Taking kids out of school for a term

[Whenthechipshitthefan]

Possibly the wrong place to post- if so sorry!
Has anyone had any success in taking their kids (legally!) out of school for a term or even a half term. I want to take 2 x DDs (Yr 4, Reception) to my mums country for a long stay. They don't know the culture and I'm aware that we are all losing that connection. The flights are expensive, and it takes at least 24hrs to get there. Its a big country so that if we go over I want them to see a lot, experience a lot and see everyone.

Has anyone applied and been successful? Is it just headteacher opinion that matters? What can I promise to keep their place and not get taken to court. Happy to pay a fine!

Can’t you go one week before Easter, say, and one week after to give 4 weeks in total? Still a long visit.

I think going in the six week holiday is better though.

lol! Nepal, India and Bangladesh is terrible during our summer. Depending on where families live, villages can flood excessively and is more of a risk than an exciting trip.

As a reception teacher I would advise against it. I don’t think people realise how much they learn over reception and the difference a half term can make is huge!

Could you go after sats yr 6 so mid May. Eldest already has secondary place confirmed so no worries. Youngest can start at any school with a place in September when they come back.

If only she'd mentioned that summer won't work as many places she wants to visit wouldn't be accessible.

Only if both you and the local authority have made reasonable inquiries and can't establish where they are.

Could you do two weeks either side of the easter holiday? That would only technically be 20 days of school, potentially less if there are any inset days.

Nepal aside, having a heritage from those countries isn’t exactly as outing as the OP suggests though. There must be loads of MNs whose families come from India or Bangladesh 😂

It is a bit more complex than what previous posters have said. Under the education (pupil registration) (England) amendments regulations 2016, there are limited legal grounds on which to remove a pupil from roll.

One of them is that the pupil has been absent from school for 20 School days - BUT this also requires the school and local authority to have tried to locate the child and failed.

They must legally make reasonable enquiries as to where the child is and what the parents intentions are. Only after having done that and after another 10 school days have elapsed can the decision be taken whether to remove the child from roll or not.

In a case where the parents are in communication with school around where the child is, and their intention to return in the short term, it would probably be decided that it was not appropriate to remove the child from the school roll, even though absence was unauthorised.

As far as I'm aware this would be classed as an unauthorised absence of 6 weeks and you'd be facing prosecution on your return.

Your best bet is to deregister them and then reregister them when you get back. If the school is oversubscribed, that could be tricky.

Nothing, they are not allowed to do it.

You can do it but they can’t hold the place.

Is there a waiting list for your children's classes?

If not just deregister them and then reapply when you want to return.

Seems to depend on schools (and/or counties?). Someone at my school took both kids out for a term and was guaranteed their places will be kept. The family had to move for work basically. I don't know if that is why it got approved. That doesn't mean your reason is less valid in my eyes. I'm just wondering what schools might think.

It depends on the school, you will have to talk to the headteacher.
My friend took her DD to NZ to stay with family for 6 weeks in January and the school de-registered her so it wouldn't affect their absence stats but they weren't over subscribed so knew they would be able to take her back after half term hols. Small village school so never oversubscribed

I would advise leaving at the beginning of April (Easter is a moveable feast and it's very "late" next year) and returning for the start of the new school year.
It's no fun for kids trying to join a class halfway through the school year, either from a curriculum point of view or a social one.
But find out what you will need to do to ensure that they have places for the start of the new school year before you leave.

So much misinformation here about when a school can take a child's name off the roll. It's all set out here - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/1751/regulation/8 - and nowhere do the regulations say schools can take children off the roll solely because they go abroad for half a term.

Some academics at our uni take their kids with them on sabbatical terms or years. As others have said, no guarantee of a school place where you were before on return. I don’t know if there are any legal responsibilities to show proof they are at school at those ages. I also don’t know anyone directly who hadn’t got a school place for their child wherever they were going for sabbatical.

They have to hold the place if they know where the child is and that the parents are planning to return them to the school.

No they don't have to hold a place and nothing op can say will "persuade" the head or LA to do so. If you do this you might be lucky and the vacancy still be there but popular schools will have waiting lists and may fill the spaces.

Fingers crossed you will find a way.
It will be different type of learning, but they will learn so much about the world.

I'd just go, as you say, it's now or never. If people regularly join or leave your school mid year, I'd say it's likely you'd get a place at your school when you return. I know at my children's school that people got places after reception relatively regularly, and that as long as children lived reasonably close, it's likely you'd be OK after a short wait. Presumably you don't need to worry about work yourself? If that's the case, I'd just homeschool on return until places at their school come up. 4 is so young, it won't hurt them.

Tag it onto a longer school holiday and pick a shorter half term? If you are in a rural area you may be fine. But an oversubscribed school would struggle with it I think.

You could deregister and home educate for the time they're away. You can then re-appky for school place's once you get back. If they're at an over subscribed school, they might not get back in the same school, but the council would need to find you a place somewhere, same as if you had moved house.

I think this too

4 weeks - a week either side of the Easter holidays could be a good compromise

Go for it. I’m guessing somewhere in South East Asia, maybe with monsoon or other extreme weather during our summer - but what an amazing and formative experience. I’m sure it’ll work out. I highly doubt you’ll regret it five years from now, people rarely do. Make the jump. Lucky kids!!