Is this extremely petty of my children's school?

[PumpkinSly]

I went to the school office today to tell them I would need to collect my two children at 15.05 rather than 15.15 because my ds has an opticians appointment. They asked for proof of the appointment which I don't have. They said that without it, it would go down as an unauthorized absence. I haven't been given an appointment card, or been sent a text or email to confirm the appointment. I went home and rang the opticians who said that the confirmation email has to come from customer services, and they aren't able to do it from the branch. So either we are late to the appointment or, if I pick my children up 10 minutes before the end of the school day, they will get an unauthorised absence for the whole afternoon session.

Aibu to think that this is an extreme level of pettiness from my children's school over them missing 10 minutes at the end of the school day? It's the end of term and I would bet good money that there won't be a full day of teaching and that they will be watching films and playing games etc. This response from the school is bizarre to me, it's 10 minutes at the end of the day!

That’s the most ridiculous thing ever! Take your kids out of school for their appointment. 10 minutes is not an unauthorised absence… maybe the receptionist was new. Do not worry about it one bit. X

It is incredibly petty. Do they do registration at the end of the day then? Is it a secondary?

To be fair , one session unauthorised absence is no big deal. If they want to be that petty , let them. Unless it's one of those school that give prizes for attendance and your kid would be upset to miss out on that.

Schools are becoming a law unto themselves. Time to push back.

My children’s school never ask for proof of an appointment, I asked them once if they needed confirmation and their response was we believe our children here🤣. The school has low absence so perhaps why. My child’s orthodontist only does children’s appointments during the day and they stipulated this on my appointment letter.

My children’s school never ask for proof of an appointment, I asked them once if they needed confirmation and their response was we believe our children here🤣

Ours never asks either and as long as you are there for registration you aren't marked as absent for leaving for an appointment. It is a small school though so less chance of disruption.

This country has gone mad.

Try to step back. Free yourself from the madness and take your child to their appointment at the correct time. Don't be brainwashed into believing that it will hinder your child in any way.
Acknowledge that there are plenty of situations, both here and abroad where children are truly unable to access an education. It's frankly embarrassing that a country purposely brainwashes families to worry about being reprimanded for 10 minutes, rather than deal with the real difficulties it faces.

All schools ask for proof. Not petty just life. Yabu.

Ofsted inspection day??

That is silly as they would have already been marked present and it would look poor on the school absence figures too.

Petty, they’ve already got their afternoon mark so whoever you spoke to is talking out of their arse. I’m an attendance officer.

Who cares about unauthorised absence of half a day? It doesn’t mean anything unless your kid has a lot of absences

i would have booked the appointment for after school or a Saturday or one day during half term but that’s just me

Extremely petty. Ridiculous

I work in a school office & it is surprising how often children need to be picked up 10mins early especially on a Friday afternoon. This means that the parents can drive into the school carpark to leave before anyone else.
We have now started asking for appointment confirmation because of this reason.
The office is particularly busy at this time of day with messages etc so having to go and get extra children to go home early is a hassle.
We wouldn't be able to change the registers to show the children leaving early but would keep a record if this happened a lot.

Oh come on.

Take your children to the appointment. Then get evidence that it was a legitimate appointment.

And then the school will change the unauthorised absence to an authorised one.

It's not that difficult.

And hint. The next time you get an email confirming a child's healthcare appointment - forward it to your school at time of receiving it and alert them when you will be picking up your child.

S for sickness, M for medical

Were you able to tell them before the day? An e mail a few days before has never been a problem. It does seem petty but appointments are easier to assign to computer data in advance. Xx

They can’t mark them absent for whole afternoon. If they are present when the register is taken then that’s the mark they will get. A note will be put on the register though. Maybe you could get them to make a note on an appointment card or on a compliments slip. Yes I work in a school office!

As others have said, your child will have their PM mark so they cannot mark them as absent, let alone unauthorised.

Take your child and screw them. The person doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Schools are all on some kind of power trip these days.

Love from an ex teacher who home educates 😂

The register will be taken straight after lunch break, the office staff can’t change it once it’s done unless, bear with me, your children have poor attendance and you have received an attendance warning letter informing you to provide medical/appointment evidence before appointments can be authorised.

Pathetic of the school. Let it go down as an unauthorised absence of 10 minutes - what’s going to happen?!

I don't think YABU, but I also don't think the school is being petty. There is currently a huge nationwide issue regarding school attendance. Schools are under increasing pressure to show that they are complying with the legal and statutory laws in place regarding attendance and safeguarding.

I know that this may seem petty to the majority but, please know, that there are children out there, whose well-being and safety are more secure because their school has a stringent policy on their attendance registers and following up that they have evidence of where every child is during school hours.

I have no doubt at all if you show confirmation of the appointment which should be easily obtained this won't be an issue.

Also, not every school follows same routine regarding registration. Many do registers at the end of the day. All teachers must also complete a register for every lesson.

I work at a school and we take the parent’s word for it! If they are there for afternoon registration that are marked in all afternoon! we would t quibble over 10 minutes at the end of the day. Same at my son’s school. I’ve had to take him out for paediatrician appts and I alway book them for around 10.30 if I can as then he doesn’t miss registrations as he’s very obsessive about his attendance (autism). The school understand as they referred him for the assessments in the first place and get you can’t alway book outside school hours.

Genuine question- why does it matter if it’s recorded as an unauthorised absence?

@CultOfRamen Both schools and parents/ caters have a legal obligation to ensure school attendance. Government guidelines are that school attendance below 90% should be followed up.

An authorised absence is when a child is too ill to attend or the absence has been agreed in advance by the Head. Medical appointments fall into latter and need to be agreed in advance. It is up to the school about whether evidence is required. And there may be particular contextual circumstances for a school where it is helps them fulfil their legal obligations by asking for evidence of appointments.

This gives a useful overview:

www.eastsussex.gov.uk/education-learning/schools/attendance-behaviour/parent-responsibilities#:~:text=You%20must%20make%20sure%20your,regularly%20and%20arrive%20on%20time.

Thank you, I’m still not sure though- is there some kind of consequence for an unauthorised absence?