To not pay school attendance fine?

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And what happens if I don’t. There is no statutory right to appeal.

i submitted an ‘exceptional leave request’ first week of September, requesting 5 days leave for my 6YO and 8YO daughters. We are in India this week participating in Diwali and the religious functions that lead up to it. It’s not the same in our area the U.K. and we wanted the kids to fully experience their cultural traditions at an age where they wouldn’t miss too much at school, with family and friends that live in India.

the head was meant to respond to let us know whether or not the absence would be authorised and give reasons. We didn’t hear anything and then chased up a few weeks before half term, but no response.

today we got the standard ‘why have your kids not in school email’, which I responded to and finally got confirmation that the absence has not been agreed and so will be unauthorised. No reason given other than they see it as a family holiday.

in our area it’s an automatic fine by the LA if we take kids out for 5 days. I’m a bit annoyed at the lack of communication from the school. We can’t control that Diwali is in term time, it’s only 5 days and this is really important to us as a family.

what would happen if I don’t pay the fines (it’s more the principle that I don’t think we should have to).

in terms of missing education - kids attendance is 100% otherwise and both are greater depth so I do think this week in India is a better experience for them than any impact of missing 5 days of primary school.

I’d pay the fine because the headache not paying probably isn’t it worth

but I don’t think you are being unreasonable to be annoyed about it.

Are you expecting your children's teachers to help them catch up with their work once they return?

DS’s school authorises absences for religious or cultural reasons. Double check your DCs’ school policy.

My opinion is that you should not let your children's school attendance interfere with their education.

YANB
It is a religious trip to celebrate with immediate family members like many here celebrate Xmas with their immediate and extended families and the school failed to reply in timely manner.

I don’t know where you live but I work in a school and every year the Council publish something called Sacre and in that they have every possible religious event for every religion. You are allowed 3 days off in every academic year for religious occasion. This means you could have had 3 days authorised absence and 2 not. At my school no one has asked for 3 but just Tuesday 14th. Having said that you know you’re not allowed holiday in term time so you need to suck it up this time. You will need to pay the fine- they will enforce it and worse case scenario you could land up in court.

Oh and it’s basically one big RE lesson!!

Whilst I agree with comments posted about...you knew rules etc.
I think you are in total order to take/ask to attend cultural and religious family gatherings.
I'm surprised the school is brave enough to challenge those reasons in today's woke world.
I woukdnt pay it....I know people who didn't pay....that said is it worth it?
Go sick next time! Good luck sweetie x

the contents of the trip are not bullsh*t, nor the experiences with the family. But doing it under the guise of going for Diwali and then NOT ACTUALLY going for Diwali is what I meant by the bs.

Proud Boys or or Querdenker ones, by any chance?

Why not address the key question in my post? Did you actually call the school in your follow up to see if it was authorised?

'Stupid teachers' do not issue the fines, and quite frankly don't give a rats arse if you take your kid out of school. Local Authorities issue the fines, schools (not individual teachers) have to adhere to this. 'Bloody teachers' also do not strike all the time without extremely good reasons, as advised by unions (maybe research this before bashing teachers). Strike days are also unpaid. Teachers also do not have 10 + weeks paid holiday a year, nor do they only work the same hours as the children in the classroom. When exactly do you think all the preparation, planning, marking, etc gets done? 'Bloody stupid teachers' have undergone extensive training, work extremely hard for little reward, put up with a massive amount of BS and get constantly abused by parents, the media and the government. If it's such a piss easy job then I suggest you try it yourself. OP I apologise for going off topic. As a teacher I would massively encourage your trip for cultural and enrichment reasons. The LA won't give a flying fuck sadly, so if it's their policy then you might be best off just paying the fine and arguing for change afterwards.

You'll just have to suck it up and pay it. We go skiing as our main holiday which only means we can go without issue over Christmas, February half term and Easter if its not late. Prices are astronomical then and we can't afford it. Also my husband has to do some on call over Christmas and I work in Finance so it's year end = no time off. Everyone in the office has kids or partners who teach so it's shared out and we very rarely get all of half term off. So it's not possible for us to take school holidays and go skiing. We aren't bothered about summer holidays, I've been skiing for 40 years, and that is my main choice of holiday.

My youngest has significant SEN needs, including autism, and I have a letter from his consultant to explain the benefits for him and why he needs to go when it's not a busy holiday period. Also it's massively cheaper during term time, meaning we can afford to go at all.

I used to put all this together and primary authorised but secondary won't despite otherwise excellent attendance. It's tough though, we go and just factor in paying the fine. It still works out cheaper and my youngest can tolerate it as its not heaving. I don't agree with the rules about fining, but they are clear. It's just something you have to do.

Totally agree. Life is short, take the trips.

There was absolutely no need for you to go on this holiday. It wasn't authorised. You need to pay the fine, but the school should have replied but you must have known it wasn't authorised. This festival could have been celebrated without going on holiday.,

Plot twist... I'm a qualified teacher. Just earn way way more in my current field.

We didn't go to bloody Benidorm... we went to Crete and visited cultural
Sites, my daughter learnt to scuba dive and we had a visit to a turtle sanctuary where we learned about the rehabilitation etc. but yey to you for judging.

PM me, I might be able to help

If you wish to use state education, then you should play by their rules. It's not compulsory to send children to school, only to educate them - people who feel this strongly about 'the state' and its pesky rules can always home-school.

Next time just tell them the kids are ill.

Aha was it a cheap all inclusive though as this seems to be the deciding factor? 😁

It clearly isn't always a choice to use state education. People just sound like they don't live on this planet when they say that. State schooling is something many, if not the majority of parents have no option but to utilise. If a policy is a good one, it'll be justifiable on it own merits.

I keep saying it and have posted the DfE guidance.

Religious observance may apply. The criteria set by the Department for Education is included.

I took my daughter out at the start of term for a week in France (self catering not cheap all inclusive) but probably not highbrow enough to qualify for a multicultural learning experience. However I was wily as she only missed 8 sessions so escaped without a fine.

Just pay the fine. I think it's irrelevent it's for Diwali. If I lived in India I don't think they'd give a shit if I took time off school to visit my home country to do something related to my own culture. We all have things that we want or need to do. Just suck it up.

Teachers (& support staff) don't get paid for the holidays, although many of them work through them anyway. They can't take time off during term time either so always pay the higher charges.