School asking for appointment proof11

[Tiredallthetimeneedsleep]

Ds ( 11) has had about 4 days off from school in two years sick. In September I had to collect him at 1 due to my dentist appointment ( quite a distance away and, because of the intense work needed , I would be able to get back til after 6, leaving them alone in the house for 2.5 hours), 1 tomorrow to visit a possible new high school then 1 next week for a consultant ASD assessment. ( We've been waiting two years for this). They are asking for proof. I didn't have proof of my dentist appointment, I don't have proof of the school visit and I haven't received a hospital appointment letter yet as they rang me and booked it on the phone. Do I have to prove why I'm taking my child out of school for half a day? Like I said it can't be because of poor attendance.

Yes.
Otherwise it's unauthorised absence.

Do you have no proof at all? A text message appointment reminder? The advert of the school open day or a copy of the email booking on to it?

If you don't provide proof then it is unauthorised.

Previous attendance doesn't come into it, it's is normal to provide proof and you'll be on sketchy ground with an appointment for you as they would expect you to make other childcare arrangements

Visiting a possible new high school is usually done out if school time - most schools run open evenings or an open Saturday Morning.

That's not a medical or illness absence.

Presumably it was a private tour? In which case do you have emails saying you were coming?

Your dentist appointment is unlikely to be authorised as he didn't need to be out of school for that - you could have arranged after school club or a relative or another person to pick him up up.

Yes otherwise it's unauthorised absence.

Do you not have an email confirmation for any of them?

Unusual to have an open morning during school time, are you sure children are expected to attend?

I just asked at the reception of the dentist if I could have proof of the appointment for school, and they happily printed off a piece of paper with the times

And agree with the others wouldn't expect them to authorise a child absence foe your medical appointment

Ds has sensory needs so no other childcare would be suitable/ was possible. Also, a private appointment was booked to look around the high school because of his needs to reduce sensory overload.
Presumably, I'll receive a hospital letter for the appointment next week.

Do you not get text reminders for the appointments? We can show them for proof.

When I didn't have that, I asked the receptionist at the appointment if she could write me out an appointment card so I could show the school. I think they are used to this nowadays and she didn't blink an eye and wrote it out for me.

You must have an email or something for the high school appt

I am sure the dentist and hospital would be happy to send an email to you confirming you had appointments so you can print or forward them to school.

Completely normal for them to ask for proof and I'm surprised you didn't have any confirmation for the dental appointment or school visit although I'd be very surprised if they authorised the dentist appointment.

Just tell them you don’t have it and it’ll be unauthorised.

No confirmation for school visit as arranged over phone - what will happen if it goes down as unauthorised

Just ask the high school to send an email to the school senco or provide contact details to the primary school, so they can confirm for themselves. When my daughter did this, it actually went down as educated off site because she was doing an educational activity.

The hospital will request information from the primary to support the ASD assessment. They’ll also write to the school after the appointment to provide the results, so that’s very unlikely to be unauthorised.

A dental appointment for you may not be authorised anyway, but 1 unauthorised absence isn’t anything to worry about.

Just let them put it down as unauthorised- it’s no big deal.

In our school, secondary school open days do not count as an absence. Unsure about private tours, but seems a bit unfair for that to be treated differently.

Nothing will happen, I wouldn't give it another thought

If you get 10 sessions (so 5 full days) in a 10 week period they can fine you

Would the high school your visiting email the current school reception to confirm you are attending for a tour?

It's not true a school needs proof to authorise an absence.

They can refuse to authorise if they don't believe the reason you've given.

Which imo gives them a little too much power as ime some schools love being able to say "you're lying" without using those words.

I rang ds in sick one day with a GP apt after he had a knife pulled on him the day before in school and had a severe emotional reaction (unsurprisingly). His school wouldn't authorise it because they felt the fact the child was suspended and not in school meant he shouldn't be anxious about going so I emailed the LA education attendance and asked their advice on what I should do. 2 hours later his school emailed me and said for as long as he needed whilst attending camhs and victim support he'd have code B and work sent home. I'm guessing they'd had their arse handed to them - and rightly so!

I wouldn't expect you taking him out for your dental appointment to be authorised. You'd be expected to find some alternate care (which I know isn't easy and feels seemingly impossible at times). But it may be that because that's why you removed him last time they don't believe you now?

You should be able to get something to prove the ASD appointment, even if it's just a text reminder. With regard to the school open morning, surely other children will be going so your school should know when that is.

For your dentist appointment it will be unauthorised. They'll have expected you to make other arrangements that didn't involve your son missing school, regardless if it was practical to do so or not.

3 school time appointments in 1 month is quite a lot but I guess that's sometimes how it goes.

Standard practice. They were a bit lax not to ask for proof before.

Just email the high school explaining that you need proof of attendance and asking that they reply confirming that you attended on x date at x time.

Did you pay for the dentist? If so you'll have a payment on your bank statement to the dentist on the date of your appt.

You could have made your dental appointment for straight after you dropped him at school in the morning, leaving enough time to pick him up.
Ask the SENCo of the school you’re visiting to email you confirmation of the appointment at the school.
Ask the clinic for an appointment letter when you attend.

Nothing much, assuming you don’t have lots of other unauthorised on record. No big deal.

I used to be a secretary for a asd clinic. Often if I had to book a clinic at short notice, then I wouldn't have time to post out appointment letters, but would always get one pulled off the system for the parent to take with them from the clinic on the day of the appointment. Phone and ask the secretary if you're worried