasonable if:

• he is genuinely enjoying it
• you are actually putting the money he makes aside for his future

this could very well be a very lucrative career for him in the future and to sack it off because the some primary school teachers have got a stick up their butt about it seems silly to me!

tbh I would just take him out and wait for the fine 😂

(for context I missed boat loads of infant and primary school travelling with my parents and I have a degree and very lucrative career!)